can you explain my central heating system to me?

Question

Hi,
I've moved into my first house and would like to know a bit more about my central heating system...

There is a gas boiler (about 3'by1'by1' or thereabouts - on the inside there is a peizo ignitor button, gas control valve and a thermostat temperature control which is a radial dial with a min and max setting on it) the boiler is controlled by a 24hr digital timer for central heating and hot water (independantly) switching the boiler on/off.

Upstairs in the back bedroom is a hot water tank. On the outside near the bottom is a control dial with temperature settings.

There is no thermostat control in the house. Or not that I can see.

I have worked out how to control the boiler with the timer to switch on the hot water and central heating but how do I control the temperature of the water coming out of the taps? And why doesn't my home have a room thermostat? Can a thermostat control be fitted to my system to keep the house at a set temperature?

Answer 1

There is no way that your house is missing the thermostat. If it did not have that it would run constantly since there would be no shutoff signal to say that the rooms are warm enough. More likely it is such a weird-shaped unusual one that you are going right past without recognizing it. Look for a circular or a rectangular shaped box on an interior wall at about eye level.

When you look at the boiler there should be a pair of thin wires (either inside a jacket that is about a quarter inch in diameter or just twisted together) that go up to a thermostat in the rest of the house. If they run along the basement ceiling that might give you a clue to where to find it upstairs.

The only other possibility I can think of is that you have radiators with a knob that can be adjusted to shut off the steam to an individual room to indicate that the upstairs rooms are warm. That was the really old way of doing it but you did not say if the house is very old.

The hot water tank has the settings for the water temperature coming out of the taps ("on the outside near the bottom").

Answer 2

Check to see if there might be mixing valves in the plumbing lines. These are a T shaped valve where the hot water comes into one side and the cold water comes into the other and warm water comes out the usually bottom. This varies by manufacture. This vale is adjustable, though. It takes a slot tip screwdriver and usually a 7/16" wrench. Back off the nut and back out the screw to increase the temperature. Move only 1 revolution at a time as not to get the temperature to hot. Check temperature with a thermometer just in case. Some manufactures reverse this process. just be careful

Answer 3

For the water Take a look at the hot water tank about three quarters of the way dawn there should be a temp control knob that controllers the temp of the hot water,For the room thermostat you need to have a good look around all the walls in all of the rooms there has to be a room thermostat control.

Answer 4

Your best bet is to contact the manufacturers of the hot water heater and the furnace itself. You could probably download them from the internet. How old is the hot water heater? if its 10 years or more it probably needs to be replaced. If there is a filter attached to the furnace it should be replaced every couple of months. If you know a plumber or a HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) guy, contact them and have it checked out. Your local gas company probably offers a service for that. Good Luck in your new home.

Answer 5

the in trouble-free words acceptable answer is Water that's heated to steam and rises from the basement into radiators around the abode, the position it transfers it truly is warmth, cools and falls back to the furnace as water to be reheated concrete would not bypass oil flows yet differences with warmth Mercury is to severe priced and unsafe copper would melt the pipes if it were given warm sufficient to bypass