RefurbN16

Month: January 2010

  • Heating Controls Pt 1 – Introduction

    Given that it’s bloomin’ freezing outside, I thought I’d write the first post on setting your heating controls.  This post will be an overview to the whole set of controls and it’ll take a few more posts to cover the whole lot.  For many this is a confusing subject so hopefully this post will help shed some light on a difficult area.

    Ideally your heating system should have at least 3 basic controls: a boiler thermostat, a room thermostat and a programmer. We’ll deal with them in reverse order.

    The programmer has overall control over when the boiler is switched on and off. It doesn’t have any temperature setting, just time settings. They come in varying degrees of sophistication from the most basic (which I unfortunately have) which can’t control the hot water and heating independently, to all singing and dancing, fully programmable digital devices. If the programmer is set to on, it doesn’t mean the boiler will be chugging away all of the time – the boiler should kick in and out in order to maintain a comfortable room temperature.

    This overall house temperature is set by the room thermostat, which is usually found in the hallway or living room of a home. It senses the temperature of the room and tells the boiler to switch on if it is below the set temperature and switch off if it rises above it. As a result your room temperature will bobble up and down slightly above and below the set temperature. The room thermostat can’t override the programmer so it will only have an effect if the programmer is in its on phase.

    The boiler thermostat is mounted on the boiler and controls the temperature of the water flowing out of the boiler and into the pipework and radiators. It tells the boiler how long to burn for in order to raise the water to the set temperature.This control is frequently overlooked and is usually the least well understood thanks to generally poor design.

    In an ideal world, all of these three controls will work together in perfect harmony to maintain the temperature of your home. By setting them correctly you can achieve this with minimum energy consumption.

    Clear? As mud? Post a comment below if you want me to clarify anything. I’ll be going into more detail on this very soon.

  • Boiler Scrappage Scheme Launched Today

    The other big news today was the launch of the boiler scrappage scheme by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The full details of the scheme can be found here, but here is the 30 second version…

    The scheme is offering 125,000 homes a £400 voucher on a first come, first served basis if they scrap their G rated boiler and replace it with an A rated condensing boiler. Condensing boilers are more efficient than conventional boilers because they extract additional heat out of the exhaust flue that would otherwise escape into the air.  They shouldn’t be confused with combination (combi) boilers which are boilers which don’t have a hot water tank, heating the water directly instead.

    The building regulations require (with a few exceptions) at least a B rated boiler to be fitted so this is pushing the bar a little higher, which is a good thing.

    The way it works is that once you’ve identified your G rated boiler and have received a quote that you’re happy with, you contact the Energy Saving Trust. From January 18th, cashback vouchers will be sent out and you should receive the voucher about 10 days after application. You then have 12 weeks to have the boiler installed and the voucher signed off by the plumber.

    A word of caution… You might well be quoted wildly different figures, some of them way too high (naming no names of course), so make sure you get a good selection of quotes. If you can find a good local plumber recommended by word of mouth, that might be the best way. Just be aware! There’s also a wide range of boilers. Some are cheap but poorly constructed and with expensive parts.

    You can find out if your boiler is G rated here. If you’re having difficulty, post a comment and I’ll see if I can find it (it’s not always completely obvious).

    Now while this is a good offer (it’s equivalent to a discount of about 15% to 25%), it’s really best to consider reducing your energy demand before you replace your heating system. This will mean that the boiler can be correctly sized to the heat demand of the home. Having said that, this is a one-off offer and is highly unlikely to be repeated.

  • Multi-Million Pound Insulation Scheme Begins In East London

    Sorry for the pause over Christmas and the New Year. I trust everyone had a nice and relaxing time…

    Some good news for Hackney to kick off the new decade:

    The importance of energy efficiency in buildings has been realised by Hackney Homes ahead of their £2.9 million programme of insulation work in east London.

    Having secured a grant from the Homes and Communities Agency, the organisation, which managed council properties in the London borough, has appointed Lovell to carry out the work on its range of flats.

    Cavity wall insulation will be installed on approximately 50 blocks of flats, with the work expected to have been completed in June.

    Hackney Homes’ director of property services Gary Penticost said he is “pleased” to be working alongside Lovell on what he called an “important programme”.

    “Improving insulation in our harder to treat cavity walls will give our tenants not only better insulated homes, but homes that are cheaper to heat,” he commented.

    London Energy Efficiency is also involved in the scheme, Lovell confirmed.

    Lovell is also involved in a major housing improvement scheme in Derbyshire, with a number of apprentices being given the opportunity to work on the scheme.

    Sign up to receive regular e-news for more information.

    I can’t find this news article online (it just dropped into my inbox) but I’m sure it’ll surface soon.