Controls of your Heating System may play a major role in keeping your energy bills high or low. Surprisingly you would find that many of the homes that are only a few years old, do not have adequate controls and even if they do they are out dated or sluggish in operation. No wonder their energy bills will be high because poorly designed, out dated, and poorly maintained control systems waste your home energy.

That is why utility companies and authorities in many countries go to the extent of granting rebates on your expenditure in upgrading your heating control systems.

Here are some facts about Heating System Control upgrades.

Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs)

A TRV is a motorized valve installed in the hot water lines at the radiator and is operated on a room mounted thermostat. The valves can be with 2 port or 3 p demands of the system according the design. A simple TRV has only on /off function. That is, once the thermostat is set to a temperature of your choice, the motor of the valve will be energized and the valve will be kept fully open. The hot water from the boiler will circulate through the radiator providing the heat needed to maintain the desired room temperature. Once the room reaches the set temperature of the thermostat will de-energize the motor, closing the motor and cutting off the hot water supply to the radiator, gradually causing the room to become cooler. Once the lower setting of the thermostat is reached another signal will be received from the Room thermostat again re-energizing the motor so that the hot water recirculation is restored and the process will repeat.

In a TRV that has 3 ports the valve functions as a device to make the hot water by pass the radiator on the signal from the room thermostat. The hot water lines would not be over pressurized or undergo water hammer in this arrangement.

The room or a zone will receive only the heat energy that is only essential to maintain a comfortable temperature level, pre determined by you in this scenario saving on the wasted energy in an outdated TRV-less system. They are particularly useful in rooms (eg. Bed rooms) which require a different temperature to another (eg. living area or the kitchen)

7-Day Programmable Timer

The 7-day programmable timer in a heating system is set based on your daily or weekly heating and hot water requirement patterns. The idea is to let the boiler, particular zones, or the controls operate and shut off according to the times of the day (or week) without operating the systems when there is no demand for it. Your responsibility therefore will be limited to programme the time according your homes usage patterns. The rest (eg start/stop, feeding different zones etc) will be taken care of by the timer.

Boiler Interlocking

In the old home heating designs the boiler would start at your command when you need a hot water circulation in the system for your kitchen water needs for example. Once the task is completed you had to shut it off and the process would have wasted a substantial amount of energy for heating the water required for space heating though there is no demand for it. The pump too would operate continuously.

In an interlocked system the boiler will only run when needed, thereby saving much energy.

All the major components and controls such as the Boiler, Cylinder thermostat, Room Thermostat,

TRV and the pump would be electrically interlocked for this purpose.

Time and Temperature Controls of Electric Immersion Heaters

In immersion heaters a wasteful feature is that;

• the water may be over heated than necessary (eg. When temperature of domestic hot water heated over 60 0C

• Add cold water to bring down such overheated water

• The heater may be operated for a long duration than required to bring up the water to a particular temperature

Timers and Controls fitted to immersion heaters, and set to predetermined duration and temperature will minimize electrical energy wastage.

Lagging

Adequate lagging of hot water pipes, boilers and cylinders is essential for anyone conscious of their high home energy bills, wastage and the bad environmental impact caused by it. It is a good place to start your heating upgrade if you are a DIY enthusiast, though grants are available for formally approved and carried out upgrades.