Gas Heating Thermostat

RebelRebel

Hi,

I want to turn my heating thermostat down to 20 degrees as advised on www.powerofone.ie reduce my heating bill.

However when I turn the thermostat on the wall to below about 22 degrees the heat won't actually come on at all. I have gas heating and for some reason when I have the thermostat at below 22 degrees the boiler won't come on.

I can hear a slight click sound as I am turning the thermostat down just at around the 22 degree mark and when it is set just below the click the heat won't come on but when above the click it does come on so it must be something to do with this.

Does anyone have any ideas? I would be grateful as I want to try to reduce my gas bill a bit.

Many thanks,
RR

Room stats can get a build up of dust inside them that can stop them working properly, with the power off you could have look and give it a blow, if there is a heat source near by that will keep it off, but it might just be knacked, if thats the case then if you can source the same model they are very easy to replace, Gary.

RebelRebel

gary71 wrote: »

Room stats can get a build up of dust inside them that can stop them working properly, with the power off you could have look and give it a blow, if there is a heat source near by that will keep it off, but it might just be knacked, if thats the case then if you can source the same model they are very easy to replace, Gary.

Thanks Gary. I'll check that out. It's just one of those plastic thermostats so maybe there is just dust in there cos I haven't touched it in years. There is definitely a clicking sound when you turn it past a certian point which i am certain determines whether the boiler will go on or not. Maybe its a build up of dust in there screwing it up.

Would I be correct in saying that this is the only thermostat that regulates the heat?

RR

delly

The point at which it clicks is what temperature it is detecting. If it is clicking at 22c morning noon and night, then it must be not reading the temperature correctly as I doubt that you would be able to maintain an even 22c for 24 hours.

It might be defective or the above mentioned factors are throwing its reading off. If you could get another form of temperature reader to compare, it might show you where the fault is.

RebelRebel

Thanks Delly. I didn't realise that but of course that makes sense. If it won't switch the heat on when set at 20 degrees it because the thermostat thinks the termerature is already higher than 20 degrees.

I really should have known that! Of course it suggests that the thermostat is faulty as its not reading the temperature correctly. I'll check out further.
Thanks for the replies.

RR

You also have a boiler thermostat that will work like a throttle, the higher you have it the quicker the house achieves the temperature you have set on the room stat, the lower the room stat the less gas you use, in respect of the room stat if there is dust in it, it can gum up the workings stopping the any movement unless you make and break the switch yourself, Gary.

RebelRebel

gary71 wrote: »

You also have a boiler thermostat that will work like a throttle, the higher you have it the quicker the house achieves the temperature you have set on the room stat, the lower the room stat the less gas you use, in respect of the room stat if there is dust in it, it can gum up the workings stopping the any movement unless you make and break the switch yourself, Gary.

Thanks again Gary. Is the boiler thermostat easy to adjust or should i just leave that alone. Also are you saying that the dust in the room thermostat will jam it up...it might be fixable if I can try to clean the dust out of it somehow?

The boiler stat is your stat to control, trial and error is the best way to figure out the setting if your not happy, i tend to tell people to turn the boiler stat knob to the 3/4 position and if things get hot quickly enough then happy days, if it's not right then turn the knob higher or lower in smaller increments till your happy, but it should only really impact on the time it takes to heat up.

Older room stats have small metal strips inside that over the years can struggle to move if covered in gunk, by blowing away the gunk normal service can resume(most of the time), i am always reluctant to advise working on electric components as due to natural selection people can hurt themselves, but this is just a matter of removing the cover (POWER OFF) looking at the inside then huffing and puffing if you see any lent (gunk) then putting the cover back, Gary.

delly

Gary's right. Its easy enough to take the cover off and have a look, but just be careful that everything is powered off.

I changed my standard dial thermostat a while back to a digital display, the same as this one. It just makes it easier to be aware of what the temperature is in the room with a quick glance, and knowing if the heating will come on or not.