I thought you only turned on a water / central heating unit when you wanted heat or hot water but….

Did you smash it

I have a viessmann vitopend 100 in an apartment I’ve bought (not in Ireland) and while asking questions on Reddit it has become clear to me that I seem to fundamentally misunderstand how to use central heating and hot water.

I believed you only switched on the pictured device when you wanted heat or hot water so most of the time it is off.

but this is evidently wrong? It should be on at all times but you can turn the levels up when you are cold (along with turning on the radiators) or want hot water.

does everyone here agree with that as I’m afraid I’m being led down the garden path and will have a disgusting bill if I follow the Reddit advice?

spakman

bullshit

Did you smash it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119690160#Comment_119690160

Please expand

Ush1

By turned on, do you mean the boiler is powered up or do you mean heating turned on?

If you mean heating turned on, its not a simple yes or no to leave it on all the time. In general it's a bad idea, but for some systems it can work well if you use good controls and keep the boiler condensing for longer periods when heat is needed.

10-10-20

A bit hard to know what you mean by "turned on" here OP. Surely a combi boiler needs to be powered on so that it can react to the needs?

My Vokera is "on" all year - the display is lit but there is no call for heating or hot-water until a signal is sent by an external clock. I don't know if yours has either an internal or external clock for the radiator heating, do you operate it that way? Also do you have room-stats?

Clarifiy what you mean by "on" and what was your original question on the system?

Did you smash it

i just meant turned on as in the on button is pressed. I was only doing it for times I was wanted hot water or hot radiators. The viessmann vitopend 100 is old in this place I’ve bought and needs replacing; problems with the pump.

it doesn’t have a timer. It has separate 1-5 options for the level of heat you want provided to the water and the radiators.

I live on the continent and the attitude there seems it’s best to leave the unit on at all times. Only turn it off if you are on holidays. Completely alien idea to the frugal way I was brought up but the idea on the continent is that it costs more to heat it up from an off setting.

blackbox

If you get the model number and Google it you will probably be able to download an operating manual that will explain everything.

10-10-20

The old concept of turning off the boiler related to extinguishing the pilot light which remained lit and often accounted for up to 10% of the gas use of the system. But these days the systems are designed to remain powered on but waiting for a call from a thermostat, timer or tap - quite normal, I would think.

theteal

Hello my Veissmann comrade. Eh, similar to above, vague on the meaning of "on" (ignore, you've explained above). It's powered on all the time. It kicks in as scheduled - which thankfully is still only doing the water cylinder as the house is not breaching the thermostat level yet.

As for whether it's better to leave on low or heat from cold, it comes up a lot. I think it's better for the fabric of the house and dampness to leave on low (probably not an issue where you live) but definitely not better for the budget.