Thermostat

[Ignis Fatuus]

My darling OH is generally quite intelligent, but has a strangely irritating blind spot about the central heating thermostat. She seems to think that it's some kind of accelerator - the higher you set it, the faster the house warms up. I can't convince her that it's just either on or off.

Am I alone here?

[doodab]

Sadly not.

[MaryPoppins]

I'm sure this has been discussed about a million times on here.

[Ignis Fatuus]

Probably.

Surely the higher you set it, the longer the boiler stays on, so the hotter the radiators get, therefore the house warms up quicker.

I've added a fan that blows over the radiator to increase the thermal transfer rate.

It appears to work rather well.

Nope. It's on or it's off. If the room temperature is less than the thermostat setting, it's on.

There is a different thermostat on the boiler, that controls how hot the water is (and therefore how long the boiler stay on for), and therefore how hot the radiators get. But the room thermostat just says "need heat" or "don't need heat".

[Ignis Fatuus]

I shall implement a datalogging exercise & check for you.

Can you do an Energy Audit while you're there?

(Glances at boiler. Old.
Looks in loft. Insulated.
Checks boxes. Presents bill for £300).

[Spacecadet]

Probably.

Surely the higher you set it, the longer the boiler stays on, so the hotter the radiators get, therefore the house warms up quicker.

I've added a fan that blows over the radiator to increase the thermal transfer rate.

It appears to work rather well.

Painting them black is supposed to increase the radiative heating power of the radiators even further

[RichardCranium]

Painting them black is supposed to increase the radiative heating power of the radiators even further

cooling

depending on your point of view.

Make sure it is matt black, to maximise the effect.

[MrRobin]

My missus does the same. And with the car climate control...

A black surface does indeed increase the thermal radiation, but who wants black radiators??

[Paddy]

My missus does the same. And with the car climate control...

A black surface does indeed increase the thermal radiation, but who wants black radiators??

I think that the use of the heating, ventilation and a/c should be part of the driving test. I see countless expensive cars with misted up windows because the drivers can’t work out the clear the windows.

[DimPrawn]

Painting them black is supposed to increase the radiative heating power of the radiators even further

Most of the heat from a domestic radiator is via convection, not radiation. If you don't believe me put your hand 10cm above the radiator and then put it 10cm in front of the radiator.