Central Heating: You Can Maximise Savings with a TRV

There is a growing responsibility to take better care of our environment, and some of us have already started taking steps in cutting down carbon emissions and reducing fuel bills. Installing heating controls are an inevitable part of this process as they play a key part in achieving these objectives.

Whilst the government has been focusing on reducing energy costs and cutting down on carbon dioxide emissions, they have set up organizations such as Energy Saving. This organization has been useful in offering advice on how to improve energy efficiency, cutting costs, and ensuring best value.

What is a Thermostatic Radiator Valve (TRV)

A TRV firstly senses the surrounding air temperature. Its main purpose is to regulate room temperature and does this by progressively closing down the flow through the radiator as the air temperature rises, thereby cooling the radiator and regulating the room temperature. You have flexibility over adjusting each TRV to a temperature best suited to each room. This not only works in saving you on energy, but also offers you the flexibility to have varying temperatures in separate parts of the home. This is better than wasting energy heating a room that may not be in use.

However, a common mistake made by many home-owners, is that they do not allow the TRV to do its job. They forget that the TRV is a form of heating control, and thus they make the error of setting the TRV to 'maximum'. This works in defeating the whole purpose of a TRV as it encourages the boiler to raise the temperature in the room to an unnecessarily high level. In order to maximise the full potential of the TRV, it is important allow it to do its job. This way a lot of energy savings can be achieved - but only if the product is allowed to do what it is supposed to do.

Energy Savings

If the user invests in correct heating controls, the user will benefit greatly in not only saving on energy, but also making their home a more comfortable environment to live in. Many people are unaware of the fact that turning down your thermostat just one degree will save you as much as 10% on the average heating bill. This generally adds up to saving roughly 40 per degree turned down.

Many people also make the mistake of thinking that turning a TRV to a higher setting will make the room heat up faster. This is actually not the case, and how quickly the room heats up will be largely dependent on a number of factors such as the boiler size and setting, and the radiator size. If the TRV is set to a lower setting, it will result in the room being controlled at a lower temperature and much energy will be saved in the process.

In order to maximise use of your TRV, ensure that they are not covered by clothing or blocked by furniture. TRVs need free flow of air to sense the temperature in order for them to work properly.

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This page has been written with contributions from experienced plumbers from Middlesex and plumbers from Kentish Town. Several of the company's plumbing and heating engineers from Berkshire have worked on similar issues as well as some of our Gas Safe engineers from Richmond and our Romford heating engineers.

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