Optimal way to set up system. Starter kit and TRVs

DrPips

Hi all,
I’m just setting up my system and putting the TRVs on most radiators. The only one I’m not putting a Tado TRV on is the two bathrooms.

My questions are, should I put the main wireless thermostat in the master bedroom and not put a TRV on that rad, or should I put it on the landing where there is no rad.

Also, what’s the most efficient timings to put for the heating to be on (apart from not at all!)? Should I have heating come on in morning and afternoon and let the starve turn off rooms that don’t need it. Or am I better leaving it on all the time and have the TRVs sort it from there? So if the temp in all rooms was high enough, it would just be the bathrooms that were heated?

Thanks so much,
Dom

wateroakley

@DrPips First, homes, heating and individual use can vary widely. This is our experience in a detached home and it's still a work in progress. Others say our results are an outlier and may think differently.

For flexibility of heating control I'd suggest putting TRVs on all rads where you can, including your bedroom and bathrooms. Start by locating the wireless room stat as the measuring device in a most-used room with a TRV on the rad. I wouldn't start by putting it on a landing without a rad. The room stat is far more accurate than the TRV mesurement.

In essence, we only heat the rooms in use instead of heating the whole house. Keep doors to unheated rooms closed. Main bedrooms and bathrooms heated early morning and late evening. North wing (study/office, hall, kitchen and loo) heated during the day. South wing (Lounge, hall and loo) heated during the evening. We turn up the lounge manually if we have guests. Dining room off, except when we have guests (there is fair amount of solar gain in the afternoon). Unused bedrooms are turned off, except when we have guests. Routinely use geo-location when we go out.

We've been tracking usage for six years and can compare monthly kWh to outside temperature (mean CET). The bill shock started in late 2021 and you can see the monthly reduction in kWh since then.

This chart is the billing month usage data, Percentage Energy Consumption kWh at the same CET, since we started to attack the heating bills. First manually (blue line), then with smart controls (green line).The results demonstrate that high energy consumption homes can significantly reduce consumption by ditching the simple whole-home heating controls with dumb TRVs for smart controls with individual room control and wooly jumpers.