If the horizontal valves are better at monitoring room temp, can I just flip my valves like this?

I've read that horizontally mounted valves do a better job at monitoring room temperature as they are further away from the radiator.

Other than the hassle of draining the system, is it possible to flip these valves so they end up like this (excuse the ropey photoshopping)?


Answers

  • Hi @nitch,
    If your actual TRV is bi-directional (almost all of the newest valves are) then YES you can simply switch them around.....how much more "accurate" the temperature reading will be is debatable.
  • Thanks for your reply. I'll wait and see if anyone on here has tried and can report any improvement otherwise I'll test it myself.

    Cheers

  • Great bit of feedback @MarkC 👍
  • So what is the actual difference between the vertical and horizontal TRVs? is it just the orientation of the display?

  • Rob2
    Rob2 ✭✭✭

    Yes. And the new (current) type can be configured for both orientations.

  • Basic knowledge of fluid dynamics or air circulation will tell you that a horizontal mounted valve give a far more accurate air temp reading. Consider the pipe below the TRV and the rising heat emmited from it which directly impacts the valve. You are getting a false room reading in this configuration as the heat from the pipe gives an offset of plus degrees. A horizontal mounted trv is more likely to take actual room temperature. Also bi directional only refers to the flow direction and not the mounting position
  • Rob2
    Rob2 ✭✭✭

    For a well-working system of course you would want to measure the temperature somewhere away from the heat source, and away from draft and cold radiation from the outside.

    So the best solution would be to have the temperature sensor that can be separated from the TRV.

    Tado does not offer that solution, but they do offer a separate temperature sensor that in fact is like the thermostat but without the heater control components, at a lower price. When you add that to a room, you can hang or place it somewhere more to the inside of the room, and it will work much better. The TRV orientation does not matter in that case (the sensor in the TRV is not used).

  • Thanks everyone. Sounds like that's the best solution to this ongoing issue.

    Now we just need to either flip the valves which is a pain or find a right-angled TRV adaptor which I don't think exists.

  • @nitch a 90° adapter is available.Take a look at this comment.



  • Thanks GrilledCheese2, that will do the trick. Seems to have gone up a bit in price but will try one out.

    Cheers

  • The angled trv adaptor (https://amzn.to/3d7sl4N) arrived today and just been testing it out.

    In a fairly large room, I set the trv to 19 degrees and it got the middle of the room up to 18.2 degrees before it shut off. The room started quite cold around 15 degrees and heated the trv remained open for probably over an hour without the usual on/off.

    If you have this issue with vertical thermostats cutting out too soon, especially for larger rooms or areas of your house, this seems to be the best solution unless you want to buy the additional wireless thermostat.