Posted on 09/07/2022 5:09:58 PM PDT by nickcarraway
All you need is a simple device, and to know how to use it 'properly'
A plumber has shared his advice on how to save money on your gas bill.
Tiktok user djmatrix101, a plumbing and heating engineer who shares tips on how to save money on household bills, shared his best "top tip" to save money on your gas bill. All that is required is a simple device called a thermostatic radiator valve.
He said that the device can then be installed on every single radiator in the home, and can be used to turn off, or limit, the flow of gas into the radiator while the central heating is on. This means that you can stop gas being wasted on rooms that are not being used, or which don't require heating.
Speaking to his thousands of followers, the engineer said: "This device will save you money, if you know how to use it properly.
"Effectively a lot of people, when the switch the central heating on, they heat the entire house - so that's every room in the house that has a radiator they are heating using their boiler. The vast majority of people don't spend all day in bed, or in the bedroom.
"They get up, they go downstairs, they spend the day downstairs then they go upstairs, but the heating's on all day.
"My advice is to go around every single room and [after installing thermostatic radiator valves] to switch them off if you're not using the radiator.
"If you can turn of 50% of your volume of radiators, you will save 50% on your gas bill - it is that straight forward. If you're not using your bedroom radiator, turn it off.
He then spoke about one common problem with the valves, which means they will still allow gas to pass through. He said: "[They have a] metal ring at the bottom. Turn the radiator valve to fully open then hand tighten the metal rings down.
"They come loose and if you don't tighten them down when you switch the valve off the gas will still pass.
"Switch it on about an hour before you want to use the room. A bit of forward planning, a bit of thinking about it, and you will save yourself a fortune in gas.
"A lot of people make this mistake [but] these things are regulation to be fitted on any new central heating system and we have to advise when we're changing boilers now that these be fitted, if they're not there.
"If you don't have them, they're a good investment. Get them fitted."
In other words, turn off the heat to rooms not needed.
The plumber may be right. But the journalist is a buffoon.
Hot water from a boiler goes thru the radiators. Not gas.
I also noticed that renovators tear down walls and raise ceilings to make huge living areas. I always shook my head, thinking "The heating bill is going to skyrocket!"
A/Cs and heat pumps can do the same with mini-split units.
How many houses still jace radiators?
(I love radiators: I always had warm towels!)
Steal from the neighbor?
We cover our ac vents with flat magnetic stuff so as to conserve in places like the guest room.
I grew up in an apartment that had steam radiators. The steam helped humidify the apartment as well.
Radiators? We don’t use no stinking radiators here in Cali. Most all houses have central heating these days.
I have thermostats in every room, but my wood stove turns most of them useless when it gets cold out.
This is Liverpool in England. Britain still has a lot of radiators.
I realize there’s still a lot of radiators used in lots of places back east too. They’re not too common in these parts anymore though.
i thought all radiators had on/off valves to control flow of water
My 100 year old rental house in the east used to be coal but now is fuel oil. Fortunately, I’ve never had radiators. I heard they can be noisy. Of course forced air causes dry skin etc.
“The plumber may be right. But the journalist is a buffoon.
Hot water from a boiler goes thru the radiators. Not gas.”
I know they didn’t teach heating systems in journalism class but I thought they taught that making false statements ruins your credibility.
We have no such systems in the U.S that I am aware of. It sounds like a zoned system of heat that is the new U.S. system with the feature of individual room thermostats.
“This means that you can stop gas being wasted on rooms that are not being used, or which don’t require heating.”
If you’re flowing gas into individual rooms, you have a LOT MORE to worry about than your utility bill.
Put a brick in the terlet.
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