One of the giving benefit of condensing boiler is their ability to reclaim high temperature that would otherwise be lose out of the labial pipe , improving efficiency . In fact , petrol condensing boilers have efficiency storey of greater than 90 % ; that is , fiddling energy is macerate heating water . Yet , if your kettle is prepare at the wrong temperature , you wo n’t get the best efficiency , so what ’s the good temperature for a condensing steam boiler ?
The elementary resolution is set your central heating flow to a temperature of around 60 ° C and your hot water system to 60 ° snow should give you the gamy efficiency level for your boiler , although this does n’t necessary mean the lowest running costs . To cut running game costs , further lowering the temperature of your fundamental heating plant and hot pee is required , although getting the right level is a little more fiddly . We ’ll explain all .
Cost vs efficiency
We involve to look at two factors : efficiency and running cost . start your boiler to run at the highest efficiency means that more throttle it turned into heating plant ; however , this does n’t mean the lowest running costs . For example , having your steam boiler set to 80 ° C might mean that your house warm up up fast , but heating water supply to this level requires a lot of energy . Conversely , having the heating typeset to 50 ° ampere-second means your home will warm up up slower , but it ’ll be cheap overall as you ’ll incinerate less gas . Getting the Libra ripe for your domicile is the important factor .
How condensing boilers work
It ’s authoritative to understand how a condense boiler works . With a traditional boiler , fuel is combust to heat your water but a large portion of this is lost out of the flue pipe . With a condense steam boiler , there ’s a secondary heat exchanger , which is designed to recycle some of this heat , boost efficiency .
Using a boiler for your central warming , you have two pipes , the flow and the restoration . The flow is the pipe heading out of the kettle , which is used to hot up your radiator . The flow organ pipe has passed through the boiler ’s main warmth money changer and is inflame via burning gas to produce heat . This is effectively the same for all steam boiler character .
The return pipe is the pipe that come back in from your radiators . This water will be fond but not as spicy as the menstruation , as some heat is released into your room , via radiator , to heat them . In a condensing boiler , the return key pipe enters a secondary estrus exchanger , which has the task of capturing heat from the wastefulness gasses in the fluke .
The operation of doing this condenses urine vapour in the exhaust gun , recovering some of the heating system that would have otherwise have been wasted out the top of the flue pipe . This condensate , which is somewhat acidic , is take in from the boiler via a condensate tobacco pipe . Ideally , this should be internally extend to a drain ; where condensate pipe are led outside , there ’s adanger of freezing in cold-blooded weather .
The return pipe is then heated by this process , before flow back into the main heat author . Through this physical process , waste material muscularity is reprocess and the return pipe requires less energy to heat it as it has been pre - warm .
Is your condensing boiler in condensing mode?
For the condensing boiler to lock at maximum efficiency , the secondary heat exchanger ’s airfoil needs to be equal to or below the dew point temperature of the fuel used . This is the temperature at which water droplet form . For natural throttle kettle , thedewpoint is around 55 ° degree Celsius . In other parole , the H2O in the counter pipe demand to be 55 ° blow or lower or your steam boiler will not operate at maximum efficiency and potentially will not even condense .
Turning down the temperature on your boiler ’s central warming flow can help increase its efficiency . Boilers will have two dial : one to correct hot water temperature ( normally mark with a rap , or similar ) and one to aline central heating temperature ( often typify with a radiator picture ) . Most mod boilers will have a sign on the screen that shows you the head at which condensing mode will be sour on . On my Ideal Logic+ C30 , there ’s an ‘ E ’ icon on the central heat telephone dial , which corresponds to 68 ° C displayed on the screen , but on a dissimilar boiler that I looked at the ‘ vitamin E ’ icon corresponds to 60 ° carbon . loosely talk , a central heating temperature of 60 - to-65 ° C should work in most homes to get a boiler into condensing musical mode .
There are factors that will impress this . For example , if you have smart heating with individual radiator valves , such as with theHoneywell Evohome , the return temperature can change . For example , if you ’re wake the entire house , with all valves open , you ’ll get a cool return . If you ’ve only got one radiator valve open , the counter will be warm .
However , the benefit of only heating a single elbow room will mean that your kettle will shut down sooner , so the overall energy savings will be higher . For the best energy savings , a thermostat and kettle that can useOpenThermwill work best , as this lets the thermoregulator adjust ( modulate ) the water temperature for the best effect . you could also follow our guide onsaving money with smart heating system .
What about cost savings?
Running your boiler in digest style improves efficiency but does n’t necessarily intend that you ’re stupefy the practiced monetary value savings . It ’s actually more cost - effective to melt down your boiler at the last-place central heat temperature that still acquire your home to a comfortable temperature .
That may seem like the wrong manner around , but whacking your boiler up to maximum temperature may inflame your firm faster , but you ’ll get unfit efficiency and burn a lot more gas . At today ’s terms , in particular , that ’s not a good matter .
So , how low should you go ? Well , a warmth pump , a more eco - friendly way of heat your body of water , will only hit temperature of around 40 ° C to 45 ° light speed . It make sense to draw a bead on for 40 ° C to start with , as you ’ll reduce gas consumption .
You ’ll demand to reserve more time for your rooms to heat up up at this temperature . depend on how well insulated your abode is and how big your radiator are , you may find that that this low temperature is n’t enough for your menage . In that pillow slip , sample increase the temperature by 5 ° C to see if that works . Repeat until you regain the right-hand temperature for your household , with the one limitation that you need to have your boiler ’s temperature lay low enough that it runs in condensing musical mode .
What about weather compensation?
The external temperature has a part to encounter . The colder it is , the hotter you ’ll need the period temperature to warm up your home ; the milder it convey , the ice chest the flow temperature can be . you may adjust manually , turning the flow temperature up as it gets colder , and reduce flow temperature when it sire milder .
A better mode is to have weather recompense match to your steam boiler , which is an choice for most modern gas boilers . With weather condition compensation , an international temperature sensor is conform to . This set aside the boiler to adapt its rate of flow temperature automatically based on the outside temperature . For example as the temperature alfresco hits freeze , the flow temperature would be increased to 65 ° C .
As each home is unlike and requires different current temperature to strike the target temperature , you ’ll need a heating plant engineer to deploy the weather compensation kit and set the parameter aright .
What about hot water to the tap?
The temperature your hot water should be set at depends on the type of system that you have . However , it ’s important to note that if you have a combi - boiler , it ca n’t operate in condense mode for hot water , as there ’s no return flow to make the condensing procedure .
With that in mind , if you have a hot water tank , then your hot water period should be at least 60C and your hot water tank car should be set to store water at this temperature . This is because this is the temperature that kill legionella bacterium . As a result , you may want to go a few degrees warmer but under the brink required for distill
For a combi kettle , water supply is heated on demand and there ’s a very modest water tank . As such , there ’s very little likelihood of Legionella pneumophilia bacteria arise . While it ’s recommended that combi boiler are set to 60C for safety , it is potential to go cooler . We countersink our red-hot water to a temperature of 45C : hot enough for wash dish antenna and handwriting without the need to add up in cold water .
