Research emphasises the significant potential benefits for householders
Research carried out by the University of Salford last year demonstrated that the addition of a simple room thermostat plus thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) to a conventional heating system could reduce energy costs by 40%. Now a further stage of research shows that using a modern ‘TPI’ room thermostat will yield higher savings. Using such a thermostat together with TRVs was shown to increase the overall savings to 53%; that’s a further 13% reduction in running costs compared to the tests using a more conventional room thermostat.
TPI room thermostats are a readily available technology that use a sophisticated algorithm to provide close control of room temperature and, as shown by the test results, keep the boiler in condensing mode for longer.
BEAMA Heating Controls, who commissioned the research from Salford University, hope that the scale of potential savings will encourage more householders to ask an installer how their own controls can be improved. Colin Timmins from BEAMA commented: “Heating installers should be more than happy to check out what controls your heating system currently lacks and what improvements could be made. These new tests show that even homes that already have a good set of controls could benefit by replacing an older room thermostat with a modern one.”
September 2014 ends
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