Heating system

[steve]

Hi,
I've recently moved into Raddon tower and an a little confused by the heating system(s). Please correct me if any of the following is incorrect:
I understand that there is a dual system. One an emergency backup system (controlled by the digital interface in the internal boiler room). The other is a block/development wide general heating/hot water system which I have no control over and can be switched on/off by pressing the switch to the side of the boiler.

I want to avoid any wastage!

Many thanks

Steve

[Mark]

Hi Steve.

Am hoping that a Raddon resident will be able to respond in case your blocks system is somehow different but I believe it is the same as mine (Gaumont) and all the others in the Square.

It works like this: Beneath Gaumont Tower is a large power plant that burns compressed wood pellets to make hot water. This water is then pumped throughout the whole development, each and every apartment on every floor of every block. Each apartment then has a heat-exchanger that when activated, allows you to draw heat from the development-wide system into your apartments system (you do not draw hot water from it, just heat via the exchanger). If you are drawing heat for heating, the water within your heating system is heated directly via the exchanger and is immediately pumped through your heating system. If you are drawing heat to make hot water, that is stored in the tank in cupboard in your apartment. Both of these systems are controlled by the digital interface control panel found, normally, in the same cupboard as the hot water tank.

Now, should the power plant fail for some reason (fingers crossed it doesn't), you will no longer be able to heat your apartment until it is fixed and back on line. *shiver*. For hot water though, there is a backup in the shape of a switch on the side of the hot water tank that allows heating the tank via electricity (as in a standard emersion heater).

Hope that has cleared things up for you. If no-one from Raddon is able to confirm or deny what I have written and you are still unsure, you will find the guys in the Barrat sales office should be able to help, failing that, you can always drop Sean Stone (the on-site Consort development manager) an email at [e-mail]. Of course, if all else fails, I have found the service team at E-On Heat (you will find their number on the top of your E-On Heat bill) to be very helpful.

[ewa]

Hi Mark, I read your response above.. We are trying to understand the heating settings at our home.. In your response you mentioned Both the hot water & heating systems are controlled by the digital interface control panel found, normally, in the same cupboard as the hot water tank.

Please can you explain how we can set the settings for hot water and heating separately? Currently we have just one setting that we assumed was hot water.. We are clocking approx 60KWPH of heat per day with 30 mins of hot water usage & minimal settings for heating (20 de with set back 18)..

[Mark]

Hi Ewa.

Oh crikey, this is going to be very tricky indeed, if not impossible. I am still overseas (and therefore unable to look at my box for reference), and haven't looked at my box in ages so am going to really struggle to remember how it worked. And that assumes your control box is the same as mine. Am also wondering if you own or rent your place? If you own it you should have a user manual in the bundle of paperwork Barrat supplied when you got your keys. If you rent (or have no manual), I wonder if it will be easiest to simply contact Barrat and get them to send you a manual (or a copy of it at least). Call them on 0208 522 5500, asking for customer service, or pop into the sales office on the square if it is still there).

Failing that, I will be back in the Square on Feb 2nd and would be happy to pop round and have a look for you . I think that is all I can really offer at the moment. Hope that helps.

[ewa]

Hi Mark, thank you so much for your quick response.. I will contact Barratts in the mean time..

[jelly]

Hello Ewa / Steve ,

I also have the same problem trying to figure out how to set our thermostats as the underfloor heating seems to come on at random times and we are worried we will be hit with a big bill at some point!

Did you have any luck with contacting Barratts about how the heating system works?

We have the manuals but after many studious hours studying the pages we are still in the dark!

Many thanks,

Jo