A room thermostat simply switches the heating
system on and off as necessary. It works by
sensing the air temperature, switching on the
heating when the air temperature falls below the
thermostat setting, and switching it off
once this set temperature has been reached.
Turning a room thermostat to a higher setting
will not make the room heat up any faster.
How quickly the room heats up depends on the
design of the heating system, for example, the
size of boiler and radiators.
Neither does the setting affect how quickly the
room cools down. Turning a room thermostat to a
lower setting will result in the room being controlled
at a lower temperature, and saves energy.
The heating system will not work if a time switch
or programmer has switched it off.
The way to set and use your room thermostat
is to find the lowest temperature setting
that you are comfortable with, and then
leave it alone to do its job. The best way to
do this is to set the room thermostat to a
low temperature – say 18ºC – and then
turn it up by one degree each day until you are
comfortable with the temperature. You won’t
have to adjust the thermostat further. Any
adjustment above this setting will waste energy
and cost you more money.
If your heating system is a boiler with radiators,
there will usually be only one room thermostat
to control the whole house. But you can have
different temperatures in individual rooms by
installing thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) on
individual radiators. If you don’t have TRVs, you
should choose a temperature that is reasonable
for the whole house. If you do have TRVs, you
can choose a slightly higher setting to make sure
that even the coldest room is comfortable, then
prevent any overheating in other rooms by
adjusting the TRVs.
Room thermostats need a free flow of air to
sense the temperature, so they must not be
covered by curtains or blocked by
furniture. Nearby electric fires, televisions,
wall or table lamps may prevent the
thermostat from working properly.
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What is a room thermostat?
... an explanation for householders
