Heat pumps have garnered a lot of attention over the years thanks to the duality of their core functions. In winter, heat pumps work like a heater and look after your heating and hot water requirements whereas, in summer, they can transform into an air-conditioning unit. This two-in-one heating and cooling function is not common in traditional boilers and heating systems, which makes air and ground source heat pumps stand out as all-purpose performers. Thanks to their specialised heating and cooling features, heat pumps need bespoke thermostats to work effectively. The thermostat technology has developed significantly over the years, giving you energy-efficient options that can be paired with your heat pump installation for great heating performance.  Before we delve deeper into how to choose the perfect thermostat for your heat pump, let’s find out more about how it works.  Thermostats for Heat Pump – How They Work! Thermostats for heat pumps have one simple job ...

We live in an age where smart phones connect us to nearly every aspect of our lives —  and it seems that there is no end in sight. This technological revolution is also extending to the way we control indoor comfort. As a result, the simple thermostat, which has been a basic staple in our homes for decades, has significantly evolved.   Today’s thermostats or control systems can offer a wide range of features and connectivity with a smart phone, making it even easier to align your lifestyle with the comfort in your home. However, will this new, smart home technology connect with your current heating and cooling system?     Your current heating and cooling system likely was designed to perform a single function — to heat or cool your home. It may not have been designed to directly communicate with the various types of control technology on the market today. Depending on the HVAC system in your home, it’s possible that only a specific style...

WHAT BRAND OR MODEL SHOULD I INSTALL? The only way to get a meaningful recommendation is to set an appointment with the professionals at ecobay. When we come to your home, our heat pump experts will evaluate all aspects of your home and your preferences to recommend the right system for your needs and budget.   ISN’T IT TOO COLD HERE FOR HEAT PUMPS? That is a common misconception, but it is simply not true. They work more efficiently in a warmer climate, but more than 70% of our normal heating season is above 32 degrees (the record setting cold we have been experiencing so far this winter is obviously not the norm) so there is ample opportunity for savings. We can set up your system as “dual fuel” so your system automatically switches over from heat pump to your oil, propane, or natural gas system when needed.   DO THEY MAKE A MODEL FOR MY BASEBOARD OR RADIATOR HEAT SYSTEM? No, but there are options for you too. Ductless split systems and/or adding ductwork ...

We may be among the biggest names in domestic and commercial power flushing here at Power Flush Wizard, but we are also renowned for the many other upgrades that we can perform for the central heating systems of UK householders and business owners.     For our latest blog post, we thought we’d focus on a little service of ours that we don’t talk about much, but which could make a big difference to the energy efficiency of your home: thermostatic radiator valve installation.   What are thermostatic radiator valves? Thermostatic radiator valves, or TRVs, are an alternative to manual radiator valves that enable you to control how you use the heat in your home.   As their name suggests, TRVs sense the temperature of a room and then adjust that temperature by increasing or reducing the hot water flow to the radiator. So if the temperature of the room rises above a desired level, the valve will ensure that less water flows through the radiator, thereby reducin...

The Thermostatic radiator valve is an essential piece of radiator technology. It is one of the many heating controls for controlling air temperature across rooms, and due to its great value and straight forward function it is one of the most popular choices.   A TRV is fitted on the side of your radiator and correctly set up enables you to maximise a single boiler and enjoy different temperatures across different rooms.   The TRV automatically regulates and as a result adjusts the flow of water into your radiator depending on the chosen setting. As the room temperature changes the valve head of the TRV expands, adjusting a pin in the valve so that it either opens or closes. Expansion happens as the room heats and blocks the valve body to receive less hot water into he radiator. Contraction happens as the room cools and as a result opens the valve body allows more hot water to enter the radiator.   What-Are-Thermostatic-Radiator-Valves The key benefit of thermostatic radi...

You can place a thermostatic radiator valve, or TRV, on a radiator within a hot-water or steam heating system. A thermostatic radiator valve enables you to control the temperature of that specific radiator, thus giving you greater control of the temperature and comfort of that room or space.     Thermostatic radiator valves also improve your heating system’s efficiency. For instance, if you have a radiator in your kitchen, you may want to include a thermostatic radiator valve on it. If your thermostat is set to 72 degrees F in your living room and you’ve got the oven on in the kitchen, chances are you are not going to need your kitchen radiator to pump out more heat. You can use your thermostatic radiator valve to turn down the heat for the kitchen radiator while you are cooking. You can also turn the thermostatic radiator valves down in rooms that you use less often to conserve energy. Programmable thermostatic radiator valves can work on your schedule.   Ho...

TRVs can save you money because they allow you to heat your home more efficiently and in a smart way that is appropriate to each area of the home. For example, you may want to keep your living room toasty, have your bedroom cool and the baby’s room warm and with TRVs you can do that accurately. Likewise, if there are spare rooms that you don’t really use you can keep them aired or turn the heating off completely.     Once the room reaches the desired temperature, the TRV will knock the heating off to maintain it plus the heating will only come on if the temperature falls below that which is set. This means that radiators don’t produce unnecessary heat.   Of course there is a cost to installing TRVs on your system. Because the system needs to be drained prior to installation it makes sense to install TRVs on every radiator because much of the installation cost stems from the time required to do this which would be the same whether installing 1 or 10 TRVs...

Thermostatic radiator valves, also known as TRVs, are valves that regulate the temperature of the radiator based on the temperature of the room. It helps create a more responsive heating system, allowing you to maintain a desired temperature in each room individually.   If your central heating system is one boiler with one thermostat that determines the heating level for the whole house, TRVs would give you a separate thermostat on each radiator that controls the heat within that room. Obviously, a single thermostat will determine the heating based on the temperature in the room that it is located in yet the temperature will inevitably vary across different rooms based on size of room, size of radiator and position within the house relative to the boiler.

Smart thermostats are cool. They save energy, lower bills, and they make your house look like the futuristic residence of a Star Trek character. The problem is, I live in an apartment in New York City that only has a radiator, so I can’t really get in on the connected home action.   Fortunately for me, ecobay, a company that specializes in modern, minimalist smart home tech, just announced at IFA its new Smart Radiator Valves, which adds smartphone control to individual radiators. The Smart Radiator Valve can control valves to start and stop heating the room as desired, allowing for room-by-room temperature control and scheduling. The Smart Radiator Valves look great too, with a translucent plexiglass Philippe Starck design and an e-paper screen for displaying the current temperature.   However, there’s a couple catches to my smart radiator valve dream. First off, while the Smart Radiator Valve lets you control temperature through ecobay’s app (or Apple Home...

To control your heating from your phone on a room-by-room basis, you'll need a smart radiator valve (thermostatic radiator valve or TRV). Here are our recommendations.   There’s a reason smart heating is growing in popularity. Not only will it give you more control over the temperature in your home – so it’s always warm when you want it to be – but you can easily monitor your heat and potentially make savings on your energy bills. Still, we’d advise that you take manufacturers’ money-saving claims with a pinch of salt.   If you’re buying an entire smart heating system, it’ll take some time to recoup the cost of the tech but a smart radiator valve is a much smaller investment. Each one will allow you to control a single room, which means you can schedule heating so that it’s warm when it needs to be and no heat is wasted the rest of the time.   Being able to see the temperature clearly on your phone screen or on the de...