Ideally I would like a modern digital timer with flexibility for multiple programmes for different days and times and a wireless thermostat in the living room to control the temperature. And one that doesn't lose all it's settings whenever there is a power interruption! Is it as simple as looking at a wiring diagram for the ST699 and attaching to the corresponding connection of a new timer? Yep like that - they're called 'Lifestyle 2-port motorised valve', there is one underneath the pump on a pipe that doesn't go into the cylinder, and one on a pipe that come off the other pipe and goes into the cylinder about halfway up it.

Whilst Hive has an earth terminal it isn't actually connected to anything. Hive doesn't need an earth connection itself. The terminal is just there to 'park' any earth wires that happen to be present and keep them together so that they are safely out of the way of the other terminals. I don't want to spend too much time figuring out the problem if the easy solution is replacing the timer and job done. The boiler is due its annual service and a good clean as we live in a flat with a dog and fluff. But I don't think the problem is related to the boiler. I would really like to get rid of the thermostat in the hall altogether for cosmetic purposes and I would love to have more flexible control over the heating than the draconian timer we have now that has one setting for all days for both the heating and the hot water at the same time. As an aside my 'bay' window is more like a box on the side of the house, it's not full height and as far as I can see the large window sill is the only thing separating it from the outside, which seems like a horrible design from an energy saving/warmth point of view considering all the other walls have cavity wall insulation.The boiler seems to be working fine. I did have to re-ignite the pilot light as it had gone out prior to me discovering my problem.

You can have hot water only, but you can't have heating only - the hot water has to be on for the heating to work, although I have no idea how the two are connected from a system point of view... I do know that there is a Grundfos pump in the airing cupboard next to the cylinder and two white boxes connected to the pipes which I believe are motorised valves, but that is the extent of my knowledge - the airing cupboard is a bit of a spaghetti junction or pipes and wheel valves, and I don't really know what any of them do! I just opened them all when I first moved in and hoped for the best, I've never touched them since lol. Is the problem likely to be a fault with the timer and if so is a replacement easy to install myself? Is it a DIY job or something a professional should do, baring in mind I don't want to replace the whole system, just the timer/thermostat of the existing system? I've been doing a lot of research on heating systems recently, and for those that have seen my other topic I've been having trouble with a cold radiator which I think will need new valves.

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Having said that I suppose it can't hurt to put a TRV on the kitchen radiator as that doesn't really need to be on while we're in there cooking, worth considering I suppose... My question is how difficult would it be to replace just the timer and thermostat (with a wireless one) without touching anything else in the system? Would I need to replace it with a Honeywell model or are all the wires like for like? This has lead me to think that while I'm replacing valves anyway I may as well use the opportunity to fit Thermostatic valves to all the upstairs radiators. I always thought I would need to replace the boiler system to get these but (unless I'm very mistaken) it's just a case of swapping the valves on the existing system. Not so worried about downstairs but our upstairs rooms are very prone to overheating and I think TRVs would really help and save money. The only reason I wasn't going to bother with downstairs was because we don't really have trouble with the heat levels downstairs, if anything it's hard to keep it warm even when heaters are on constantly as it is a large open plan space and has a very large bay window at one end and French doors at the other. But this has got me thinking, why stop there? Our boiler is controlled by an ancient looking Honeywell timer which from Googling I think is a Honeywell ST699 (except our version features a delightful brown/beige colour scheme!) There is also an equally old looking thermostat dial in the hall (just above the radiator which doesn't strike me as an ideal location!).

I have used only the hot water (HW) on twice a day timer over the summer. But not used the central heating (CH). I have recently changed to using the CH & HW and set the timer for HW & CH on twice a day. Sounds like there would be a bit more work involved in sorting the flexibility side out, as well as updating thermostatic room control, so I think I might just leave that bit alone until the day comes that I install a whole new combi-system.Unfortunately wiring colours tend to be meaningless with heating systems. One installer may use a blue wire for a certain purpose another may use a brown for the same function. So never assume a blue wire is actually being used as a neutral it may be being used as a live. It's what a wire is connected to at each end that determines its function, not the colour of its insulation.