All new boilers must be fitted with time and temperature controls e.g. a programmable room thermostat, if not already present Advanced controls are also programmable room stats but have the addition of operating the boiler more efficiently during its periods of operation. Programmable thermostats for combi boilers Review and compare 32 thermostatic radiator valves by style and budget: standard, premium, chrome and budget. These are used with regular and system boilers where the programmer needs to control the heating and the hot water timing. (They can also be used with combi boilers where there are two separate heating circuits or a mix of radiators and underfloor heating). Honeywell ST9400C 7 Day Programmer is a 2 channel programmer, designed for control of both heating and stored hot water in complete systems. The heating and hot water programmes are completely independent, to allow the system to be operated in the most energy efficient manner possible.

TOP TIP make sure your advanced heating control is compatible with your preferred boiler. If the advanced control uses weather compensation, load compensation or both then the control and the boiler must be able to communicate with each other in the same ‘language’. Most boiler manufacturers use a bespoke language that means only their ‘compensation’ controls can work with their boilers. Some boiler and control manufacturers have adopted the ‘Opentherm’ language which means that differ products, such as a Honeywell control and Baxi boiler can speak with each other. See our Guide to Opentherm products and alternative controls 4) Which control do I need to comply with Boiler Plus?The common aim of all advanced controls is to ensure the boiler is on for the shortest possible time to meet the room temperature. Standard controls tend to overshoot the room temperature by 1 or 2 degrees which is very inefficient. Advanced controls reduce the heat output of the boiler as it approaches the desired temperature to prevent overshooting. The net result is a reduction is gas use and lower fuel bills. All Honeywell ST9400 models incorporate the Line of Text (LoT™) display that gives clear plain English instructions whenever any button or slider is used. This means that installers, customers and users can operate all of the controls reliably, without needing to find an instruction manual. For all new a boiler installations a thermostat must be accompanied by a separate time control or programmer (or use combined a model see below). For existing installations it is still permissible to use a standalone thermostat. The table below shows standalone wireless thermostatic controls, but they will also be available in wired models. wireless thermostats with programmers (non smart control)

d. Flue gas recovery unit - this sits above the boiler and recovers heat from the flue. It is reported to reduce gas consumption by upto 4%. Smart heating controls are all programmable thermostats that are connected to the internet and operable via a smart phone app. Most use some form of advanced heating control (i.e. weather compensation, load compensation and/or automation/optimisation features). Many are now compatible with Alexa, Apple, IFTTT and other smart home devices. This can provide additional functionality, for example you can turn your heating on and off via the voice activated smart home device or active geofencing sensors (the heating will come on as you near home via a GPS signal from your phone). NB some smart controls such as Nest and Tado come with geofencing as part of the device. For more on smart controls try our Guide to Smart Heating Controls or Guide to Home Automation Systems. 7) Zoning At their most basic, heating controls tell the boiler to come on and go off via a room thermostat. A room thermostat is set to the desired temperature and it will tell the boiler to come on until that room temperature is reached. Once reached, the thermostat will tell the boiler to go off again. These take the form of a digital display or a dial thermostat.

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An additional energy saving measure must also be installed for combination boilers from the following list (a-c are all advanced heating controls): The Honeywell ST9400C Two Channel unit is a 7 day full programmer that gives great flexibility offering up to three on/off switchings per day, additionally each day can be programmed differently, which is ideal for when the user has different heating needs from day to day. The Honeywell ST9400C can be set to 5/2 day or 1 day programme during installation. A thermostat sets the desired room temperature whilst a programmer gives the user great control of the times the heating is on. A programmable room thermostat is a combined unit that does both. There are two main types of programmer: 1 day and 7 day (although some with a 5/2 day options). Most programmers will allow you set 2-6 time periods per day and also set different temperatures for each time period. If you only have a thermostat then your boiler will fire on and off all day unless 1) you turn the thermostat down when you out or 2) you switch the boiler off when you go out. Single Channel and Twin Channel Programmers If you are extending your property significantly, you may wish to consider separating the ground and first floor radiators in this way. It will involve re-plumbing parts of the system and additional pipework, as well as adding zone valves to each circuit. Thermostatic Radiator Valves The conventional way is to fit Thermostat Radiator Valves (TRVs). This will allow you to control the temperature of each radiator, e.g. turning off radiators in little used rooms and turning them down in the bedrooms. This is a manual exercise but once done rarely needs changing. TRVs can be fitted to most radiators by a plumber. For a comprehensive review of 32 TRVs regard our Guide to Thermostatic Radiator Valves. Smart Radiator Valves

Some weather compensation systems use data from the local weather station to inform your heating system of a change in temperature. This is less accurate but makes for a more straightforward installation with fewer parts to go wrong. Load compensation takes the difference between the lower internal room temperature and the desired room temperature and adjusts the boiler’s output to close the gap as efficiently as possible. For smaller properties, the work and cost involved in re-piping the system to create two zones is rarely worth it. There are more cost effective, and less disruptive, ways of achieving variations in temperature.

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If you wish to control your heating and hot water from a single control you will need a programmable room thermostat with two channels: one to signal to the boiler to come on and one to control the hot water. It is common to have a two-channel programmer and separate thermostat, although we have only considered combined heating and hot water units below. We review a mix of standard and smart programmable thermostats from Honeywell, Myson, Worcester, Vaillant, Nest and Tado. For more programmable thermostats try our Guide to Wireless Programmable Thermostats. wireless thermostats for heating and hot water Read our guide on wireless heating controls , both standard and smart controls, and the boiler plus scheme. Smart radiator valves will also individually control heat radiator, the difference is that the temperature can be controlled by a central programmable room stat. Smart valves can be grouped together to operate as a single circuit or controlled individually. They are a very easy fit to most radiators. Review and compare Smart Controls, including Boiler Branded smart controls, also referred to as remote heating controls, internet controls and wifi controls. Conventional zoning is really only worth undertaking in larger properties. It involves piping two heating zones, usually ground floor and first floor. Each zone is controlled by a separate thermostat, allowing you to set different temperatures on each floor thus saving energy. For example, 21 degrees downstairs and 16 degree upstairs.