Really boring central heating question.

Hi TD, suprised, thought you'd left here. I'll describe. Boiler and oil tank external but in a stone bit attached to the house. Radiators inside, whole thing runs off petrolo, no solar applications. My basic question is once it is all turned on is it best to have all the radiators on or is it not necesaary. I want the best option to make the oil last longer and the perfect choice of having the whole lot on all day at full is not an option my pocket allows. All the external bits are modern and and everthing but it needs electric to be on as well or the boiler turns off, so power cut no heat at all. Please advise, my oil comes tomorrow and I don't want to waste it and need to make it last 4 months.

Hi thea, you got the right person here. :) I was hoping tdemex would answer this one when I read your introduction. :)

I know Vandana, I just hope he returns with his experience.

I don't do heaters either - but I'd be interested if there was a switch to turn the sun down.

Thanks for the BR. Note to self: must do bogus links more often. :-)

Okay you got me - I know it was stupid but I opened it.

Hi ShepherdSpy, so glad to see you here, not terribly bright of me to add the word boring to the title. Now lets see,pipes are indoors so won't freeze, the boiler bit is in a built on out bit and the main big pipe goes through the stone wall. A have a thermostat but they put it in a stupid place, right next to a downstairs radiator, the living area is much bigger open plan and upstairs. So if I turn on the radiator next to the theromostat the thermostat turns off when its still cold upstairs. So I tend to leave that one off. I've long been reaching for several jumpers and even a warm coat indoors as last winter was bitter but could have been lovely if I'd been able to run the heat 24/7 at a high heat, I was reduced to essential times on not too hot though. So with the extra info there would you go for turning the unwanted wants part way and the needed ones open fully? I wasted about a quarter of a tank last winter in the first 10 days as the central heating man told me it not to bleed the radiators as it would make them go rusty but when I realised that only half of the biggest one was hot I let the air out of them all and they worked better. Do you think I should do that before I turn the whole system on. Sorry I'm a woman and not many have CH here to ask.

CH Guy said NOT to bleed the radiators? they don't work properly if there's air in them! I don't know if there's a recommended procedure for doing the job,but if I find one that's not heating properly or there's cold spots when the system is running,out comes the bleed key..

Well that's what I did and it slowed the use of the oil right down. Maybe he's trying to justify the money he expects me to pay him to service it each year but I'm not playing anymore, it is way too much money. Just got to remember where I put the key now.It was definitely somewhere safe where I wouldn't lose it.

Thank you Scarlet, this is what I've been after and am inclined to do. It's basically a case of wanting to keep some rooms hot and not others - have you tried this yourself and found it more economical?

yup-we have a couple of rooms that aren't used most of the time and i can't see heating them.close the doors in the unused rooms tho,if they have doors on them because it keeps any cold air from spilling into the warmer areas.

Hatley if you told me you knew what to do with my central heating I wouldn't take the slightest bit of notice of you as you are as technophobic as I am. Plugs into sockets rings lots of bells. I just wish these Greek men who are supposed to know would stop contradicting each other but it is ingrained in them, I feel like saying this is my central heating we're talking about, not the local elections, but they are just programmed to disagree with each other or offer me a free load of wood for the somba which I keep telling them all is broken.

I'm like hugo, can't sleep in a hot room. I guess u will jave to be the judge & the jury on this one. I just close the vent in my room & that makes me happy.

That's the way I'm thinking of going if I don't get a definitive answer on if that way doesn't break something. I never wanted the radiator in Hugo's room in the first place as he hates being too hot and the room is smaller so heats up more but the central heating man went on about it and it made sense for selling the house.

Hi Cloud, we have the extreme sun in the summer so I know what you mean. It's on full now actually but it will be cold again in an hour and at this time of year it is much warmer outside than in. If we have water in the summer I have to leave the shower running on cold for a while to prevent scalding from the solar, but I've never heard of exploding tanks. The biggest inconveinience is the way the wash basin in the bathroom has been plumbed in somehow so that in the summer it only ever produces hot water, not cold. Bizarre. The man just brought the petrelo round this morning and he says it is ok to just turn some off but he'll send his friend round to check it out. Nice of him as everyone is ordering less oil this winter to save money.

Hi neil, Greece is meant to be hot for 300 days of the year but it isn't, and each winter gets colder and wetter and longer. In the summer we have intense heat and the winter is cold. Today it is really nice and sunny outside but it does not penetrate indoors at this time of year so takes a long time lift the cold the night.

Hi Cynthiann, waving enthusiatically back, surely you don't need heating in Jamaica, I imagined that as hot all year round. Mind you I was fooled into thinking that Greece was hot nearly all year which it obviously isn't, but they still lie in the books and say it is. Your response is appreciated and will weigh in the other thousands I'm bound to receive as I put the word 'boring' in the title - not a smart move.