Hate your heating controller? This might help!
The headlines
Heating controllers have a huge influence on our energy costs, but not everyone finds them easy to use.
This article directs you to manufacturer websites where you can find heating controller user manuals which might help you if you don't have one.
Google also does a great job of finding manuals for central heating boilers if you don't have one.
Some folk love them, some folk hate them. We are all different, and central heating programmers are all different: some awful to use, some not so awful to use!
But they obviously have an essential role in heating our homes and an impact on costs and comfort.
Whether you are simply curious to understand how your programmer works, so that you get more value out of it this winter, or want to overcome your hatred of it, below are web links (in most cases) to find online versions of the user instruction manuals for the most common manufacturers.
The model number of any heating controller will be written 'somewhere' on the front of it, or perhaps behind a flap.
If the manufacturer's own website doesn't give you what you want, just Google the model number and make of your programmer, along with the words 'user instructions', and it should give you a source.
There are lots of websites out there that just specialise in providing downloads for manuals for pretty much any electrical product.
There are also a good number of YouTube videos giving guides to programming specific controllers, so if you know your model number or even just the make of your programmer you could well find something on there to help you also.
If you only have a 24-hour timer, I'd urge you strongly to a 7-day one!
Heating programmer download web pages:
Drayton - see here.
Honeywell - see here, and look for the search box at the bottom of the page.
Siemens - frustratingly, I can't find a single specific web page on the Siemens site for documents like this. But if you Google with your controller model number you will definitely find what you want. They ARE out there, scattered about in cyberspace.
Salus - See here and, if you can't see what you want on this web page, there is a simple contact form at the bottom you can use to request one.
Vaillant - search box at the top of this page.
Heatmiser - search box top right on this page.
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Thanks.
Mark Thompson
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I much preferred the old analogue dial thermostat on our old boiler to the bells & whistles digital one with our current boiler. It may be remote & have more features, but I loved that with just one action I could turn the heating up or down as I wished with the old dial unit. If we were going out for a while I could just drop the temperature down whilst out & boost it back up when we were home.
i don’t understand the digital one at all. It’s difficult & fiddly & not easy to use. We are both pensioners, so have the heating on all the time during the day. To be able to easily adjust…
THe instructions for my boiler/heater thingy is a total nightmare to understand! It has a "manual," "auto" and "allday" settings. No idea which to choose. I tend to put it on "all day" and then switch it on and off when I need some heat on. What setting can I put this and just control the room temp via the little box in the hall? I;m forever going up and downstairs to put the heating on and off!