Are there good and bad TRV's?

Tinders · 4 May 2017 at 07:58

Hi Folks,

Following on from my previous thread about swapping out some old rads, im also going to change the old valves to TRV's, well all bar one, as apparently, thats what you do on a combi system.

I was going to get the rads from Screwfix, but i wasnt sure if their boggo TRV's were upto the job, im guessing the better they are the tighter control they offer? whats a good bang for buck brand, i see Honeywell and Danfoss seem to be market leaders of sorts.

Adam · 4 May 2017 at 08:06

Just get some Drayton TRV4's. They look nice and can be picked up for about £20 each. I have one on every radiator in my house.

Mahonyy · 4 May 2017 at 09:38

+1 Draytons, I installed eight of them and no issues so far.

Psycho Sonny · 4 May 2017 at 09:39

it's hardly rocket science technology here. it's a manual valve controlled by hand and turning it. i would go for the cheapest ones tbh.

robj20 · 4 May 2017 at 09:48

Psycho Sonny said:
it's hardly rocket science technology here. it's a manual valve controlled by hand and turning it. i would go for the cheapest ones tbh.

Its not a manual valve at all.
Some used wax some use a fluid to adjust the valve automatically. Some are reliable some are not, some are accurate some are not.

Some like the Drayton TRV4 allow you to balance the radiator so you can just use the lockshield to turn the radiator off when needed and not needing to remember it's setting.

Psycho Sonny · 4 May 2017 at 09:50

robj20 said:
Its not a manual valve at all.
Some used wax some use a fluid to adjust the valve automatically. Some are reliable some are not, some are accurate some are not.

so which one to go for then?

robj20 · 4 May 2017 at 09:52

Psycho Sonny said:
so which one to go for then?

Drayton TRV4 have a good reputation.

psd99 · 4 May 2017 at 10:47

I also went for the draytons
good valves recommend them

A.N.Other · 4 May 2017 at 10:56

Definitely don't get the cheapest out there. We had central heating put in ~4 years ago and the plumbers used very cheap ones. They've been dropping like flies and I spent one of my Easter bank holiday days replacing every one in the house with ones that don't seep from around the pin. I got some Pegler Terrier ones that seem quite sturdy and have double o-ring seals around the pins.

a1ex2001 · 4 May 2017 at 11:00

A.N.Other said:
Definitely don't get the cheapest out there. We had central heating put in ~4 years ago and the plumbers used very cheap ones. They've been dropping like flies and I spent one of my Easter bank holiday days replacing every one in the house with ones that don't seep from around the pin. I got some Pegler Terrier ones that seem quite sturdy and have double o-ring seals around the pins.

I have to second this cheap ones will in my experience inevitably leak from around the pin in the end particularly I've found those with plastic pins. I only buy reasonable quality middle of the road valves with metal pins now unless I want something fancy to go on a designer radiator.

kinobestew123 · 4 May 2017 at 11:46

Our central heating is plastic piping from a central manifold. Therefore, my understanding is that each radiator receives its own hot water supply and hasn't passed through any other radiator.

I therefore presume that balancing the radiators is unimportant for me and I can just have each radiator as hot or as cold (off) as I want with no ill effects on the other radiators in the system? We have put TRV's on each radiator for this purpose which are just middle of the road. I can't remember the brand.

Or have I misunderstood how it works.

Mahonyy · 4 May 2017 at 12:05

kinobestew123 said:
Our central heating is plastic piping from a central manifold. Therefore, my understanding is that each radiator receives its own hot water supply and hasn't passed through any other radiator.

I therefore presume that balancing the radiators is unimportant for me and I can just have each radiator as hot or as cold (off) as I want with no ill effects on the other radiators in the system? We have put TRV's on each radiator for this purpose which are just middle of the road. I can't remember the brand.

Or have I misunderstood how it works.

It's not about pressure, it's about temperature, TRVs allow you to set different temperatures on each room

kinobestew123 · 4 May 2017 at 12:12

I realise most of what I said in this was complete rubbish so I've removed it so not to derail the thread.

robj20 · 4 May 2017 at 12:14

kinobestew123 said:
Our central heating is plastic piping from a central manifold. Therefore, my understanding is that each radiator receives its own hot water supply and hasn't passed through any other radiator.

I therefore presume that balancing the radiators is unimportant for me and I can just have each radiator as hot or as cold (off) as I want with no ill effects on the other radiators in the system? We have put TRV's on each radiator for this purpose which are just middle of the road. I can't remember the brand.

Or have I misunderstood how it works.

No. Single pipe systems havent been used for ages. Manifold system is used to reduce cost. It functions no different than a dual pipe system in that you have a flow and return to each radiator. Balancing is just as important. Manifold systems have there downsides usually that they use 10mm and 8mm pipework, which ever radiator has the longest pipework will warm up last.

You cant use TRVs at all on a single pipe system.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 4 May 2017 at 12:44

Has anyone tried the programmable TRVs?
I must admit to being tempted by these. Rooms like the gym and lounge seem pointless to be heated in the morning when they wont be used

http://www.screwfix.com/p/pegler-te...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CMCA7auU1tMCFXKI7Qod7XEKgQ

kinobestew123 · 4 May 2017 at 13:13

robj20 said:
No. Single pipe systems havent been used for ages. Manifold system is used to reduce cost. It functions no different than a dual pipe system in that you have a flow and return to each radiator. Balancing is just as important. Manifold systems have there downsides usually that they use 10mm and 8mm pipework, which ever radiator has the longest pipework will warm up last.

You cant use TRVs at all on a single pipe system.

Ahh, that makes sense now. Thanks a lot.

Psycho Sonny · 4 May 2017 at 15:26

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Has anyone tried the programmable TRVs?
I must admit to being tempted by these. Rooms like the gym and lounge seem pointless to be heated in the morning when they wont be used

http://www.screwfix.com/p/pegler-terrier-i-temp-i30-white-programmable-thermostatic-radiator-valve-x/71054?kpid=71054&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product%20Listing%20Ads-_-Sales%20Tracking-_-sales%20tracking%20url&gclid=Cj0KEQjwoqvIBRD6ls6og8qB77YBEiQAcqqHe-MgYRr7LVX_lfLESnhN4O0RAUj2TS080hw1Thbk1rEaApt08P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CMCA7auU1tMCFXKI7Qod7XEKgQ

honeywell and a few other companies have ones controllable by phones, etc.

they are very expensive so much so it would take decades to see any savings i imagine.

FlyingFish · 4 May 2017 at 16:20

We've fitted Altecnic Ecocal Trv's for years now, very reliable, and not too pricey.

HardwareGeek · 4 May 2017 at 18:40

Pegler are good quality and probably the cheapest i would go, trv4s are nice but expensive, also if you check the bodys / threads to make sure they are compatible with Smart trv heads coming out now like evohome etc, pegler and most big names should be but some unknown cheap stuff might not be

glitch · 3 Dec 2017 at 16:18

Bit of a blast from the past, but are TRV4 valves still the best of the bunch? I’m having all new radiators in the house and want to make sure I am not skimping on valves.

I’m going to need twelve of them, so where should I be looking to buy and for what price? Amazon @ c£21 a decent shout?