District heating at home. It s simple.

Transcription

1 District heating at home. It s simple. Trouble with Nuon district heating? Call (free). Available 24/7.

2 Contents District heating: simple, safe and environmentally friendly 3 Our delivery set in your meter cabinet 4 Controlling the temperature 6 Your maintenance: venting the radiators 8 Tips for more comfort 9 Questions and answers 10 We have done our best to make this booklet accurate and complete. However, you are not entitled to any specific legal rights. 2

3 District heating Simple, safe and environmentally friendly This booklet explains household district heating. If you have any questions after reading it, please do not hesitate to contact Nuon. See the back page for full contact details. District heating is simple and safe. With district heating, you do not need a central heating boiler or natural gas. We heat water in a central location and pump it to your home. The hot water enters your home through our delivery set in the meter cabinet. From there, the hot water goes into your house for central heating and to the hot water taps. It s that simple. What s even better is that district heating is environmentally friendly. District heating makes use of residual heat, which greatly reduces emissions of the greenhouse gas CO 2. Your home therefore makes a significant contribution to a better climate. 3

4 Our delivery set in your meter cabinet If you open the meter cabinet, you can see where district heating enters your home through the Nuon delivery set. From there, the water flows to your radiators and hot water taps. The adjacent figure shows an example. Heat meter and consumption Some delivery sets have one heat meter while others have two. How many meters you have depends on how your tap water is heated. In many cases, the tap water is heated in the delivery set. In that case you have individual tap water (ITW) and you have one heat meter. It measures how much heat you consume for heating and hot tap water. On your bill you will see just one item for district heating, stated in gigajoules (GJ). Another option is that your hot tap water is heated at a central location in the neighborhood. This is called central tap water (CTW). In that case you have two heat meters: one for hot tap water and another for heating. You will see two items on your bill for district heating. Your hot tap water consumption is stated in cubic meters (m 3 ), while consumption for heating your home is stated in gigajoules (GJ). Ensure good ventilation The delivery set in your meter cabinet needs proper ventilation. That s why there are grilles or ventilation openings at the top and bottom of the meter cabinet door. Keep these openings free. Do not use your meter cabinet as storage space. Keep the delivery set accessible There s another reason not to use your meter cabinet as storage space. We need to be able to access the delivery set quickly in the event of an inspection or repairs. Sometimes pipes are also installed in the crawl space of your building. We also need to be able to access them quickly and easily. 4

5 District heating return District heating supply Supply to home Return from home Hot tap water Main water supply Example Nuon delivery set with individual tap water (ITW). The exterior of your delivery set may be different. Note: Ensure good ventilation in your meter cabinet. Keep the ventilation openings free. 5

6 Controlling the temperature With district heating, you control the temperature in the same way as with a flow-through heater or a central heating boiler. Three types of controls are commonly used: 1. Thermostatic radiator valves This enables you to control the temperature in each room separately. If there is more than one radiator in the same room, we recommend setting all the valves to the same position. This will give you an equal heat level. Example thermostatic radiator valve 2. Combination of thermostatic radiator valves and a central switch Thermostatic radiator valves are often combined with a central switch, also known as a night setback switch. This enables you to control the heat from all radiators in your home at the same time, e.g. in the evening when you go to bed and in the morning when you get up. This means that you do not have to open or close every radiator valve individually. Example central switch (night setback switch) 6

7 3. Room thermostat A room thermostat allows you to precisely control the heat in your home. We recommend setting the temperature two to three degrees lower at night than during the day. This saves a great deal of energy and ensures your home will warm up quickly in the morning. Programmable thermostats (clock thermostats) are also available. They allow you to set specific temperatures at fixed times. Example room thermostat Temperature control broken? The temperature control is part of your home s central heating system. If it is not working properly, contact an accredited installer or your landlord. Would you like to have a room thermostat? Don t have a room thermostat but would like one? Call our Customer Service at , or contact an accredited installer or your landlord. Note: Central switches and room thermostats are often connected to the electricity grid. This can be dangerous if you need to remove them, for example for painting or wallpapering. 7

8 Your maintenance: venting the radiators With district heating you do not have a central heating boiler, so you don t need to maintain it. The only maintenance you have to do is to occasionally vent the radiators. If you hear a bubbling sound in the pipes or radiators, you know it is time to vent the radiators. These are your steps: 1. Close valve 5 on the delivery set in your meter cabinet (see page 5). That stops the supply of heating water. Now you can vent the radiators one by one. Start on the bottom floor and finish on the top floor. 2. Read the instructions for your central heating system. In most cases you use a special key to open a small tap on the radiator and let the air escape. Be careful while doing it at a certain point water will also flow out, and it can be hot. You should have a cloth or tray at hand to catch the water. 3. As soon as water starts flowing out of the tap, close the tap. 4. Repeat the above steps for each radiator. 5. Open valve 5 on the delivery set. Your heating system is now ready for use again. Store the vent key in a convenient place. Note: The delivery set valves should not remain closed for a long time in winter when there is frost outside, as this can lead to damage. If you go away for an extended period of time in the winter, take the following precautions: First, check that all radiators are working properly. Next: - Set all thermostatic valves to the frost protection position (indicated by a snowflake symbol). - If you also have a central switch (night setback), set it to the day position. - If you have a room thermostat, open all radiator valves completely and put the thermostat in economy mode (about 15 C). 8

9 Tips for more comfort Heat rooms at an equal level Do you have more than one radiator in the same room? Set them to the same level. That enables an equal heat distribution. Ventilate your home properly Ventilate your home at least once a day for 15 minutes. Regularly refreshing the air in your home improves heating comfort and minimizes energy loss. Keep room thermostats, radiator valves and central switches free These devices do not work effectively if they are covered, e.g. behind a curtain. The same applies if there is a heat source in the vicinity, such as a lamp. Keep radiators free Avoid enclosing radiators, and do not cover them. That obstructs their heat emission and increases your heating costs. It is also better to not place furniture or decorative screens in front or hang curtains in front. Showering: keep others in mind If two hot water taps are open at the same time, one will be hotter than the other. You should therefore check if someone is in the shower. Inconvenient? Request a higher CW class. To learn more about this, visit nuon.nl/stadswarmte. 9

10 Questions and answers You can call us with your questions at any time, but please first check whether the answer is given below. 1. What part of the heat installation is Nuon responsible for? We guarantee the delivery of heat to your meter cabinet and ensure that the delivery set in the meter cabinet is working properly. 2. What part of the heat installation is Nuon not responsible for? We are not responsible for the part of the installation located on the other side of the handles of the delivery set. That includes the thermostat, radiators and floor heating, for example. That part is the responsibility of the homeowner. If you rent your home, that is the landlord. If you own your home, that is you. 3. My home does not warm up Check three things: Are all valves open on the delivery set? Are the radiator valves open? Is the central switch or the room thermostat set correctly? If you think there is something wrong with the delivery set, call our emergency heat support service: (free 24/7). For all other questions, contact an accredited installer or your landlord. 4. It s extremely cold outside and the living room does not warm up Heat the rooms that you normally do not heat. Otherwise, the walls and floors will stay too cold. 5. The radiators are only warm at the top It is normal that a radiator stays cold at the bottom. That relates to your system s setup. 6. One of the radiators does not warm up Check if the radiator valve is open. Open the valve all the way. If nothing happens after five minutes, vent the radiator. If that does not help, close the valves on all other radiators. If that also does not help, contact an accredited installer or your landlord. 7. The tap water is too hot, too cold, or varies in temperature Call our emergency heat support service: (free 24/7). 10

11 8. Only cold water is coming out of my hot water taps Go to the meter cabinet and check on the delivery set if valves 1, 2 and 3 are open (see page 5). If they are not, open them. If they are open, call our emergency heat support service: (free 24/7). 9. I hear a bubbling sound in the heating system You need to vent the radiators. See page I hear other sounds from my radiators Contact an accredited installer or your landlord. 11. When I close a hot water tap, I hear a hammer noise or a bang Close the tap more slowly. You can also have a water hammer damper installed. To do so, contact an accredited installer or your landlord. 12. The delivery set in the meter cabinet is leaking Close all valves on the delivery set and call our emergency heat support service: (free 24/7). 13. A radiator, heat pipe or water pipe in my home is leaking Contact an accredited installer or your landlord. If there is a risk of water damage, go to the meter cabinet and close valves 3, 5 and 6 of the delivery set. 14. I would like to replace or remove a radiator That s possible. Visit nuon.nl/warmte for some helpful tips. 15. I would like to have floor heating in my home That s possible. Visit nuon.nl/warmte for some helpful tips. 16. When two hot water taps are open at the same time, the flow is weaker Your hot water comfort class (CW class) is probably insufficient. You can request a higher CW class. To learn more about this, visit our website nuon. nl/warmte. 11

12 How can we help you? Customer Service Do you have any questions or comments? Would you like to inform us of something (e.g. moving house)? Contact our Customer Service team by phone on You can also send an to Emergency Heat Support Service Is there something wrong with your heating system? Our emergency heat support service team is ready to assist you day and night. Call: (free). For information on current disruptions and work in progress, visit nuon.nl/werkzaamheden. Is there something wrong with your inhouse installation? By that we mean the part of the heating system on the other side of the delivery set in the meter cabinet, such as your thermostat, radiators or floor heating. In that case, contact an accredited installer or your landlord More information Would you like to know more about district heating? Visit nuon.nl/ warmte. 12