Hi,

I'm trying to further my understanding of my central heating system. I
have read the various FAQ's in this forum but one question I have.

My system is the 'classic' fully pumped gas fired system with a hot
water tank. One radiator is in the HW circuit as a fail safe, along
with some towel rails, to warm them in summer even though the main CH
system may be off.

My Question is when the timer has both CH & HW on, how is this
conflict resolved. Does the controller prioritise HW, or is the switch
in a Tee position where it routes the water from the boiler to both HW
& CH ? IS HW only selected when the CH is OFF i.e in the summer ? I
tend to rely on a timer stat so my CH is always ON and I allow the
programmable stat to determine when the pump gets enabled

My tank has a moulded foam insulation plus an additional lagging
jacket. I'm finding in cold weather the house takes a long time to get
up to desired temperature, if at all. While this may be affected by
insulation etc, I wonder if the conflicting requirements of HW & CH
reduce the responsiveness. perhaps I should schedule HW much earlier
in the day and rely on good tank insulation to keep it hit until
evening ?