Taking Control - A guide to buying or upgrading central heating controls(view report contents)
What consumers want from central heating controls
We held three discussions with groups of older and disabled people. Most of them wanted central heating controls that were easy to understand and operate. They often gave up on programmers they did not understand. They wanted built-in step-by-step instructions for these, which made it clear how they worked
Although most people preferred simple controls, some understood the benefits of more sophisticated systems and thought these were useful as long as they were easy to use. Some people wanted controls which were automatic - which did not have to be reset after a power cut or when the clocks changed, for example.
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Ricability's verdict: design could be better
Good heating is important and we consider that the design of
central heating controls could be improved. Many of the problems our testers
found could be put right fairly easily. Here are our main concerns:
Instructions
Instructions were generally poor - mainly because the type
size was far too small and some had a cramped and difficult to follow
layout. Some were unclearly written and difficult to understand. The illustrations
used did not always help.
Labels on dials and switches
Print was often too small and colour contrast too faint
LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screens
All LCD screens were small. Some models displayed tiny symbols
which had to be seen in order to set the control. This was impossible
for many people. LCD screens were generally criticised because the
letters, numbers and symbols did not stand out from their background.
Dials and tappets
Traditional central heating controls have clock face type dials. You move
pointers (called tappets - see picture) around these dials to tell
the heating when to come on and off. Too many tappets were stiff and painful
to move and some were difficult to see
Tappets could be difficult to move
Switches and buttons
- Light touch switches. Many controls had buttons which were easy to use because they needed only a very light touch. However few of them clicked or were designed so that you could tell by touch when they had been pressed. Many of them were too close together
- Rocker switches. Our testers liked the fact that these switches had a definite positive action. However some were so small that it was difficult to see which position they were set to
- Dials. Some were light and easy to move. But too many were too smooth to grip easily and some were too small to hold comfortably. Few were shaped to make gripping and turning easy.
- On some controls you had to keep pressing a button until the screen displayed the setting you wanted - time of day was often set in this way. Many people with limited strength or painful fingers disliked this
Report Contents
About this guide
Central heating basics
- Room thermostats buying guide
- Room thermostats - summaries
- Thermostatic radiator valves buying guide
- TRVs - summaries
- Programmers buying guide
- Digital programmers - summaries
- Mechanical programmers - summaries
- Programmable thermostats - summaries
Tables
Help with money
Keeping bills
down
Main gas
and electricity operators
Helpful
organisations
Help
with seeing and gripping
Manufacturers
