How To Set A Manual Timer On A Boiler – Illustrated Guide
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Moved into a new house with a manual or mechanical boiler timer, and don’t know what you’re doing with it? Don’t worry, I have a mechanical timer, so let me show you how to set your timer. I’ve got a step-by-step photographic guide to make things as easy as possible for you.
The other day, I was writing about setting the timer on your boiler in the past to save energy. But the other day it dawned on me: what if you don’t know how to set a timer? These things can be intimidating!
I have a combi boiler, and it has one of those mechanical timers on it. Being used to digital timers, I’ll admit I was a little flummoxed by the timer when we first moved into our house. I got the hang of it, though, and now I want to help you out too!
So here’s my easy guide, showing you exactly how to set a timer on a boiler. I’ve included a helpful video and a step-by-step guide, with annotated photos of my boiler timer if you’re not a video person (I’m not!):
Video Guide On How To Set Your Manual Boiler Timer
First off, I’ve got a handy video for you, which talks you through the full process. The video should appear above. If you can’t see the video in your browser, then here’s a direct link to the video on YouTube.
Although it is made for Worcester boilers, this video is useful for most makes of boilers. It certainly did the trick for our Valiant boiler. This is because almost all mechanical timers work the same, regardless of the make.
Step-By-Step Mechanical Boiler Guide With Photos
If you can’t get the video to work, or if you would prefer a step-by-step guide that walks you through the process at your own pace, then let me run you through exactly how to set a manual or mechanical timer on a boiler. You’ll soon have yours working in no time:
1. Set The Current Time
First of all, ignore all the little tabs for now. What you need to do first is set the clock to the current time – so if it’s 1:30 pm right now, the clock should read 1:30 pm.
You can do this by turning the dial around clockwise until the arrow points to the correct time in the inner portion of the dial. Feeling stuck, there’s a photo below in the next section.
It’s important to bear in mind that boilers work on the 24-hour clock. So make sure you’ve set it to 24-hour clock time; otherwise your heating will come out at odd hours of the night! If it’s 1:30 pm (13:30 in 24-hour clock speak), then you want the arrow to be halfway between the 13 and 14.
2. Tell Your Boiler When You Want The Heating On & Off
Once the time is set correctly, you can now set the times that you would like your heating to come on and off at.
This is where the little tabs come in. These tabs on a mechanical boiler timer can be overwhelming as there are so many. However, I promise you that they are not as confusing as they look.
All that they do is represent 15-minute periods. And their position indicates when the boiler should be on and off. When you slide a tab to the centre of the ring, you’re telling the boiler that you want it on during that quarter-hour slot. And when you slide it to the outside of the ring, you’re telling it that you want the boiler off during that 15-minute period.
To set what time you want your boiler to turn on, first of all, slide all the tabs to the outside of the ring. This is so your heating doesn’t come on to someone else’s schedule.
Next, you need to push those tabs in for the times that you want your heating on. Let me talk you through this, in case this sounds complicated:
After you’ve set the time properly on your boiler, you’ll notice that each tab lines up with each 15-minute segment of the 24-hour clock. So, to tell your boiler that you want your heating to come on between 5:45 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., you are going to want to push in all of the tabs that represent that period.
Once you’ve done this, you should have all 7 consecutive tabs pushed down between 5:45 am and 7:30 am. All of the other tabs should be up. See the picture of my boiler timer above, so you can see exactly what I mean.
And if you want your heating to come on again later, for example in the evening, you can set the time for that too. Again, push the tabs in for the times you want it on.
There’s no limit to how many times you can set your boiler to come on – you can set it to come on and off during multiple points in the day and night if you need to.
When I took the photo, the time was 1 pm, so you can see that the arrow points to 1 pm (13). You can also see that my heating is set to come on twice a day. Firstly, between 5:45 am and 7:30 am (we are early birds!). And secondly, between 6 pm and 8 pm.
If you look closely, you’ll notice the tabs are down at these times, and all of the other tabs are up. It can be quite tricky to see, so I have annotated the photo to make this a bit clearer.
It’s quite easy to accidentally twist the dial and change the time when you’re adjusting the tabs. Therefore, you may have to readjust the time at this stage! Just something to be aware of.
3. Next Steps
Now you need to tell your boiler that you want it to run according to your scheduled programme.
To do this, simply turn the switch that you would normally switch the boiler on to point to automatic scheduling. This may take the form of a picture of a clock or of a stopwatch. It will depend on your boiler – mine’s a stopwatch.
Your boiler should now come on and then switch off automatically at the desired times! Job done.
4. Switching Off The Timer
For times when you don’t want your boiler coming on and off on your schedule, all you need to do is switch off the automatic scheduling function. Alternatively, you can slide all the tabs to the outside of the ring so that they are in the off position.
Energy Efficiency Tips
I always love a two-for-one deal. So, as well as telling you how to set the timer on your boiler, I’m going to share my top boiler energy efficiency tip.
It typically takes about half an hour for your house to warm up once you’ve switched your boiler on. It then takes around half an hour for your house to cool down again once it’s switched off. So, with that in mind, if you get up at 7:30 am and leave the house at 8:30 am, it’s most energy-efficient and comfortable for you if you set your boiler timer for your heating to come on at 7 am and off at 8 am.
Looking for more energy-saving help? You can find lots of energy-saving tips here if you’re looking to save money on your heating bills!
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Hi i have just had a alpha e-tec 33 installed.i want to turn off all the timers so i just turn it on as and wen i need..there must be timers set as the heating comes on by itself and i dont want this..i have a wirless box thing but cant seem to figure how to turn off times that have been set ..please help me
My clock/timer does not work. It wont move from whatever time I set it at..
Hi dear
I have got a main Eco elite and there is no time on it and tharmomiter as well can they even be able to fixed it or what should I do
Hey, if there is no timer on your boiler then you can get a smart thermostat like Hive or Nest. Our boiler in our new house doesn’t have a timer, so we use Hive. You can set your boiler to come on and go off when you want it, and control it from your phone or the thermostat.
my boiler was off due to work in the house; it is now back on but the clock is not working. When I manually move it to the time to come on it fires up but the clock is not working so I guess it does not know when to turn off…any ideas.
Our clock stopped working on our our boiler at our old house – we were able to buy a replacement clock from the manufacturer for not much money as it was a separate component and that did the trick for us. If it’s not separate then I would get your boiler serviced by a professional and they should be able to fix it.
Hi please help I managed to set my timer last winter but this time I can not get the times to match up ?i have got my centre clock at 19.00 or 7pm but my pointer is at 17.00 hours ?it doesn’t matter how many times I turn the clock ,clockwise I still can’t get it to match the pointer !where am I going wrong or is there a problem with my timer ?thankyou .
Hi, no matter how I try my timer won’t match up, is my timer broke?
Normally if you set the time on the 12 hour clock, you can then just turn the dial on the 24 hour clock so that they match up. If turning the 24 hour clock makes the 12 hour clock out of sync, try readjusting the 12 hour clock as adjusting that shouldn’t affect the 24 hour clock!
My clock isn’t on the boiler its detached in the hall. Does this same rules apply with the ones attached to the boiler. Timer!?
I haven’t seen ones like that before, but I would assume yes.
Hi, thanks for great tips. I have one problem though (mine is a water heater timer I had fitted). The clock hands don’t go round, it still shows same time however it did heat up the water during the set times. Hope someone can help please.
Hi Wendy, if your hands don’t go round can the dial go round? You might be able to change the time that way?
Thanks a lot. No instructions on the manuals. You have made my day.
My centre clock and 24 hour one do not match up. Example I was trying to set the time as 11:30pm but the 24 hour click arrow was pointing at either 2:30am so turning it again it ended up at 14:30! I decided to ignore the 12 hour one and try set it with 24 hour, so put it to 23:30 mark and the centre clock was saying 9:30! Any advice?
HI Mary,
Normally if you set the time on the 12 hour clock, you can then just turn the dial on the 24 hour clock so that they match up. If turning the 24 hour clock makes the 12 hour clock out of sync, try readjusting the 12 hour clock as adjusting that shouldn’t affect the 24 hour clock!
Great! thanks for the advice – we’ve just moved into a new place and have been trying to work out this boiler.
Glad I could help Alice! Boilers can be tricky at the best of times, not least when you move into a new house and don’t have any instructions to hand!