There are savings to be made by making a summer shutdown in a building, in most cases between 3-5% of the annual consumption by turning a few simple valves. Summer shutdown helps improve your cooling and can result in even greater savings.
Summer shutdown is about shutting off the heat to the building centrally and not just, for example, on radiators around buildings.
When is it optimal to do the summer shutdown?
The standard summer shutdown is in Denmark between May 15th and September 15th. However, it would be more accurate to look at the individual building and see when it is optimal to shut down based on its heat profile.
Below are the two heating profiles for two buildings with very different summer shutdown needs. One building has a heating starting point of 14.1 °C, whereas the other has a heating starting point of 19.5 °C. The heating starting point indicates when the building needs heat input to maintain the indoor temperature at the desired conforming level.
These two buildings have very different needs in terms of when to shut down for the summer and when to turn the heat back on.
As a starting point, we recommend a 2 day average temperature at or above the "heating starting point" before shutting down for the summer, and conversely, a temperature below before turning the heating back on.
How to turn off your district heating for the summer
How you shut down can vary depending on your district heating system. Some newer district heating systems close automatically, while there are also some that can't be shut down for the summer.
If it is possible to shut down your district heating system for the summer:
- Close the summer shut-off valve - (or close the district heating return, note that the return is only closed for the heating circuit and not the hot water circuit)
- Turn off the circulation pump or set it to summer mode if this is possible with your pump
- Check that the hot water is still open
- Check on a radiator or heat source that it is switched off correctly
- Once a month, run the circulation pump briefly
Almost all district heating systems have a summer valve, typically turned a quarter to the right. The summer valves can look different depending on your system. You can find the summer valve by following your pipes from where the installation starts. The valve is after a branch, where one goes to domestic hot water and the other to the radiators. You need to turn the one that goes to the radiators.
If there is no summer valve, close the shut-off valve that shuts off the district heating. But be aware that you are not closing the hot water valve, but only the heating circuit.
To check if you have closed correctly, feel the pipe leading to your radiators or heat source, if it is cold, it is closed correctly.
Turn off the circulation pump at the switch. If summer shutdown is an option for your circulation pump, it will start briefly when needed.
Summer shut down, oil or gas boiler
If you don't have district heating, a summer shutdown is still relevant. Many boilers shutdown for the summer as part of the automatic settings.
If this is not the case, manually shut off the summer valve and circulation pump. You can typically set the boiler to produce hot water only by turning it to the faucet icon.