Home heating controls

imitation

First off I hope this is the right place, I went electrical over plumbing because I'm looking for a technical slant.

I'm wondering what possibilities there out there for home heating controls, my house will be rads with 3 zones & a gas boiler. I'm a bit of a techie and I would be interested in stuff like being able to network heating controls and program them to suit. What would a bog standard heating control sytem be like and is there a huge price difference for something more sophisticated ?

ntpm

imitation wrote: »

First off I hope this is the right place, I went electrical over plumbing because I'm looking for a technical slant.

I'm wondering what possibilities there out there for home heating controls, my house will be rads with 3 zones & a gas boiler. I'm a bit of a techie and I would be interested in stuff like being able to network heating controls and program them to suit. What would a bog standard heating control sytem be like and is there a huge price difference for something more sophisticated ?

YOU GETZ WAT YOU PAY FOR:rolleyes:.
Also KISS.. Keep It Simple Stupid.

I am an heating engineer and find that if you overengineer controls (Domestic) then they get too complicated to use and expensiveto instal. There is very little pay back in efficiency terms compared with a simple system.

I advocate the following:
3 zone programmer. With boost facility.
2 zones for heating and one for hotwater.

Room thermostat( with neon) for each heatinmg zone and cylinder stat.

All properly wired to ensure boiler interlock.
In compliance with Part L building Regs.

Utilising simple wired controls and stats means that in the future replacement/ repairs will be simple and relatively cheap.


Fit Thermostatic radiator valves (TRV's) on rads.
And the boiler and associated pipework/ motorized valves/ pumps are properly zoned.

FREDNISMO

I agree with you ntpm but I was just wondering would you be able to shed any light on the following problem. I have a 3 zone system but the motorised valve for upstairs has stopped working so when i overide it it makes the oil burner fire up so now i dont know if the upstairs rads are being heated by oil burner or the solid fuel cooker.when it fires up the control clock is reading all 3 zones are off,

ntpm

FREDNISMO wrote: »

I agree with you ntpm but I was just wondering would you be able to shed any light on the following problem. I have a 3 zone system but the motorised valve for upstairs has stopped working so when i overide it it makes the oil burner fire up so now i dont know if the upstairs rads are being heated by oil burner or the solid fuel cooker.when it fires up the control clock is reading all 3 zones are off,

Normal control sequence:
Zone switcheds on> power sent to stat>when heating reqd> motorize valve opens up> Boiler switches on.(Boiler interlock)

As you have manually opened up the motorised valve the boiler switches on. [ You have bypassed the programmer and stats also there will be no indication at programmer that this has occured].

The boiler and pump run and water will be sent through the motorised valve to the radiators upstairs.
this will continue to keep the boiler powered 24/7 until you realease the motorised valve.

So basically it is the boiler that is heating the rads.

FYI. solid fuel stove heats the water in your cylinder first and excess heat is then passed through the radiator circuits...
the solid fuel is pre-heating the same water that passes through your boiler.

FREDNISMO

Thanks for that ntpm,the motorised valve is only 18mts old and its bandjaxed already.

ntpm

In some cases the valve head can removed and easily replaced with a new one.
Otherwise the system has to be drained and the body and head have to be changed.

If you can take the head off and see if the motor turns when power is switched on and off via the room stat.

Then check the body of the valve and see if the spindle turns easily. The spindle may be sticking.

2011

Yes I would have to agree with ntpm's advice.

This is the best way to do the heating control for the average home:

3 zone programmer. With boost facility.
2 zones for heating and one for hotwater.

Normal control sequence:
Zone switcheds on> power sent to stat>when heating reqd> motorize valve opens up> Boiler switches on.(Boiler interlock)

....and here is a wiring diagram (from the sticky above) that will do just that:


http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=57759046&postcount=6

Sadly many electrical contractors do not use the auxiliary connections on the zone valves! Using these saves money on fuel as the boiler will switch off when the stat set points are reached.

liveandnetural

great post 2011 seen it in the stickies i have used it a few time and it works a treat .its great for a two zone heat and cylinder system worked of one boiler but a common system is also to have a solid fuel heat source wither its a stove back boiler or cooker(range) feeding the system
i have a few questions on best practice on wiring and on plumbing of thees types of systems
1 any wiring diagrams
2 any plumbing drawings
3 whats the best way to deal with solid fuel heat source in the event of a power cut when it feeds into a dhw cylinder or rads ie to make it i.e.failsafe