control wiring and zone valves

cerastes

Ive gotten and fitted an electronic programmer as the old timer was a pain, but its just a timer now as there is no zone valve fitted.
Unfortunately, I've found it doesnt have a boost, only advance, which could be a pain if the next time period set is hours away.
I will need to get zone valve/s fitted, not sure which is better option, S or Y plan?
After looking into it, I can see one advantage to a mid position valve as I have no bypass in my heating system, other than that not sure.
Im thinking of running the wires myself as it will involve a bit of drilling and work and just get the parts connected, Im not sure how many cores can be gotten in 1 sq wiring, and Ive read solid wire is required, although I thought multistranded would be better?

shane0007

Unless you really know what you doing, in my opinion, you should not be attempting this yourself. It is not as simple as stick a valve & wire it up. There are many more criteria that must be understood, such as electrical bonding, permanent lives, boiler interlock, auto bypass valves & many more.

S Plan is more common in Ireland, with Y & W plans more common in the UK. Size of the system will determine between S & Y. W is handy if you wish to downsize your boiler.

cerastes

I was just going to run the wiring and chase the holes, and get someone else to fit and connect the valves, I did a straight swap for an electronic timer/programmer for my old mechanical timer as it had no advance/boost feature and anytime it was advanced manually, you had to reset the timer as it would get moved.

I was interested to know what are the advantages of say S plan over Y plan if any (or vice versa), other than the one i mentioned.

shane0007

Why not get somebody who is SEAI registered to do the lot & if your property is pre-2006, you will qualify for grant assistance.
Where you think wires will need to go, they may not! You will require thermostats, cylinder stat, etc.

If the system is large, long or a drop down, a 3 port valve will be restrictive to the flow to the rads side. With Y, you will only have 2 zones, heating & hw. With S, you can have as many as you wish.
3 zones, I usually wire in 7 core 1.5 NYMJ & 2 zones in 5 core 1.5 NYMJ. Don't do it in flex.
Did you fit a multi zone new programmer or a single channel?

Dtp1979

shane0007 wrote: »

Why not get somebody who is SEAI registered to do the lot & if your property is pre-2006, you will qualify for grant assistance.
Where you think wires will need to go, they may not! You will require thermostats, cylinder stat, etc.

If the system is large, long or a drop down, a 3 port valve will be restrictive to the flow to the rads side. With Y, you will only have 2 zones, heating & hw. With S, you can have as many as you wish.
3 zones, I usually wire in 7 core 1.5 NYMJ & 2 zones in 5 core 1.5 NYMJ. Don't do it in flex.
Did you fit a multi zone new programmer or a single channel?

Why not 1.5 flex Shane ?

cerastes

shane0007 wrote: »

Why not get somebody who is SEAI registered to do the lot & if your property is pre-2006, you will qualify for grant assistance.
Where you think wires will need to go, they may not! You will require thermostats, cylinder stat, etc.

If the system is large, long or a drop down, a 3 port valve will be restrictive to the flow to the rads side. With Y, you will only have 2 zones, heating & hw. With S, you can have as many as you wish.
3 zones, I usually wire in 7 core 1.5 NYMJ & 2 zones in 5 core 1.5 NYMJ. Don't do it in flex.
Did you fit a multi zone new programmer or a single channel?

Id say the system has drop downs, I think all the pipes runs from between the ceiling downstairs and the floor upstairs, (pipes come out of walls downstairs)
Its not a huge house, pretty standard. I only have 2 zones to consider, unless the upstairs and downstairs is seperated under the floor unknown to me, Id prefer not have that pulled up to check, other things seemed to be done at a budget so I wouldnt expect to find separate zones piped under the floor. There is only one summer valve and the pipe from the boiler in the hotpress only splits into two, towards the heating and the other to the tank.


Rather than pull up flooring, I intend to have trv's fitted to help control things and just separate the heating and hot water. I got a programmer secondhand cheap so Im not too bothered about it not having boost,boost would be handier than advance at times, but that could be changed later, its a 2 channel programmer. Its just a timer without the zone valves fitted, but its better than the mechanical which had no push button to switch on and adjusting the clock segments moved the timer which could put it off for the next morning. Id either be resetting the clock, or If someone else adjusted it unknown to me it may not turn on in the morning and as there are no thermostats, it turns on even if it is warm enough.
Id thought the multistrand of flex might carry voltage better over the greater surface area but I thought fixed wiring was always meant to be solid.

Interesting to know about the restriction on drop downs with Y plans.

shane0007

Dtp1979 wrote: »

Why not 1.5 flex Shane ?

Flex is generally 0.75 multi strand. I don't think there is a reg against it but usually best practice but I could be wrong.
High multi strand cables is not classed as flex.

Dtp1979

shane0007 wrote: »

Flex is generally 0.75 multi strand. I don't think there is a reg against it but usually best practice but I could be wrong.
High multi strand cables is not classed as flex.

No I thought u meant flex in general. I use mymj 7 core alright. For 4 and 3 core I use flex simply cause it comes in a handy roll!

shane0007

The big issue with flex is you cannot run it surface clipped to a wall. Just won't stay straight.

Dtp1979

shane0007 wrote: »

The big issue with flex is you cannot run it surface clipped to a wall. Just won't stay straight.

I'd never run it surface unless it was clipped up against timber. Other than that just get me conduit

freddyuk

shane0007 wrote: »

The big issue with flex is you cannot run it surface clipped to a wall. Just won't stay straight.

You need the correct sized round clips for the cable you are using and pull it taught before fixing. Surely that is not a problem?

shane0007

freddyuk wrote: »

You need the correct sized round clips for the cable you are using and pull it taught before fixing. Surely that is not a problem?

True, but it will still sag between clips. Then if you put too many clips, you look at it, and it looks like "why did he use that many clips!" Fine on the vertical or on very short runs or in areas such as the hot press. If in hot press or areas close to heating pipework, always use HR flex.