Home heating automation

deezell · 20-12-2017 6:33pm

Caillte wrote: »

I have just connected my NEST thermo stat to my Tado TRVs via IFTTT and works a dream. I had considered buying the tado smart thermostat for the full installation but now no need to. Tado talks to Nest via IFTTT with the help of stringify.

Just saying.

So tado TRVs can now fire the boiler via the Nest? That's an excellent bit of bodgeing!

Caillte · 20-12-2017 6:51pm

deezell wrote: »

So tado TRVs can now fire the boiler via the Nest? That's an excellent bit of bodgeing!

Yes, they can call for heat as a trigger to ifttt to do what ever you like then.

My set up is:

IFTTT: Temperature falls below threshold for a particular TRV/Zone trigger, Run stringify flow action
Stringify: Increase the temperature by X° for X no. minutes on nest thermostat then decrease by same ° after timer expires.

Seems long winded but works.

As I have a house full of tado TRVs there is no fear in the house over heating or wasting energy. (except for my gas boiler primary heated immersion)

xl500 · 20-12-2017 7:07pm

Caillte wrote: »

Yes, they can call for heat as a trigger to ifttt to do what ever you like then.

My set up is:

IFTTT: Temperature falls below threshold for a particular TRV/Zone trigger, Run stringify flow action
Stringify: Increase the temperature by X° for X no. minutes on nest thermostat then decrease by same ° after timer expires.

Seems long winded but works.

As I have a house full of tado TRVs there is no fear in the house over heating or wasting energy. (except for my gas boiler primary heated immersion)

Honeywell Evohome integrates with IFTTT directly just Tell IFTTT to set Zone to x and it does it or any other trigger like if Temp falls below x set Zone To y etc

xl500 · 20-12-2017 7:11pm

jarrieta wrote: »

Hi, another long time lurker. My setup is similar to some of the already posted, but want to be sure before buying anything.

I have a gas boiler with one zone and HW, my HW cylinder is not close to the boiler/controller and there are no motorised valves in the HW circuit or a stat in the boiler, so when the controller timer is on the HW is being heater by the boiler.

This makes very inconvenient the current setup as I cannot have the heating for long as the gas will be wasted heating the HW to very high temperatures even if the hearing stat is open (not needing heating).

Would a nest/tado with extension work for my setup? Would I be able to set up times for HW to be on independent of the heating (I know that if the heating stat asks for the boiler to be on the HW will be on too)?

Anything else I might be missing?

Edit: Now that I remember my current stat is in the entrance, close to the stairs, so I would rather use something that I can move to the livingroom or the bedroom as currently it is set at 13 degrees and sometimes it is very hot where we stay and sometimes cold. So I would say Tado is out

Thanks!

When you say one Zone and HW can you expand DO you have a heating Circuit Motorised Valve or as i suspect do you just have a boiler feeding your heating and HW directly and Wall stat just controls Boiler

jarrieta · 20-12-2017 9:23pm

deezell wrote: »

Tado with extension or Nest will work good for you. Tado stat is wireless with the extension kit, so you can have it in the Living room on a little table stand. The extension kit can call the boiler just to heat the HW. If you put an inexpensive mechanical thermostat, about €15, on the HW cylinder it will turn off the boiler when the HW reaches temperature. If it is difficult to run the wires from this back to the extension kit you can get a wireless one for a bit more. If you want to prevent the HW heating while the room heating is on you will need a second motorised valve installed, the extension kit will control this.
I'm surprised the boiler keeps running after the heating stat is open. It seems like the timer turns on the boiler and the stat only opens the heating valve. Does your timer controller have two zones and a timer each for heating and HW?, or just one timer.

Thanks deezell, you are right, the timer controls the boiler on/off and the stat controls the motorised valve for the heating. I was talking to the installer when he replaced the boiler, but it was way too much hassle to install the valves for controlling the HW and cabling a stat from the cylinder to the controller was a no-no. According to them it was a common setup in Ireland, something I found strange.

He was servicing the boiler this year and I insisted mentioning the smart stats but he advised me against it as it was going to be quite expensive.

jarrieta · 20-12-2017 9:28pm

xl500 wrote: »

When you say one Zone and HW can you expand DO you have a heating Circuit Motorised Valve or as i suspect do you just have a boiler feeding your heating and HW directly and Wall stat just controls Boiler

The first one, the stat controls the motorised valve for the heating (1 zone) and the controller timer turns on/off the boiler. When it is on it will heat the water (and even worse, the attic radiator is connected to the hot water circuit :mad: )

xl500 · 20-12-2017 9:31pm

jarrieta wrote: »

Thanks deezell, you are right, the timer controls the boiler on/off and the stat controls the motorised valve for the heating. I was talking to the installer when he replaced the boiler, but it was way too much hassle to install the valves for controlling the HW and cabling a stat from the cylinder to the controller was a no-no. According to them it was a common setup in Ireland, something I found strange.

He was servicing the boiler this year and I insisted mentioning the smart stats but he advised me against it as it was going to be quite expensive.

Honeywell Evohome would also work in this case you would need an Evohome Controller and a HW Kit

https://theevohomeshop.co.uk/honeywell-connected-thermostats/11-honeywell-evohome-connected-thermostat-pack-atp921r3100.html

https://theevohomeshop.co.uk/honeywell-evohome/18-honeywell-evohome-hot-water-kit-atf500dhw.html

But to control HW you would need new HW Valve to link to HW kit

skerry · 20-12-2017 10:55pm

deezell wrote: »

Lower heat or fully off is a personal thing. Some people don't like a heated bedroom while asleep, just when hopping in and getting up.
You only mentioned that your system had stats, but does it also have a timer device to switch each zone on and off at programmable times? An EPH or similar control box. Some digital stats have the timing built in, but most zone valve installations would have a 2 or 3 zone controller which operates each zone valve in conjunction with the wall stat ( or HW cylinder stat) for that zone.
Yes, second smart stat and Sitting room TRV will improve control. Check if the slow heating of the sitting room is to do with the rad/room size, or is the heated water slower to get there as the rad might be trimmed by it's other valve. Common enough that the sitting room will have a smaller rad or restricted valve as it usually has a fireplace, so builders assume it's rad is not the main heat source.

I haven't come across a timer like the one you mentioned yet, would this be generally found in a specific location like near the boiler or in the hotpress?

Before I replaced it with the Tado, the only programmable stat I could see was the Danfoss TP5. Other than that just a temp dial on landing for upstairs and a similar one on thermal store for water.

There's also a digital unit that has something to do with the solar panels but I have no clue what that does other than tell me what temp water the panels are giving me. I'm sure it does more but I can't find the manufacturers name on it to research it.

I'm thinking I need to balance rads a bit more. Hallway rad was fine last week and now doesn't seem to come on at all, rad room behind this is the same. There are a couple of rads upstairs that are firing out heat so might turn these down a quarter turn tomorrow and see if that helps out the weaker rads downstairs.

Really appreciate all the info Deezell. As someone said above, you should be charging consultancy fees at this stage. I've learned more about heating systems from this thread than anywhere else.

deezell · 20-12-2017 11:59pm

jarrieta wrote: »

Thanks deezell, you are right, the timer controls the boiler on/off and the stat controls the motorised valve for the heating. I was talking to the installer when he replaced the boiler, but it was way too much hassle to install the valves for controlling the HW and cabling a stat from the cylinder to the controller was a no-no. According to them it was a common setup in Ireland, something I found strange.

He was servicing the boiler this year and I insisted mentioning the smart stats but he advised me against it as it was going to be quite expensive.

Your man should have wired the boiler via the switch in the zone valve, that way the boiler cuts if the stat opens. If you're ok with the HW on at the same time as the heating you just need to get this rewired, then get a smart stat with an extension relay box ( Nest or Tado or Netamo) and join the HW relay live out together with the live from the valve relay, while the heating relay live replaces the live from your old stat. This way you will heat hot water either when the heating is on or when the HW timer in the smart stat is on. Add a wireless cylinder stat and it's relay to prevent overheating the cylinder. It's all simple wiring, no plumbing (or plumber) required. A handy diy guy or a sparks will do.

deezell · 21-12-2017 12:51am

skerry wrote: »

I haven't come across a timer like the one you mentioned yet......Before I replaced it with the Tado, the only programmable stat I could see was the Danfoss TP5. Other than that just a temp dial on landing for upstairs and a similar one on the thermal store.....
There's also a digital unit that has something to do with the solar panels but I have no clue what that does other than tell me what temp water the panels are giving me. I'm sure it does more but I can't find....

Apologies, reread your earlier posts, you mentioned the TP5 which of course is both stat and timer, so you're sorted by swapping in the Tado there. I'm just curious as to whither the basic stat upstairs was untimed, meaning it would always be on unless you turned its temperature setting right down.
Solar stuff looks after itself, it will pump the solar heated fluid through the cylinder coil if it's temperature exceeds the current temperature at that point in the cylinder. There may be other devices connected, such as a motorised valve to release overheated water on hot days, anti scald mixers and the like.
You mentioned a thermal store. I'm assuming this is the HW cylinder or is it actually a thermal store cylinder, which is like a HW cylinder in reverse. Water heated by boiler or solar is stored there, but this water is common with the closed water system from the boiler that heats the rads. Hot water for taps is obtained by drawing cold water on demand through the store via a very fast heat exchange coil which heats it up. The advantage of a thermal store is that water heated by solar is available for heating rads as well as usable hot water. Sometimes referred to as a stratified cylinder or store. Perhaps you just have a normal cylinder, thermal stores tend to be pretty large, and are often just that, stores, still requiring a seperate HW cylinder to hold the consumable HW which doesn't mix with the boiler heated water.

skerry · 21-12-2017 2:37pm

deezell wrote: »

Apologies, reread your earlier posts, you mentioned the TP5 which of course is both stat and timer, so you're sorted by swapping in the Tado there. I'm just curious as to whither the basic stat upstairs was untimed, meaning it would always be on unless you turned its temperature setting right down.
Solar stuff looks after itself, it will pump the solar heated fluid through the cylinder coil if it's temperature exceeds the current temperature at that point in the cylinder. There may be other devices connected, such as a motorised valve to release overheated water on hot days, anti scald mixers and the like.
You mentioned a thermal store. I'm assuming this is the HW cylinder or is it actually a thermal store cylinder, which is like a HW cylinder in reverse. Water heated by boiler or solar is stored there, but this water is common with the closed water system from the boiler that heats the rads. Hot water for taps is obtained by drawing cold water on demand through the store via a very fast heat exchange coil which heats it up. The advantage of a thermal store is that water heated by solar is available for heating rads as well as usable hot water. Sometimes referred to as a stratified cylinder or store. Perhaps you just have a normal cylinder, thermal stores tend to be pretty large, and are often just that, stores, still requiring a seperate HW cylinder to hold the consumable HW which doesn't mix with the boiler heated water.

Basic stat is upstairs is untimed as far as I can tell and like you said, only way to turn off is to turn right down.

Figured a picture is worth a 1000 words so attached picture of tank. Presume this is thermal store/ cylinder in one. There's a return, flow and cold currently plumbed.

There's a Honeywell motorised valve coming from the return which I only noticed has the lever on the bottom clicked into the lock position. Any idea what this would be controlling and whether or not I should take it off lock position? I'm presuming its the hot water control?

Solar control panel is to the left there, but need to research this a bit more, particularly the big red light which I presume is telling me something is wrong, has been on since power came back after that circuit went dead a couple days ago.

deezell · 21-12-2017 6:48pm

skerry wrote: »

Basic stat is upstairs is untimed as far as I can tell and like you said, only way to turn off is to turn right down.

Figured a picture is worth a 1000 words so attached picture of tank. Presume this is thermal store/ cylinder in one. There's a return, flow and cold currently plumbed.

There's a Honeywell motorised valve coming from the return which I only noticed has the lever on the bottom clicked into the lock position. Any idea what this would be controlling and whether or not I should take it off lock position? I'm presuming its the hot water control?

Solar control panel is to the left there, but need to research this a bit more, particularly the big red light which I presume is telling me something is wrong, has been on since power came back after that circuit went dead a couple days ago.

As there's only a single flow and return, I'm thinking this is just a very large HW cylinder. You could google the make and model on the label to establish this. I would expect there to be a take off for the CH as well as flow and return from the boiler if it were a hybrid store/ HW heat exchanger. The HW outlet rises directly from the top of the tank, if it was via a heat exchanger it would more likely be side entry.
Does the top connector of that Honeywell connect directly to the return of the cylinder, no branches? That would indicate it is the HW control, though when left open while the heating is on, it will reduce the flow to the radiators. It's odd that only a single zone timer stat was installed, I would have expected a 3 zone timer eith seperate stats.
I can't see from the pictures but does the cylinder stat go to this valve? That would indicate it was the HW control. Cylinder stat closes, valve opens, valve microswitch close a and calls the boiler. Cylinder stat can be always on or on a timer. That's how it's meant to work, but maybe the valve is duff, or the wiring off in some way.

skerry · 21-12-2017 7:08pm

deezell wrote: »

As there's only a single flow and return, I'm thinking this is just a very large HW cylinder. You could google the make and model on the label to establish this. I would expect there to be a take off for the CH as well as flow and return from the boiler if it were a hybrid store/ HW heat exchanger. The HW outlet rises directly from the top of the tank, if it was via a heat exchanger it would more likely be side entry.
Does the top connector of that Honeywell connect directly to the return of the cylinder, no branches? That would indicate it is the HW control, though when left open while the heating is on, it will reduce the flow to the radiators. It's odd that only a single zone timer stat was installed, I would have expected a 3 zone timer eith seperate stats.
I can't see from the pictures but does the cylinder stat go to this valve? That would indicate it was the HW control. Cylinder stat closes, valve opens, valve microswitch close a and calls the boiler. Cylinder stat can be always on or on a timer. That's how it's meant to work, but maybe the valve is duff, or the wiring off in some way.

Yeah, top connector of Honeywell goes directly to return without branch. Is locked position 'open' on the valve?

I had the heating on there for the last hour and changed valve from the locked position and there was a bit of a bang off it. Sounded like pressure release as pipe was quite hot. Presume that's nothing major.

Attached pic there, looks like cylinder stat is wired into the same junction box as the Honeywell. Would that mean the cylinder stat is controlling the honeywell valve (or at least supposed to)?

Gonna keep on eye on rads that were getting poor flow now to see if changing Honeywell from locked position gives more flow to them.

deezell · 21-12-2017 10:33pm

Sounds like a plan. Try turning the cylinder stat right down and up, see does it activate the valve, also, does it fire the boiler. Locked would be open ok.

skerry · 21-12-2017 10:49pm

deezell wrote: »

Sounds like a plan. Try turning the cylinder stat right down and up, see does it activate the valve, also, does it fire the boiler. Locked would be open ok.

Cool, I might try that tomorrow when the system hasn't been on as long. Switched it earlier and there's a bit of a bang when you move from the locked position, I'm guessing pressure cos there's a lot of heat in the pipe.

I think I need to turn down cylinder stat anyway, its set at 45 at the moment and water coming out of tap is scalding hot. Have power shower in bathroom though so don't want it to be too low but I'm thinking 45 is probably wasteful so gonna drop it 5 degrees at a time and see what effect it has.

I have a feeling Honeywell valve is knackered though as I was doing a bit of research there and it seems once they break folks put them in the locked position to allow flow to the rads.

I'm sure its not operating nearly as efficiently as it could so will look to get it replaced in new year. I'm presuming if I'm planning on getting Tado extension kit that I need an operational motorised valve for it to communicate with?

deezell · 22-12-2017 12:18am

If the valve is stuck open the stat won't close it when the water reaches temperature, so it will continue to heat to the limit if the boiler stat. If the stat was closing the valve, 45° would be quite low, 55-65° would be normal to prevent bacteria forming in the cylinder. You can replace the actuator part of the valve on its own (~€40), no plumbing required. Remove the old one from the valve body still wired and see does it turn when powered by the stat. It might be burnt out. If the valve itself is stiff and sticking you'll need the body replaced, which is a full new valve, ~€60. If you get the extension kit it will control 2 valves, one heating and one HW. The output of the HW relay on the extension kit would go through the cylinder stat to the HW valve. Currently it seems to be always on as there is no timer, and the valve is manually open. If the valve microswitch is wired to fire the boiler when open ( it should be), then I can only assume there is no control on HW temperature other than the boiler's own temperature setting, hence scalding HW.
Edit. There is the possibility that the solar is heating the water to a very high temperature, though I think this unlikely this time of year. Definitely get that valve sorted first. You will have some control of HW temperature at least, solar notwithstanding.

skerry · 22-12-2017 11:22am

deezell wrote: »

If the valve is stuck open the stat won't close it when the water reaches temperature, so it will continue to heat to the limit if the boiler stat. If the stat was closing the valve, 45° would be quite low, 55-65° would be normal to prevent bacteria forming in the cylinder. You can replace the actuator part of the valve on its own (~€40), no plumbing required. Remove the old one from the valve body still wired and see does it turn when powered by the stat. It might be burnt out. If the valve itself is stiff and sticking you'll need the body replaced, which is a full new valve, ~€60. If you get the extension kit it will control 2 valves, one heating and one HW. The output of the HW relay on the extension kit would go through the cylinder stat to the HW valve. Currently it seems to be always on as there is no timer, and the valve is manually open. If the valve microswitch is wired to fire the boiler when open ( it should be), then I can only assume there is no control on HW temperature other than the boiler's own temperature setting, hence scalding HW.
Edit. There is the possibility that the solar is heating the water to a very high temperature, though I think this unlikely this time of year. Definitely get that valve sorted first. You will have some control of HW temperature at least, solar notwithstanding.

Thanks again for the info Deezell. I played around with cylinder stat this morning and there doesn't seem to be any sign on movement from the Honeywell valve so I reckon its goosed so gonna look at getting it replaced in new year.

So does the extension kit get installed in the hotpress and wired up to the cylinder stat and just take over control of HW? Looked at a video on YouTube and it suggested that extension kit is wired directly to the boiler itself which confused me greatly.

deezell · 22-12-2017 11:28am

skerry wrote: »

Thanks again for the info Deezell. I played around with cylinder stat this morning and there doesn't seem to be any sign on movement from the Honeywell valve so I reckon its goosed so gonna look at getting it replaced in new year.

So does the extension kit get installed in the hotpress and wired up to the cylinder stat and just take over control of HW? Looked at a video on YouTube and it suggested that extension kit is wired directly to the boiler itself which confused me greatly.

When you have zine valves the practice is to wire timers/stats to open the valves, the valves in turn have switch contacts to fire the boiler. This way one zone doesn't turn on the other zone, which would happen if all the different stat lives were cross connected at the boiler.

skerry · 22-12-2017 11:32am

deezell wrote: »

When you have zine valves the practice is to wire timers/stats to open the valves, the valves in turn have switch contacts to fire the boiler. This way one zone doesn't turn on the other zone, which would happen if all the different stat lives were cross connected at the boiler.

So does that mean its wired direct to the boiler or to the cylinder stat?

Want to get extension kit in new year with extra stat but want to be sure it suits system. Boiler is in the range at the minute and hard to get at so not sure I'd be able to wire it direct to boiler. I always thought it was something that was wired up by the hot water cylinder

deezell · 22-12-2017 2:29pm

skerry wrote: »

So does that mean its wired direct to the boiler or to the cylinder stat?

Want to get extension kit in new year with extra stat but want to be sure it suits system. Boiler is in the range at the minute and hard to get at so not sure I'd be able to wire it direct to boiler. I always thought it was something that was wired up by the hot water cylinder

The boiler call should be in that wiring box, any of the 3 valves will have a call for heat SL switched live back to the boiler. The general circuit for any zone is Live via Timer via Stat to zone valve, which then switches a live to the boiler, or closes the contacts on a volt free relay in the boiler (certain types). This latter connection should we wired already, so you just need to connect the extension box heating relay live to go to the downstairs zone valve in place of the live wire coming back from the TP5, the extension box HW relay live wired to go to the cylinder stat, and replace the upstairs stat directly with another tado stat wired in its place

john_doe. · 22-12-2017 2:44pm

Was wondering would anyone know someone in Cork Area that could automate my heating system or be interested?

There is a oil burner, stove back boiler , and solar

Seems a complex enough system as just moved in. There are 3 analogue timeclocks currently and it's a bit tedious setting them.
Would love remote control and to automate it but struggling to find somone.

Some photos attached.

deezell · 22-12-2017 8:56pm

john_doe. wrote: »

Was wondering would anyone know someone in Cork Area that could automate my heating system or be interested?

There is a oil burner, stove back boiler , and solar

Seems a complex enough system as just moved in. There are 3 analogue timeclocks currently and it's a bit tedious setting them.
Would love remote control and to automate it but struggling to find somone.

Some photos attached.

Any 3 zone digital timer will replace those mechanical ones, an EPH 3 zone for example. Are they timers for zones/ HW? If they're the zone timers they should have associated thermostats. Easy enough to replace the room stats with smart and the HW timer with smart timer control from a smart stat extension box. You have a hybrid system of stove, boiler and solar, it's important that they are all linked together correctly. Give Harry at NRGAwareness.com a call. A real gent, very willing to advise and should be able to assist in getting the job done. Contact +353 21 4524 991

john_doe. · 22-12-2017 11:19pm

Thanks

The first switch controls the oil burner , just seems to turn it on and off.

The second switch turns on and off the hot water.

The third switch fires the rads.

There are a number of thermostats in the rooms .
Attached is a view of the pumps in the house.

deezell · 23-12-2017 12:07am

Shane732 wrote: »

I’ve installed the tado smart system and have put TVRs on the radiators and am putting the extension kit on the water.

Can I have the whole house as one zone? YES

Is there something about not being able to have more than 8 TVRs in one zone? YES

Can you have a tvr in more than one zone? NO.

Does the smart stat need to be in each zone? NO**

Any help would be much appreciated!

Shane's query raised a few questions which I felt needed a little more research, so a bit of digging and a support question or two brings some clarification.

No of devices per zone is 8. Add another and one will randomly drop off. It's possible to have 8 TRVs but without a main stat as theTado system is designed for installations with no boiler control and no main stat, such as a community heating system where heated water flows constantly past the rads, so TRVs just need to open and close. You can install TRVs and the bridge without a main stat. **With a stat you can only have 7 TRVs per zone.
When TRVs are grouped in a zone a single device measures and reports the tempernature and fires the boiler. When this device reaches target temperature, it closes all TRVs in the zone though some might not have reached the target temperature as measured on their own stat. This is because zones should be homogeneous, will all the zone TRVs in the same space, not in different rooms. Non measuring TRVs in a zone are just dumb remote valves. They can however be used to manually adjust the zone schedule temperatures if you twist their control knob. TRVs in different closed rooms should be a zone by themselves. This of course means multiples schedules, not a big issue once set up but some users like to have blanket on off control, and with tado this is only possible zone by zone, effectively by setting temperature manually to frost protection and setting manual duration to "until ended by user"
To achieve an element of blanket control over multiple zones you could use devices like Google home, Apple home kit or IFTTT if you're up to it. Tado for their part have flagged the facility to copy a schedule over multiple zones as part of future app updates.
Hope this info helps, probably confuses also!

Stoner · 23-12-2017 1:09am

deezell wrote:

to achieve an element of blanket control over multiple zones you could use devices like Google home, Apple home kit or IFTTT if you're up to it. Tado for their part have flagged the facility to copy a schedule over multiple zones as part of future app updates. Hope this info helps, probably confuses also!

Lightwaverf had the facility to copy schedules to different individual TRVs.

They have zones, this is all soft stuff and I guess they will all add the features that the others have.

Stringify is another option here as you can add timers etc to different IFTTT recipes, or group a whole lot of single IFTTT recipes together and call them stringify zones even if your TRV heating system doesn't support zones yet.

deezell · 23-12-2017 1:25am

john_doe. wrote: »

Thanks

The first switch controls the oil burner , just seems to turn it on and off.

The second switch turns on and off the hot water.

The third switch fires the rads.

There are a number of thermostats in the rooms .
Attached is a view of the pumps in the house.

What you have there is a 2 heating, 1 HW pumped zoned system, no motorised valves, and a systemzone manifold or neutraliser to correctly blend the heated water from the stove and the oil boiler, which is then circulated to the 3 zones by the downward facing pumps. There should be an aditional pump as both the oil boiler and stove will need to pump their heated water into the manifold from either end.
The proprietary wiring box is essential to control the pumps and fire the boiler in response to live from any of the timers via their stats. Those timers most certainly are the zone timers, 1st floor, upstairs and HW, though the labelling is a bit odd as 1st floor is upstairs? Unless the plumber was a Yank, and meant ground floor.
This is a very sound plumbing solution to combining stoves and boilers, the manifold is passive with no valves or parts to fail, pumps far more reliable in the long run to valves. The wiring or Lex box does what the switches on zone valves do, as well as making the wiring tidy and comprehensible. The stove should have its own stat and pump, but they would not need to be wired into the lex box as the stove pump will just come on when it gets hot. There are 4 grey cables into the bottom of the lex box, 3 would be from the timers/stats and one goes back to call the boiler. The power for the box comes in on the right.
The solar is independent of this part of the install, it should be connected to the HW cylinder. The HW cylinder may be a triple coil, with a direct feed from the stove, essential, a second feed from the manifold right hand pump by the looks of it and the third feed to the bottom coil from the solar. It may just be a twin coil, with just the pumped feed from the manifold, but the stove would, for safety, by right need a gravity feed to the cylinder with no valves in the circuit.

The only thing that lets this install down is the mechanical timers. It's a perfect canditate for a Nest or Tado or other system . Two smart stats for the two zones and their associated extension/ relay box(s) to control heating temperatures and heating/ HW timing, retaining the HW stat on the cylinder.
Maybe have a look at the electric Ireland smart stat offers for Nest or Evohome as a cost effective upgrade route. It's all electrics, your plumbing looks like a good job. ( though the leftmost pump seems to pumping in rather than out (cool return to boiler) , if you assume the pumps output is in the direction of the white cable gland. Perhaps plumber rotated the motor head for tidyness). Lots to chew over during the hols.

white_westie · 23-12-2017 12:03pm

deezell wrote: »

Short answer is yes, it is server dependent. See link below for a discussion on another forum teasing out the implications of this if Tado goes bust or starts charging a sub ( like Hive I think?). As the V3 kit bridge is Apple home kit compatible, it seems that you should be able to run Home kit schedules directly to the stats and TRVs in the event of an internet or server failure. Currently if the net goes down the stat will stay at the last setting, with manual control only, and this is probably constrained to the manual setting configured on the app, choice of three, run for duration of the timer, till next scheduled event, or next manual intervention.
https://www.avforums.com/threads/tado-smart-thermostat.2077764/page-6

Thanks for info, i see you are a busy man over in avf too.
Would sort of prefer full local control, so might lean towards just old school controls. Either way have to see what can be done with plumbing before deciding on how to control it.
Did get my head around S plan wiring setup, so just need to see how wireless stats work with the setup.
All a learning curve, so thanks again for all your input to threads like this.

xl500 · 23-12-2017 12:08pm

Stoner wrote: »

Lightwaverf had the facility to copy schedules to different individual TRVs.

They have zones, this is all soft stuff and I guess they will all add the features that the others have.

Stringify is another option here as you can add timers etc to different IFTTT recipes, or group a whole lot of single IFTTT recipes together and call them stringify zones even if your TRV heating system doesn't support zones yet.

Honeywell has option to copy to Different Days and Different Zones ie TRVs

deezell · 23-12-2017 2:38pm

white_westie wrote: »

Thanks for info, i see you are a busy man over in avf too.
Would sort of prefer full local control, so might lean towards just old school controls. Either way have to see what can be done with plumbing before deciding on how to control it.
Did get my head around S plan wiring setup, so just need to see how wireless stats work with the setup.
All a learning curve, so thanks again for all your input to threads like this.

EPH controllers are as good as any for local automation, and they have the EMBER product which has a gateway to the internet for remote control, nothing fancy, same 3 timers per zone per day, no learning, no geolocation, completely local control in the first instance.
All controllers or relays or direct stat contacts work with S plan the same way, by actuating the zone valves which in turn fire the boiler. The zone stats or controllers are not directly connected to the boiler at all.

RoryW · 26-12-2017 3:46am

Trying to get my head around all of this so apologies in advance

Hive v Next v Honeywell v anyone else to consider

I understand that with Hive or Next you are restricted re zones and it is essentially upstairs or downstairs whereas with Honeywell it can be as many as you want (so each radiator can be its own zone if you wanted).

Comments and words of warning and enlightenment welcomed.

Also anything else that people think we should consider at this stage ? House will have alarm and CCTV.

House undergoing rewire and replumb.
Gas heating. New condenser boiler (I think)
I calculate 15 radiators in total

GROUND
Extension - 3
Utility - 1
WC - 1 (towel rail)
Living - 1
Sitting - 1
Hall - 1

FIRST
Bedroom - 2
Landing - 1
Bathroom - 1 (towel rail)
Bedroom - 1
Bedroom - 1

ATTIC
Attic - 1

total - 15