Remote Thermostat??

Xennon

Hi all,
Have a kerosene boiler for central heating, running from 13A plug at the moment. I want to put a thermostat controller on this from the sitting room but I dont want the grief of chasing the walls for cables. I was hoping someone could tell me where to get a remote thermostat, Ive looked online but there seems to be a myriad of models.
Any experiences or sources for these would be very helpful...

Thanks a million

Dave

JamesM

I have no experience of these at all
But, I presume what you need is a wireless motorised valve (controlled by wireless thermostat) with a base with fittings the same size as the pipes exiting your boiler. You may have to drain your system, or you could be lucky enough to have gate valves in the right places.
You could just have the thermostat controlling the power to the pump, if you can find a wireless stat which will control a switch. Connecting it to the boiler would not be efficient.
Jim.

davelerave

i haven't seen them but i'm sure you can buy them a battery powered stat with a rf transmitter .the living room can be a bad place if you're controlling all the rads with it because people light fires etc seperately in this room

Lex Luthor

Santa here...

http://www.radionics.ie/cgi-bin/bv/browse/Module.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0575840700.1133519264@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccgaddgggkllddcefeceefdffhdfin.0&cacheID=ieie&3310972198=3310972198&catoid=-456925591

Xennon

Thanks Lex, found some in there. Question: Are the thermostats controlling the mains supply to the boiler??..ie thru a relay, or is there some circuitry in the boiler that I have to hook them into?..

Dave

JamesM

Xennon wrote:

Thanks Lex, found some in there. Question: Are the thermostats controlling the mains supply to the boiler??..ie thru a relay, or is there some circuitry in the boiler that I have to hook them into?..

Dave

If you connect the thermostat to the mains into the boiler, you will get a large variation in temperature in the zone you are controlling.
For example: the thermostat calls for heat - the boiler and pump switch on - half an hour later the zone has come up to temperature - the thermostat turns off the boiler and pump - the boiler cool down - 20 mins later the zone cools down - the thermostat calls for heat - it may not take as long this time because there is some heat in the boiler, but the temperature in the zone will fluctuate greatly. Also your boiler will not be heating your hot water supply when the room is warm.

You should have a time switch controling the boiler and pump with the thermostat linked into the pump (although this may also restrict your water heating) or, ideally, controlling a motorised valve - or a few motorised valves for different areas.
Jim.

lomb

the best is honeywell http://europe.hbc.honeywell.com/products/frames/f_applheat4.html
ideally, u should fit it to the coldest room north facing, the living room is a good place if u dont light fires.
trvs on the rads also make the rest of the house comfy. the rf base has its own relay and will just shut the mains live signal from the clock controller that fires the boiler. the honeywell has a clock/thermostat/ relay built into it and they can be had on ebay for under 100

Lex Luthor

JamesM wrote:

If you connect the thermostat to the mains into the boiler, you will get a large variation in temperature in the zone you are controlling.
For example: the thermostat calls for heat - the boiler and pump switch on - half an hour later the zone has come up to temperature - the thermostat turns off the boiler and pump - the boiler cool down - 20 mins later the zone cools down - the thermostat calls for heat - it may not take as long this time because there is some heat in the boiler, but the temperature in the zone will fluctuate greatly. Also your boiler will not be heating your hot water supply when the room is warm.

You should have a time switch controling the boiler and pump with the thermostat linked into the pump (although this may also restrict your water heating) or, ideally, controlling a motorised valve - or a few motorised valves for different areas.
Jim.

Jim, I'm interested in what you have to say here.
I have a thermostat in my hall that has a relay in it that switches the boiler on & off dependent on the temp. and the pump also. I'm not sure if its the mains supply that goes thro the relay, I've never checked. But I have it set to fluctuate on & off at 1deg difference. e.g switches ON @ 20, OFF @ 21 and it has been working well for the last 5 yrs.

I'm told that the best solution would be when you no longer require heat, that the boiler switches off, but your circulation pump should run for a few more mins to allow any hot water in the boiler to be circulated out to benefit from it.

Lomb, my company has just been taken over by Honeywell, but I'm not connected to this division, but I'll look into it in the new year. I already can get special deals on the SF range of CO detectors for houses, so I'm hoping we'll get access to many of the Honeywell products in the New year when they take full reigns.

davelerave

lomb wrote:

the best is honeywell http://europe.hbc.honeywell.com/products/frames/f_applheat4.html
ideally, u should fit it to the coldest room north facing, the living room is a good place if u dont light fires.
trvs on the rads also make the rest of the house comfy. the rf base has its own relay and will just shut the mains live signal from the clock controller that fires the boiler. the honeywell has a clock/thermostat/ relay built into it and they can be had on ebay for under 100

the hr80 rf rad valves and the hcm200d 16 zone controller would be a nice flexible setup and easy to retrofit.are you familiar with these or their price thanks?
http://europe.hbc.honeywell.com/products/frames/f_applzone3.html

JamesM

Lex Luthor wrote:

Jim, I'm interested in what you have to say here.
I have a thermostat in my hall that has a relay in it that switches the boiler on & off dependent on the temp. and the pump also. I'm not sure if its the mains supply that goes thro the relay, I've never checked. But I have it set to fluctuate on & off at 1deg difference. e.g switches ON @ 20, OFF @ 21 and it has been working well for the last 5 yrs.

Lex, I am of the "Old School". I am not up to date with the modern technology used with modern systems - wireless etc.
The idea always was that, once the heating was turned on with a timeswitch or whatever, the boiler was kept up to temperature, so that instantly, when a thermostat called for heat (turned on the pump or opened a valve), hot water was supplied to the required zone.

I'm told that the best solution would be when you no longer require heat, that the boiler switches off, but your circulation pump should run for a few more mins to allow any hot water in the boiler to be circulated out to benefit from it.

Usually it is not done but, ideally, a pipe stat is fitted on the flow close to the boiler. It is wired between the mains and the waterpump. The stat is set at about 55, so that the pump does not come on until the temp reaches 55, and so that the circulation does not stop until the temp drops below 55. There is no point in circulating water below 55.
The modern systems with zone controls are not new. Back in the late 60s, the Edwards System was known as the "Rolls Royce" of heating systems. It was a very efficient boiler with all areas of the house controlled by thermostats and zone valves.
To keep costs down, right through the 70s, 80s & 90s, the cheapest systems posible were installed. A time switch turned on the heating and sometimes a thermostat controlled the pump or a motorised valve.
Jim.

Xennon

Thanks folks, great info there.
I think what I will do is stick a timer socket on the boiler mains feed for now and have a closer look at the zoned controller. Our sitting room takes ages to get up to heat because of a high ceiling and balcony kinda thing going on. So perhaps the idea of a thermostatic timer in the sitting room and thermo static valves in the other rooms would work, but when we put on a fire the sitting room heats up in no time in conjunction with the central heating. (note to self:backboiler). This is where the thermostatic valves would fail as the thermostat in the sitting room would knock it all off.

What would you guys think of a simple timer controller for the boiler and thermostatic valves in all the rooms then (including the sitting room).

Just to complete the picture theres 4 rads in the sitting room.

Cheers a million

Dave_W

JamesM

Xennon wrote:

What would you guys think of a simple timer controller for the boiler and thermostatic valves in all the rooms then (including the sitting room).

Just to complete the picture theres 4 rads in the sitting room.

Cheers a million

Dave_W

"Simple" can often be best. A modern kerosene boiler is very efficient. Use it on a timer. Turn off (or almost off) rads which are not needed and it is amazing how little oil you use. If the weather gets milder, cut down the hours the heating is timed for - or turn it off.
Jim.

FrankGrimes

Hi lads,

Forgive me for not fully understanding the above

I've got a new Glowworm gas system boiler and a wired time clock right beside it (currently manual but I have bought an electronic clock and will be fitting shortly). The boiler has a temperature dial on it but there is no thermostat elsewhere in the house. All of the rads, bar one heated towel rad, have TRVs.

My understanding was that the 1 to 5 settings on TRVs were relative to the temperature the boiler is running at and do not refer to an absolute temperature. We normally have the boiler running at 65 degrees but I don't think our setup is very efficient.

Which of the wireless thermostats above would be best to allow us have a thermostat in the hallway (for example) and set that to say 21 degrees and have it instruct the boiler accordingly?

Thanks.

Lex Luthor

FrankGrimes wrote:

Hi lads,

Forgive me for not fully understanding the above

I've got a new Glowworm gas system boiler and a wired time clock right beside it (currently manual but I have bought an electronic clock and will be fitting shortly). The boiler has a temperature dial on it but there is no thermostat elsewhere in the house. All of the rads, bar one heated towel rad, have TRVs.

My understanding was that the 1 to 5 settings on TRVs were relative to the temperature the boiler is running at and do not refer to an absolute temperature. We normally have the boiler running at 65 degrees but I don't think our setup is very efficient.

Which of the wireless thermostats above would be best to allow us have a thermostat in the hallway (for example) and set that to say 21 degrees and have it instruct the boiler accordingly?

Thanks.

http://europe.hbc.honeywell.com/products/frames/f_applheat4.html

FrankGrimes

Thanks - looks to me like that will handle timing aswell - is that correct? Looks like I'll have to bring back the electric one I bought earlier and swap it. Any idea how much that kit should cost and do Chadwicks do it?