Systemlink heating control

Slates

Has anyone used a systemlink type heating control system in their house, it would seem to be the ideal solution for the heating system i'm looking for

3 zones with 2 heating imputs, Oil boiler and multifuel stove.

Any feedback ?

De_man

i installed it, a great job and made life a bit easier, imho it was a bit of overkill but have a look for yourself on www.systemlink.ie

ircoha

The solid fuel options used by syslink all have an injector tee fitted
eg http://www.systemlink.ie/documents/SystemZone%20Manifold%20-%20Residential%20Applications.pdf

or http://www.arca53.dsl.pipex.com/index_files/cont3.htm

where it says
An injector tee aids circulation in gravity circuits when the pump is on.

Any further clarification would be appreciated.

Thanks.

davidoco

ircoha wrote: »

An injector tee aids circulation in gravity circuits when the pump is on.

If you have a normal equal 3/4" or 1" tee the water coming from the bottom (tee) hits a dead end and only pressure from the left turns it left to the boiler. An injector tee is like a on road on a motorway, instead of having a T junction where you have to stop, look and go, you can join the flow easily. The tee is really for situations where your pump fails (like during a power cut) and you need the gravity flow to flow in the desired direction.

Here's an alternative to systemlink. http://www.dunsleyheat.co.uk/layout.htm

Joining two heat sources (one uncontrolled such as solid fuel) is not easy and potentially unsafe in the wrong hands.

ircoha

davidoco: Thanks, I agree 100% with the safety issues of mixing heating systems that include solid fuel.

Just wondering,
(i) when in a typical mixed heating system where there is a gas fired boiler and a solid fuel cooker [SFC], how does the system stop the gas fired boiler using the SFC as a radiator?

for example how is it done in the Dunsley?

(ii) in your experience are these sort of mixed systems usually open systems because of the solid fuel element?.
Thanks

davidoco

ircoha wrote: »

(i) when in a typical mixed heating system where there is a gas fired boiler and a solid fuel cooker [SFC], how does the system stop the gas fired boiler using the SFC as a radiator?

for example how is it done in the Dunsley?

(ii) in your experience are these sort of mixed systems usually open systems because of the solid fuel element?.
Thanks

I've nil knowledge of the system link so can't comment on that

I know about the Dunsley. the Dunsley drawings might look complicated but are simply really. The secret lies in the diverter valve (for power out situations) and the two port valve which is normally OPEN. The one install that I assisted on with the dunsley was a fair while ago but we did a bit of a DIY job on the controls. If you take the Dunsley drawings and delete all the wiring from same you will see the straighforward nature of it.

davidoco

ircoha wrote: »

(i) when in a typical mixed heating system where there is a gas fired boiler and a solid fuel cooker [SFC], how does the system stop the gas fired boiler using the SFC as a radiator?

for example how is it done in the Dunsley?

The physics behind the neutralizer is beyond me but obviously, and the same goes for the systemlink, the chambers have baffles that prohibit the flow of water between the circuits. Of course the stats opening and closing valves have a part to play too.

ircoha wrote: »

(ii) in your experience are these sort of mixed systems usually open systems because of the solid fuel element?.

I'm into the electric/tronic stuff more that the actual nuts and bolts of plumbing but I have never seen a situation where a sealed heating system was being fed from solid fuel (apart from the wood pellet).

If you would like a sealed system you can have an oil fired sealed heating system together with a solid fuel providing heat through a buffer tank or a heatexchanger. Attached is a v rough drawing of a buffer with hot water coming off a plate heat exchanger. Alternatively you can use an existing hot water cylinder by treating it as a zone on the heating circuit.

PS here's another one to look at. http://h2panel.co.uk/operation.htm

Slates

So to have a pressurized water system with a condensing oil boiler as the main heating source, backed up with a multifuel stove, the stove will need to plumbed into a buffer thank as the garvity feed system and the pressurized system can not be used together........is this statment right ?

ircoha

davidoco wrote: »

The physics behind the neutralizer is beyond me but obviously, and the same goes for the systemlink, the chambers have baffles that prohibit the flow of water between the circuits. Of course the stats opening and closing valves have a part to play too.





I'm into the electric/tronic stuff more that the actual nuts and bolts of plumbing but I have never seen a situation where a sealed heating system was being fed from solid fuel (apart from the wood pellet).

If you would like a sealed system you can have an oil fired sealed heating system together with a solid fuel providing heat through a buffer tank or a heatexchanger. Attached is a v rough drawing of a buffer with hot water coming off a plate heat exchanger. Alternatively you can use an existing hot water cylinder by treating it as a zone on the heating circuit.

PS here's another one to look at. http://h2panel.co.uk/operation.htm

My belief is that the baffles in the mixing manifolds only act as baffles and do not provide a physical barrier between 2 systems.

Thanks for the HE idea and sketch.

My sole objective here, as I believe is yours, to ensure 100% safety.
I don't want anyone to think that mixing a solid fuel heating system with a closed oil or gas fired boiler is something that can be done without careful consideration and clear understanding of what needs to be done.

The key problem is that in the event of a power cut or a blocked or stuck mini/multi-port valve is that there is a gravity fed heat sink to dissipate the excess heat from the solid fuel boiler.

Slates

ircoha wrote: »

My belief is that the baffles in the mixing manifolds only act as baffles and do not provide a physical barrier between 2 systems.

Thanks for the HE idea and sketch.

My sole objective here, as I believe is yours, to ensure 100% safety.
I don't want anyone to think that mixing a solid fuel heating system with a closed oil or gas fired boiler is something that can be done without careful consideration and clear understanding of what needs to be done.

The key problem is that in the event of a power cut or a blocked or stuck mini/multi-port valve is that there is a gravity fed heat sink to dissipate the excess heat from the solid fuel boiler.

Should I scrap the idea ?????

davidoco

ircoha wrote: »

The key problem is that in the event of a power cut or a blocked or stuck mini/multi-port valve is that there is a gravity fed heat sink to dissipate the excess heat from the solid fuel boiler.

For that reason 1" copper unobstructed all the way up to a vented cylinder at a higher level is a must.

davidoco

Slates wrote: »

So to have a pressurized water system with a condensing oil boiler as the main heating source, backed up with a multifuel stove, the stove will need to plumbed into a buffer thank as the garvity feed system and the pressurized system can not be used together........is this statment right ?



Should I scrap the idea ?????

If you need a pressurised space heating system you can't link them with systemlink or dunsley or any of them.

There are alternatives to the buffer tank which involve plate heat exchangers but this can be expensive and you'll need your hot want tank as a heat leak and possibly a bathroom rad attached to the stove only.

davidoco

davidoco wrote: »

If you need a pressurised space heating system you can't link them with systemlink or dunsley or any of them.

3 posts in a row, don't ban me, I can't edit old posts.


To clarify the above regarding pressurised space heating. You can pressurise the system, it's just that you need to be very very sure you have the controls and the pressure vessel correctly sized.

Slates

What do you think of the attached system

davidoco

Everything looks fine there in that drawing slates save for the fact that you need a heat leak in case your cylinder is boiling over with hot water and your fire to blazing, you need to either

run one of the zones to take heat off
run off some hot water

See aquatech.ie/shop for pricing on the sytemlink. Also while there get a download of the installation instructions. I had a read of it and can’t figure out how you wire a heat leak using the systemlink with minilex. My feeling is that you need the SystemZone with systemlex. I expect all in all your looking at €1000 to link them. If you can find a plumber/electrician who has done one before your away on a hack, otherwise expect a bit of head scratching.

I personally would go for the buffer (for hopefully not much more money), and especially if you were thinking of expanding your solar panels in future. In winter you can divert solar panels to buffer for a time during the day or on heat satisfied in cylinder, and in summer you won’t be using the buffer anyhow. If you do find you have little or not hot water you can bump it up with the immersion.

De_man

your system seems to be very similar to mine....
except i didn't put in the stove to heat water (plumber in the end refused point blank and i can see why)


one thing to look out for,,,,i put in a circulating pump (to reduce the lead
time from the hot water in the tank to the house (this is controlled by time switch for peak times only) ...even so it does take approx 1minute for the hot water to come through when having a shower (nothing can be done about it) try and minimise this...maybe a buffer tank in the house, then pumped to the showers???? might be the way to go...


connect everything in "Star" back to your central point....not "daisy chain" and you'll have no probs with pressure (this was also done for each heating source)

don't forget about your heating controls etc in the garage
it was very tricky to wire up:rolleyes:


want any other info pm

Slates

I used the systemlink with the systemlex control in my heating system with a solid fuel stove and a condensing oil boiler (with 3 zones) and it is working great, thank to everyone for their input

Katz83

Slates wrote: »

I used the systemlink with the systemlex control in my heating system with a solid fuel stove and a condensing oil boiler (with 3 zones) and it is working great, thank to everyone for their input

We just put this in to our new build. but finding it a bit confusing to work. Can you have the stove and the oil running together. We have a stat beside the stove. Can i ask you what you set this to.

We had the stove running the last day. Say the water was at 40 degree coming from the back boiler stove and say the house tempature was at 16degrees and we turned this up to 20 degrees the oil did not come on. When we rose the tempature on the stat beside the stove to 50 degrees it did come on but only for a few minutes as the water in the pipe beside the stove hit 50 degrees very quickly and then the oil shut down again. does this seem right

Not sure if what i am saying makes sence as this is all new to me

muffler

An old thread resurrected so I'll move this along to the Plumbing & Heating forum

goreyhead

Katz83 wrote: »

Slates wrote: »

I used the systemlink with the systemlex control in my heating system with a solid fuel stove and a condensing oil boiler (with 3 zones) and it is working great, thank to everyone for their input

We just put this in to our new build. but finding it a bit confusing to work. Can you have the stove and the oil running together. We have a stat beside the stove. Can i ask you what you set this to.

We had the stove running the last day. Say the water was at 40 degree coming from the back boiler stove and say the house tempature was at 16degrees and we turned this up to 20 degrees the oil did not come on. When we rose the tempature on the stat beside the stove to 50 degrees it did come on but only for a few minutes as the water in the pipe beside the stove hit 50 degrees very quickly and then the oil shut down again. does this seem right

Not sure if what i am saying makes sence as this is all new to me

Hi katz83
Have same problem with a simaler system we putting in ,we have a stanley oil cooker and a stove connect using a systemlink and when u light the stove it turn of the cooker when reachs temp ,can i ask did u solve your problem