Heating & Thermostat Control options

cletus

I've had good advice from this forum already, so I'm back for some more

I have two of the thermostats below in the house, one upstairs and one downstairs, but the don't really seem to do anything unless you turn them way up or down

The heating is controlled by a simple switch and analogue timer, the second picture

The third picture is what I assume are the controls for the two zones in the house

My question is, what are my options re upgrading the controls to have more, well, control, that don't involve requiring my house. In other words something I could switch out myself on a quiet Saturday afternoon. I am assuming digital stats etc, but really don't know where to start

cletus

Second pic

cletus

And third pic (phone won't let me upload more than one per post)

cletus

No suggestions at all???

Calahonda52

If this is under floor heating then not much to control due to the massive response lag.
What do u mean by
I could switch out myself on a quiet Saturday

17larsson

Are you looking to be able to control remotely from an app? Nest, Climote or Hive would be options you could consider

MicktheMan

Google "chronostat"

cletus

Calahonda52 wrote: »

If this is under floor heating then not much to control due to the massive response lag.
What do u mean by
I could switch out myself on a quiet Saturday

It's not under floor heating, just normal oil central heating.

What I meant was I am looking for direct replacements for the items pictured. I don't want to have to hire a plumber and electrician to fit whatever option I come up with.
Really I just want a more accurate way to control the temperature of my house, the thermostats that are already installed feel like I'm using a sledgehammer to put in paneling pins

cletus

17larsson wrote: »

Are you looking to be able to control remotely from an app? Nest, Climote or Hive would be options you could consider

Remotely controlling it would be a nice feature, but not a deal breaker. Accurate readouts would be my main concern, as at the moment if I adjust the analogue thermostats I have to make but adjustments, and the markings on the dial don't seem to cushions in any real way to the actual heat of the house.

I'd like to look at a digital display and say "it's 19 degrees in here, little to warm, I'll turn the temp down to 16 degrees"

At the moment, to make any difference to say the upstairs,I have to roll the analogue dial between 12 and 35 degrees

cletus

MicktheMan wrote: »

Google "chronostat"

That's exactly the type of thing was imagining glad to know it wasn't just imagination. Are there any disadvantages to using one that doesn't use the mains, apart from battery changes.

Also,I assume I it would use the wiring already installed for the old ones to control the temp?

freddyuk

Your plumber clearly has shares in Polypipe! I do not understand why you would run a separate circuit to each radiator.
You need a 5/7 day programmer for the hot water so you can set maybe 4 different switch on times for the DHW per day. You may need a motorised valve on the hot water circuit if you don't have one? I can't tell exactly what system you have. Then 2 x Programmable room stats to replace the existing stats. You already have maybe 3 core cable to these? You can get battery operated stats that need just 2 or 3 wires to work.These can be set 4-6 different times per day with different temperatures but easily overridden if required.They should be in correct location ie. not near a radiator - normally hallway or landing.
The cables run back to your hot press and need to be connected into a simple wiring centre. Basically the boiler needs to be connected to the pump and then to the valves which are switched by the stats or programmer. Each stat is simply a switch. If you are competent with electricity you can get a diagram to follow.
If you are not competent with this I would get someone in as it is mains power so not worth the risk. No major upheaval if the power/pump/boiler cables are accessible and you have a separate hot water circuit.
If you don't have trv's on the radiators these would give you even better control of individual rooms but require a drain down of system. (leave one rad without trv).

dathi

freddyuk wrote: »

Your plumber clearly has shares in Polypipe! I do not understand why you would run a separate circuit to each radiator.
.

they run the polypipe directly to the rads so there are no joints under the floor that can leak less joints less work http://www.emmeti.co.uk/articles/the-use-of-manifolds-in-domestic-heating-systems

Dtp1979

dathi wrote: »

they run the polypipe directly to the rads so there are no joints under the floor that can leak less joints less work http://www.emmeti.co.uk/articles/the-use-of-manifolds-in-domestic-heating-systems

Tasty

cletus

So the manifold setup in my hotpress is a good thing then?

Would this mean that the traditional method of balancing rads wouldn't be applicable to my setup?