Advice on thermostatic controls on new system

rounders

I'm currently getting a new heating system installed from scratch in a old house. House had no heating whatsoever in it. Its going to have a Grant combi condensing boiler and have 3 zones. Upstairs, downstairs and hot water. What thermostatic control would you recommend? Is something like climote or Nest any use to me apart from being a remote on off switch like a glorified GSM controller?

Sorry for digging up a old trend btw. Just seem to have a lot of knowledgeable people on it!

Also should mention that the house will be getting dry lined so running wires for thermostats wont be a problem as it will be all covered but dry lining

Dtp1979

rounders wrote: »

I'm currently getting a new heating system installed from scratch in a old house. House had no heating whatsoever in it. Its going to have a Grant combi condensing boiler and have 3 zones. Upstairs, downstairs and hot water. What thermostatic control would you recommend? Is something like climote or Nest any use to me apart from being a remote on off switch like a glorified GSM controller?

Sorry for digging up a old trend btw. Just seem to have a lot of knowledgeable people on it!

Also should mention that the house will be getting dry lined so running wires for thermostats wont be a problem as it will be all covered but dry lining

If you're into gimmicks and controls, get nest or similar. If not, stick with the 3 zones and seai grant. You don't need a combi boiler either.

roy rodgers

Pay the extra for digital stats if your going with a 3 zone. I find they much better than the cheap analogue ones.

rounders

Dtp1979 wrote: »

You don't need a combi boiler either.

Why not a combi?

rounders

roy rodgers wrote: »

Pay the extra for digital stats if your going with a 3 zone. I find they much better than the cheap analogue ones.

Are all the digital stats the same or is there specific features I should look for? Should I have thermometers in a number of rooms to turn the heating on/off depending on the heat?

Cerco

Have a look at TRVs if you want to control heat in separate rooms.
Each room/radiator temperature can be individually set. Seem like a good idea to me. Interested to hear other comments.

Dtp1979

rounders wrote: »

Why not a combi?

A combi on an oil boiler isn't great in my opinion. Plus, one of your zones is hot water, which means you've a cylinder, so no need for a combi

rounders

Dtp1979 wrote: »

A combi on an oil boiler isn't great in my opinion. Plus, one of your zones is hot water, which means you've a cylinder, so no need for a combi

My plumber said that I don't need a tank for the hot water? That I'd have hot water on demand?

Dtp1979

rounders wrote: »

My plumber said that I don't need a tank for the hot water? That I'd have hot water on demand?

How many hot taps, showers and baths do you have?

rounders

Dtp1979 wrote: »

How many hot taps, showers and baths do you have?

3 hot taps. (1 in the kitchen, 1 in each bathroom) no baths just a 2 power showers that will have a tank for cold water supply

Dtp1979

rounders wrote: »

3 hot taps. (1 in the kitchen, 1 in each bathroom) no baths just a 2 power showers that will have a tank for cold water supply

So you'll have 5 hot demands. Me personally, I don't think a combi is suitable for such demands. You have to size this with the thought that possibly all 5 hot points will be on at the same time. Plus, oil boilers are slow to heat up, compared to a gas boiler for instance.

rounders

No it's just 3 taps, what's in brackets is just a break down.

roy rodgers

Dtp1979 wrote: »

So you'll have 5 hot demands. Me personally, I don't think a combi is suitable for such demands. You have to size this with the thought that possibly all 5 hot points will be on at the same time. Plus, oil boilers are slow to heat up, compared to a gas boiler for instance.

+1

Dtp1979

rounders wrote: »

No it's just 3 taps, what's in brackets is just a break down.

Yea 3 hot Taps and 2 showers which have a hot each too. 5 in total

rounders

The shower will work from cold water? They will heat the water themselves like

Dtp1979

rounders wrote: »

The shower will work from cold water? They will heat the water themselves like

Are you sure?
Seems like a complete waste if your fitting a booster pump to the system and having it fully pressurised, and then to have crap t90 showers or similar

rounders

So your saying I would have better pressure and a better system if I put in a copper tank and a shower that uses the boiler hot water?

Dtp1979

rounders wrote: »

So your saying I would have better pressure and a better system if I put in a copper tank and a shower that uses the boiler hot water?

Put in a pressurised cylinder and normal vortex boiler. Pressurise the cylinder with a 3 bar Grundfos MQ or similar

Irish Steve

Given that huge chunks of this country have water that's as hard as the hob of hell, I cannot understand this love affair with instant heat electric showers. Even at 9.5 Kw the output isn't great, and once they start to fur up with limescale, there's even more hassles with them, a power shower running off the hot water tank is a much more flexible and reliable option.

Thermostats are fine for the area they are in, but for the other rooms, getting the heat balance right can be a pain, I'd have to say that thermostatic radiator valves are a much more flexible option. If all the radiators are going to have TRV's, a bypass loop to ensure the boiler isn't "stalled" when the pump is running will be needed.

Separate zones for upstairs and downstairs works well, and depending on the usage of the rooms, can make a difference to the running costs.

If you have a number of people in the house, and are going for the hot water shower route, it may be worth considering an external heat exchanger on the cylinder, as this will make a huge difference to the recovery time of the hot water tank, and also means that hot water is available much sooner than is the case with the traditional coil. If you consider this route, it will be worth discussing it with the installer, as it might mean a slightly higher capacity boiler to ensure that there is enough capacity to cover heating and hot water demand.