thermostat advice

gambit83

Hi,

Was looking for recommendations on thermostats - what's best: smart, wired or wireless?

And any advice as to what would be best for our house would be great.

We bought our house which is oil heated however the heating system doesn't work properly, the house is two storeys with underfloor heating and is approx. 3,500 sq ft, built circa 2008.

It appears that the plan for the house was to put a thermostat in every room as there is one set of manifolds upstairs and another one downstairs, neither set of manifolds is wired up so the underfloor heating doesn't work properly on either floor - only some rooms get it. Most of the electrical wiring appears to be done as we can wires (we've since put blank covers here but can easily re-open) which is where we think the thermostat was to go and we can see the wires coming up to the attic.

Last year we had a plumber in who suggested that we get an electrician in to finish off the wiring and install thermostats and then the plumber would replace all the manifolds and balance the system but then Covid hit so everything was put on hold. Would this still be the best way forward or would wireless / smart thermostats be better?

I've attached some photos, any advice / recommendations would be great.

Thanks

gambit83

...anyone...

Wearb

You need to get the heating working properly before going any further. For this you need s plumber. There is nothing prohibiting a plumber working on getting someone's heating working.
Once that's working as it should, he might be able to connect all the wiring up or recommend an electrician.

K.Flyer

Bin the manifold and replace with a more reliable set up with flow meters, temp gauges, circulation pump, new actuators.
Wiring centre may be usable, fairly easy but time consuming to check, for reliability prob better to change it as well, but it's probably fine.
I would do it this way;
Check all wiring from thermostat locations are going back to wiring centre and not broken with continuity testing.
Identify each thermostat connection at centre.
Check the control centre covers the amount of heating zones. If not it needs replacing.
Check wiring for actuators if location is not nearby.
If underfloor zone pipework is not mapped you may have to run each zone one at a time and identify which heating zones go to which pipe connection / actuator using a thermal imaging camera.
When all of that comes together you should end up with a fully functioning underfloor heating system.
On a very large house wireless thermostats can sometimes be unreliable with signals getting blocked by walls etc., best to go with cable for reliability, plus no issues with batteries.
As for cost.. it's going to cost a good bit to put right properly, it just depends on how much of what you have is reusable.
Hope that helps somewhat..

whizbang

Why dont you get some simple cheap wired thermostats and fit them yourself.
Replace all the manifold actuators, platy with the system till you get an idea what works and what doesnt.
Then call the plumber.

Smart thermostats can be usefull, but it depends on your usage. If you regularly leave the house empty and return at unpredictable times, then go internet enabled, otherwise it might not be appropriate, particularly with UFH.