RE: Heating Question

[Stuart Poulton <swp@xxxxxxx>]

Kevin,

Thats basically what I'm looking at, there are replacement units for
TRV, that replace the thermostatic knob, with on containg an
electrically heated core, takes about 4 minutes go from fully on to
fully off.

Stuart


On Mon, 2002-02-25 at 11:16, Kevin Wood wrote:
> I have heard (haven't got round to trying it) that a low cost way of
zoning
> off a heating system with TRVs is to strap a small resistor to the
valves
> you want to control and dissipate a few watts of power in the
resistor. This
> artificially increases the temperature of the TRV by a few degrees and
> causes it to cut off the flow of water early.
>
> I would imagine this doesn't give you the on/off control you'd get
with a
> motorised valve but could be useful for reducing the temperature of
certain
> "zones" to a "set back" temperature when not
occupied. Perhaps coupled with
> a PIR in the room concerned. The degree of "set back" can be
adjusted by
> varying the power into the resistor. Could even automate that if you
fed the
> resistor with a PWM signal.
>
> It has a few advantages, notably cost, the fact you don't have to
drain
> plumbing, etc. and it's easy to restore the system to it's original
state.
>
> SWMBO probably wouldn't even notice.
>
> Kevin