Re: Zoned Heating Control

[Lehane Kellett <lehane@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Laurence
If you still have the opportunity then consider bringing the radiators=20
pipes back to central point(s) with manifolds (like those on UFH). You=20
can then fit electrically operated valves(24V or 240V) there rather than=20
on the radiators themselves. I used Danfoss manifolds as you can=20
mix/match on ports.

From the control point of view - I think you either pay the money (and=20
get maybe 70%) or adopt the DIY approach. In my case I went down the DIY=20
route, albeit a few less zones. See http://www.honeycottage.eu/HAhome.htm

So far I have:
Central control (xAP Floorplan)
Boiler control (industrial PLC)
Zones (sensors are Dallas, will be adding humidity soon for bathrooms)
Occupancy (using the alarm PIR's)
Weather compensation (external Dallas and local airfield weather report)
Forward weather compensation on the UFH (looks at BBC weather forecast)

Open window detection and optimum start are to follow, though I doubt=20
the efficacy of the latter on a fully zoned system since if one zone is=20
calling for heat then the costs of heating the boiler and pipework are=20
significant and adding another zone probably is pennies in a well=20
insulated place. Simply changing the overall CH start time based on time=20
of year and the alarm clock setting seems to work OK.

Lehane






Laurence Mason wrote:
>
> We are building a large well insulated farm house and I would like to
> have a practical system for zoning the heating. My dream system would
be:
>
> Separate zone for each room - we could consider ~20 zones
> Individual override in each (or some) rooms
> Central programming panel plus ability to do this via browser
interface
> Full seven day programming per zone
> External temperature compensation
> Wired system - not wireless - Radio amateur and do not want
interference
> either way
> Unobtrusive valves as we will be fitting column radiators and want to
> achieve a look in keeping with them
> One or two areas of underfloor heating
> Learns thermal response of room ( we will have log burners in three
> rooms so not sure how this would affect the learning - and an aga in
the
> kitchen)
>
> Now, we went to the self build / automation show the other week, which
> was very interesting - it is some years since we last went. Still
> waiting for some of the suppliers to sent us information - I guess
they
> must have a lot to catch up on.
>
> Talking to the automation people it appears there are a range of
> solutions, some of which are very expensive - =A320K buys me a lot of
> heating oil!
>
> It would appear that the TRV body with the wired remote control head
is
> an economic way to control the flow of water in each of the zones - we
> could even hide them in a cupboard or bathroom so they are not seen in
> the main living rooms. It appears the major cost is in the controller
or
> are we missing something? In general we are not looking at automating
> the lights or sound so don't want to pay for a system to only use 10%
of
> it's power to control the heating - perhaps that is why some of them
> appear so expensive? We will want a monitored alarm system so perhaps
> that would help to offset the cost? We would cover the wiring and=20
> plumbing.
>
> So any suggestions on a sensible way forward or do I just fit normal
> TRVs in every room and spend a little more on oil each year? The house
> is well insulated but it does seem wasteful to heat the spare room,
for
> example, to a normal temperature profile when we have no guests!
>
> Thanks,
>
> Laurence
>
>=20=20



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