RE: 1 year on, still looking to "HA my heating"

["Paul Gale" <groups2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I always wanted zoned control and with the excuse of the loft
conversion and UFH up there, I decided to go with the Hometronic system,
hence getting away from Smartfit.



Paul.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of Paul Gordon
> Sent: 24 April 2007 09:04
> To: UKHA_D Group
> Subject: RE: [ukha_d] 1 year on, still looking to "HA my
heating"
>
> Yes, I would be interested in the UCM, - thus far, Smartfit seems to
be
> the best fit for what I want, but I need to do a little more research
> first, just to be certain that it is suitable for use in my design of
> heating system. (I can't imagine it wouldn't be, since it's hardly
> anything esoteric).
>
> Why are you getting rid of it out of interest? - have you not
> implemented Smartfit? - have you used it & decided to remove it? -
Was
> Smartfit inadequate in some way?
>
> Paul G.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On Behalf
> Of Paul Gale
> Sent: 24 April 2007 08:49
> To: UKHA_D Group
> Subject: RE: [ukha_d] 1 year on, still looking to "HA my
heating"
>
> You could go the Comfort Honeywell Smartfit route.
>
> In fact, I'm probably going to sell my Comfort Smartfit UCM -
> interested?
>
> Seems to fit what you want?
>
> Paul.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx [mailto:ukha_d@xxxxxxx] On
> Behalf
> > Of Paul Gordon
> > Sent: 23 April 2007 22:16
> > To: UKHA_D Group
> > Subject: [ukha_d] 1 year on, still looking to "HA my
heating"
> >
> > OK, so work rather forced me to postpone my plans to HA-ify my
> central
> > heating system for a while, but I'm back on the case now, I have
> > budgetary approval from the "FD" (aka SWMBO), and
British Gas today
> > refused to certify my current boiler safe, so that rather puts
the
> > pressure on to sort something out.
> >
> >
> >
> > There are just sooooo many choices available and decisions to
make
> that
> > I am having a hard time seeing the wood for the trees, so any
advice,
> > thoughts, experiences from the group would be most welcome!
> >
> >
> >
> > The main decision drivers are:
> >
> >
> >
> > I have a mains-pressure combi boiler & standard radiators.
The boiler
> > *will* need replacing, so I need to select the "best"
(most suitable)
> > replacement. I have a preference currently for a Vaillant model,
> since
> > I
> > have heard only good things about these, but I am open to any
> > suggestions regarding this choice. I have fairly low mains water
> > pressure, (Thames water!) so I need a boiler that will work well
in
> > these conditions. Clearly I will be replacing with a condensing
> model,
> > but I have no desire to re-engineer my heating system, so I will
be
> > staying with a mains pressure combi design, to keep the job to
> > (hopefully) a straightforward boiler swap-out. Important
> considerations
> > for the boiler choice are the best flow rate available (given our
> > already low mains pressure, so minimal losses in the boiler
itself
> are
> > key), and the fastest response time to produce hot water (to wit
I
> > believe there are models that maintain a small reservoir
internally
> of
> > water that is kept "hot and ready") - just like
SWMBO... ;-)
> > (perhaps that's too much information!)
> >
> >
> >
> > I have Comfort G2 installed, and I want this to be the main
control
> > system for the HA control over the heating. - Specifically, I
want
> > Comfort responses able to switch the heating based on alarm
state,
> and
> > the ability to manually control and monitor the system status
both
> > locally from any location in the house, and remotely via phone or
> web.
> >
> >
> >
> > I have CBUS lighting installed, and I have a CBUS UCM linking
this to
> > Comfort. Thus CBUS switches anywhere in the house can trigger
Comfort
> > responses. I also have a CBUS PAC for more complex
logic/processing
> > where required.
> >
> >
> >
> > I have a 24x7 HA PC running Homeseer, this is fully integrated
with
> > Comfort via a UCM and a Comfort plug-in. This is not to be
regarded
> as
> > part of the "core" system, since a PC is not guaranteed
to be 100%
> > reliable (although mine *is* pretty damn stable as it happens).
What
> > this does give me however, is the web interface into Comfort, and
all
> > the additional "nice to have" layers on top of the core
> functionality.
> >
> >
> >
> > I have a CAT5 cable run going to each of my radiators, installed
in
> > anticipation of wanting to install remotely controllable rad
valves
> at
> > some point. I currently have TRV's on all but one of my rads.
> >
> >
> >
> > Zoned control might be "nice", but I don't view it as
an essential
> > requirement; - we don't have zoned control now, so we won't miss
what
> > we've never had, plus we live in an old, leaky Victorian house,
so
> > "zones" are a little bit of a nonsense here, since heat
moves around
> > between rooms all the time anyway, with not much we can do to
stop
> it!
> > -
> > The house is, pretty much, 1 big open plan zone in effect...
> >
> >
> >
> > I don't need independent control of hot water & heating. In
fact I
> > don't
> > need any control of hot water at all (after all, it can't turn
the
> taps
> > on for me can it!) - actually, yes - I *do* know that I *could*
in
> > theory automate taps to do auto-filling of the bath for instance,
but
> > that's for the next house!. All I want this time round is heating
> > control.
> >
> >
> >
> > Oh, and I always have a preference for a wired control system
over a
> > wireless one where possible, since I have yet to experience a
> wireless
> > system that has never let me down. (with the possible exception
of my
> > DECT phones?). On that note, X10 as a control system is a no-no
as
> > well,
> > - just not reliable enough, and I'm in the process of expunging
> > virtually all X10 from my house anyway.
> >
> >
> >
> > Based on the above information, I'm thinking that maybe the
Honeywell
> > Smartfit system would be a good fit for my needs... - Does anyone
> here
> > have one of these? - does anyone here have one integrated with
> Comfort?
> > Does it work with my design of heating system (i.e. mains
pressure
> > combi) - and what the **** is the difference between
"S-plan" & "Y-
> > plan"
> > anyway?
> >
> >
> >
> > Anyone care to offer any other suggestions? - obviously I've
looked
> at
> > the Honeywell Hometronic system as well, but this does seem like
> > massive
> > overkill for my requirements. I am absolutely set on the
integration
> > with Comfort; - I don't want to bring into the house another
> disparate
> > HA system with its own control mechanisms... - Integration is
key! I
> > saw
> > quite a few systems at the Smarthome show last month, but almost
> > without
> > exception, they were closed, proprietary systems with their own
> > controllers and so on.
> >
> >
> >
> > Right, I think I've rambled on long enough now...  Thanks for
reading
> > this far!
> >
> >
> >
> > Paul G.
> >
> >
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