[Message Prev][Message Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Message Index][Thread Index]

Thermostat suggestions for radiant + HVAC + multiple zones



I'm building a new home with 3 floors. Each has radiant heating and
forced air HVAC. The layout looks like this:

Basement: 3 radiant heating zones + 1 HV (no AC)
1st floor: 3 radiant heating zones + 1 HVAC
2nd floor: 4 radiant heating zones + 1 HVAC

I'm thinking about using a 2 stage thermostat for HVAC+radiant on the
basement and 2nd floor, for a total of 11 thermostats:

Basement:
    2x single stage (radiant)
    1x two-stage thermostat (radiant + HV)

1st floor:
    3x single stage thermostats (radiant)
    1x single stage + 2 sensors (HVAC)

2nd floor:
    3x single stage thermostats (radiant)
    1x two stage thermostat (radiant + HVAC)

It seemed like lot of thermostats, but apparently multiple zones with
radiant heating is easy to do. The HVAC installer didn't feel
comfortable with multiple zones, so there's a single HVAC system per
floor (basement is just HV). This works since we won't be using AC much
and the forced air heating primarily to assist the slower radiant
heating.

We'd like to have some central control, so I'm considering AprilAire,
Prolliphix, HAI, and RCS. Here's what I've gotten so far from reading
the archives:

RCS: A little more complicated for our installers to wire because the
RCS control units and network are located by the HVAC system and in our
case, the locations are split between the basement and attic (HVAC),
and garage (radiant).

Proliphix: Might be an overkill and the controllers are a bit
expensive. Plus I don't read much about these. However, it does seem
easy to wire.

HAI and AprilAire: Architecturally, these look very similar and seem
like they would both work. The HAI looks a little homely, and the
AprilAire is a little big.

Are my observations on target, and are there other options or
considerations we should include in our decision?



comp.home.automation Main Index | comp.home.automation Thread Index | comp.home.automation Home | Archives Home