Re: Thermostat suggestions for radiant + HVAC + multiple zones

["HeatMan" <heatair@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Tn4.

www.tekmar.com


"chi" <mrpinebox@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1138603586.768118.63770@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 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?
>