Boiler remote control

[Nickyd]

Hi. I have a 15 year old Cosmogas Boiler in our house in Italy.
It does 3 circuits: Hot water, Underfloor heating and normal radiator heating.
I want to install a wifi controller to operate it remotely but not sure if this is possible.
I currently have a Honeywell CR04 controller next to the boiler and 4 thermostats in different rooms.
Id like to be able to switch Hot water ON/OFF and Underfloor heating ON/OFF remotely.
What do I need to check to see if this is possible please?
Thanks, Nick

 

[Deleted member 120897]

Probably Drayton Wiser if you can get one. X2 zones and hot water. Not sure why you have x4 thermostat’s - are these for the UFH?

 

[Nickyd]

Probably Drayton Wiser if you can get one. X2 zones and hot water. Not sure why you have x4 thermostat’s - are these for the UFH?

Hi. Thanks for a quick reply. We have 4 thermostats placed around the house in different rooms. Yes, they are for the underfloor heating.

In reality, we only use the underfloor heating.
The other heating circuit of wall radiators are in other rooms that we rarely use.

How does the Drayton Wiser connect to my Honeywell controller? Can it Switch both Hot ware ON/OFF and Heating ON/OFF?
Does it do this over a serial databus? Ive read about Modbus?

Thanks,
Nick

 

[Deleted member 120897]

No it doesn’t use bus controls, just on/off or opentherm. It wouldn’t connect to the Honeywell, just replaces it. Yes it’s capable of switching heating and hot water on and off. It might not do the UFH, so you could always get the 2 channel version for the radiators and hot water? Or if you want you can get any other 2 channel wi-fi stat, like the heat miser.

 

[Nickyd]

Thanks.
I guess I really need to look at the existing wiring and see how the Honeywell is connected before I can decide if this will work for me. My Italian plumber tells me its not possible to have this remote wifi control with the boiler I have connected to hot water, radiator circuit and underfloor circuit.
Ill leave it for now, but thanks for the help. Ive sent him the controller you suggested and will see what he says

 

[king of pipes]

Providing you have zone valves on each circuit then you could use 2 nest thermostats one for radiators + hot water circuit and the other for the underfloor

 

[Nickyd]

Providing you have zone valves on each circuit then you could use 2 nest thermostats one for radiators + hot water circuit and the other for the underfloor

Hi. Thanks for the answer. Yes we have zone valves on each underfoor heating circuit.
Do I then remove the Honeywell controller next to the boiler and add the Nest instead?
How do Iknow if the Nest is compatible with my Cosmogas boiler?
The boiler is located in an unheated attic at the top of the house. see photo.

Around the house I have 4 thermostats for the underfloor heating connected to the various circuits valves.
I have one more thermostat in one room dedicated to the wall Radiator circuit.

 

[king of pipes]

A quick Google brought this up maybe better to stick with Honeywell? Nest would be a replacement if used ? for the the existing controller think of it as just a switch you need a electrician who's familiar with the wiring of these systems , if you download the web page below maybe you could forward this to your Italian plumber . Kop

 

[Nickyd]

A quick Google brought this up maybe better to stick with Honeywell? Nest would be a replacement if used ? for the the existing controller think of it as just a switch you need a electrician who's familiar with the wiring of these systems , if you download the web page below maybe you could forward this to your Italian plumber . Kop

Thanks for that. Ive found the link and written to the manufacturer. Ill also send a link to our electrician.

So Im no plumber but I have am electronics trained and would like to understand how this all works better.

I thought the boiler was expecting some kind of datbus communication from the controller.
As I understand from what you say I only need to provide it switch contacts which is simple to remotely control.
We had a recent issue where the underfloor heating circuit didnt start beacuse the temperature set in the boiler room on this honeywell controller was below the boiler room temperature. This made no sense to me at all. I guess that logic is all inside the honeywell controller and not the boiler itself then.

Thanks for your patience. Its kinda difficult cos Im only back at the house every so often and never have much time. Ive little or no plumbing experience but want to understand the system as i dont believe it should be too difficult??

Ill make a wiring diagram sketch of how I think it may be done and post it back here for review.

Cheers
Nick

 

[king of pipes]

It really depends on what technology is built into the boiler ? being 15 years old I suspect it's pretty basic on off switching via external controls ? , The newer version Cosmo boilers have climate control via a external sensor and wi fi connection built in connected via a gateway device to the internet you control your heating via a downloaded app on your mobile phone or tablet , you can monitor the boiler status make changes when ever you need to from basically anywhere, some will even send a message to your phone if there's a problem with the boiler , also there is a installer app which once enabled will alert your chosen engineer to faults so he can deal with them on your behalf. Intergas boilers use the same Honeywell proven technology I've fitted those and it works very well , Nest is similar but is connected via a wired heat link , then wirelessly to the stat again controlled via the Nest app the information is internet based so is not 100% true external temperature a very versatile control and easy to use it won't send you fault information but you will get information via the app on boiler status time and temperature energy efficiency and a host of other info , Nest also have smoke alarms and security cameras which send information to you if heat or smoke is detected or in the case of security a movement sensor is triggered a few thing to think about

Shaun Corbes is probably the best engineer on our site to advise on wiring smart controls .
Regards kop

 

[Nickyd]

It really depends on what technology is built into the boiler ? being 15 years old I suspect it's pretty basic on off switching via external controls ? , The newer version Cosmo boilers have climate control via a external sensor and wi fi connection built in connected via a gateway device to the internet you control your heating via a downloaded app on your mobile phone or tablet , you can monitor the boiler status make changes when ever you need to from basically anywhere, some will even send a message to your phone if there's a problem with the boiler , also there is a installer app which once enabled will alert your chosen engineer to faults so he can deal with them on your behalf. Intergas boilers use the same Honeywell proven technology I've fitted those and it works very well , Nest is similar but is connected via a wired heat link , then wirelessly to the stat again controlled via the Nest app the information is internet based so is not 100% true external temperature a very versatile control and easy to use it won't send you fault information but you will get information via the app on boiler status time and temperature energy efficiency and a host of other info , Nest also have smoke alarms and security cameras which send information to you if heat or smoke is detected or in the case of security a movement sensor is triggered a few thing to think about

Shaun Corbes is probably the best engineer on our site to advise on wiring smart controls .
Regards kop

Thanks for the explanation.
I think what Im missig here to get some clear and definate solution is the detailed spec o my boiler.
In initial thread i attached the boiler documentation that received at my last service. it has some part number and serial number but if I need more to make things clearer I can ask my plumber for more details. what should i ask for?
cheers, Nick

 

[king of pipes]

Thanks for the explanation.
I think what Im missig here to get some clear and definate solution is the detailed spec o my boiler.
In initial thread i attached the boiler documentation that received at my last service. it has some part number and serial number but if I need more to make things clearer I can ask my plumber for more details. what should i ask for?
cheers, Nick

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