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Mark Gowans

Hi all,

Looking for some advice or suggestions please regarding thermostats and our 3 storey, single glazed, edwardian home.

We currently have a single wireless thermostat and TRVs on all radiators in the house, but don't seem to be able to strike a reasonable balance of temperatures across the 3 principal rooms - kitchen, bedroom and lounge. The CH is configured as one giant ring (single zone).

We initially tried leaving the thermostat in the hall, but depending on the temperature set, were finding the following. Either, it was set too high such that hall never got up to temperature meaning the heating ran constantly or it was set too low such that the hall was 'warm enough' but the principal rooms never got up to temperature. We've tried the thermostat in the kitchen, but it appears to be too susceptible to the heat given off by cooking. We've tried the thermostat in both the bedroom and the lounge but whilst one room gets up to temperature, the other seems to struggle.

The challenge appears to be made worse by the effects of whether doors are left open or not. With the doors closed, the rooms seem to retain a reasonable heat, but as soon as a door is left open - the temperature drops rapidly. Unfortunately the house is designed like a large chimney with a central stair case rising 3 floors leaving only 2 radiators the daunting task of warming the hall and 2 landings.

The correct solution, I suspect, would be to reconfigure the CH into 2 or 3 zones, but as the pipework is all one giant ring (with a spur to the top floor within the master bedroom), I suspect this would end up being a cost prohibitive job.

What I thought would be neat, is if we could have a thermostat in the 3 principal rooms linked in an 'OR' setup, such that if any called for heat, the boiler would fire, but if all were satisfied the heating would be off. I can't seem to find any wireless thermostat system that support this though (for a single zoned CH system). Does one exist?

Are there any other simple suggestions we should try / investigate?

Despite having new TRVs installed recently, I'm not convinced they are working terribly effectively. Although the BTU rating of the radiators seems correct, I suspect the rooms are too large for them to be effective. Both the kitchen and bedroom only have a single radiator. With the TRVs set to 4, they turn off leaving the room 'cool' but set to 5 they seem to stay fully open. More radiators isn't ideal if at all possible...
 
Honeywell EvoHome system will allow you to configure zones without any alterations to pipework.

Your last sentence is illogical! If the rooms are too small for the radiators to heat effectively then by definition the BTU rating is wrong and a bigger rad / multiple smaller ones are required!
 
Thank you. I was looking at the EVO home system.. Do the TRVs communicate their state, or are they effectively fancy manual TRVs? Trying to work out why you would still need a thermostat if all the radiators had EVO Home TRVs?

I think more radiators would definitely help.. maybe I'm looking at this wrong, but I think the area in the room by the radiator gets up to temperature fine (activating the TRV), but the other end of the room remains cold. With the TRV on 5, the room does get up to a good temperature all over, but the TRV never activates.

..with the current setup or with the EVO home TRVs, I was worried that measuring room temperature at the base of a radiator wasn't a very smart way of doing things?
 
Thank you. I was looking at the EVO home system.. Do the TRVs communicate their state, or are they effectively fancy manual TRVs? Trying to work out why you would still need a thermostat if all the radiators had EVO Home TRVs?

Two-way communication with manual override if you want to temporarily be warmer or cooler. The base unit acts as a room stat for the room it's in IF you configure it that way. Or, just use it as the control centre and have TRV heads in all rooms. That way, the base unit can be taken from room to room as a remote control.

I think more radiators would definitely help.. maybe I'm looking at this wrong, but I think the area in the room by the radiator gets up to temperature fine (activating the TRV), but the other end of the room remains cold. With the TRV on 5, the room does get up to a good temperature all over, but the TRV never activates.

Then the rads are sized to heat that room at their full output. The TRVs will only actuate to modulate the temperature once the required temperature is being exceeded. If full blast is what it takes to heat the room, they are not required to modulate!

..with the current setup or with the EVO home TRVs, I was worried that measuring room temperature at the base of a radiator wasn't a very smart way of doing things?

No, but having TRVs at the top of the rad is considered unsightly by many, and has its own drawbacks. If you're going to control temperature by reducing flow to a radiator then there's not many options as to where to put the valve!
 
Thanks for the info very helpful. Looks like the Evo Home may be the way to go!
 
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