Zone Heating and Weather compensating controls .

[verdigrey]

Thanks Tackleburger , I guess that we wont be able to use Vailant controls as it wont be a Gas boiler that gos in . It looks like Honeywell may be favourite .
Re Rad distance from wall , Quin catalogue shows 36mm is max , but I quess we could chock them off the wall a bit more as long as it looks presentable .
Thanks everyone else for your input . We start the job this wednesday . We will drain system , remove old rads and dismantle the old single pipe system first .

 

[tradesmen11]

Installing and Utilizing effective system controls is vital to the success of any renewable energy heating system.

-Zone Heating
-Thermostatic control
-Hot water priority
-System compensating controls
-Chronostats (where applicable)

-Weather Compensation Controls
Our homes specific heating needs, correlate to the degree of temperature difference between between indoors and outdoors, in order to replace heat lost through the walls, roof etc. The colder it is outside, the greater the heat loss and the more we have to heat the building, to compensate. Weather compensation controls work by ensuring that the heat pumps space heating output matches the heat lost from the building. The house will always maintain the desired temperature for maximum comfort, without the need for individual room thermostats. A small temperature sensor is located on the outside of the building, normally on a north facing wall, which is wired back to the heat pump relaying information about the outside temperature every few seconds. When the temperature changes outside the heat pump responds and starts to increase or decrease the heating output temperature to compensate for new rate of heat loss, and maintain the comfortable inside temperature. Therefor the increased rate of heat loss has been counteracted, before any internal temperature drop. This allows the heat pump to operate most efficiently, utilizing heat distribution when and where its required most. In essence with weather compensation we are only putting enough energy into the building at any time to replace the heat lost, resulting in an efficient and comfortable system with no over/under heating. because the system is pro-active, rather than reactive, you won't notice the subtle temperature changes. You certainly won't be feeling the cold and don't need to worry about adjusting a room thermostat.

 

[tackleburger]

If you do go for weather comp make sure it can be bypassed for the cylinder circuit or on warm days your cylinder will be noticeably cooler

By-passed?? If you fit the correct controls the boiler knows when there is a hot water demand and prioritises hot water. Never heard of by-passing unless we are talking about the same thing.

 

[Bronze_tap]

Customer had the Thermal Imaging done he said that it was surprising just how much heat was lost thru the wall behind the rads ( solid walls ) . As plumbers we know that a lot of heat is lost thru solid walls , but he was asking if we could put some kind of foil behind the rads as we went along to cut down on the loss . I have seen foiled bubble wrap , but does anyone know of anything better ?
Thanks

There is 10-15 mm thick foam with foil sold in rolls in the eastern/northern europe. Also you can just buy 20mm PU or polystyrene sheets and stick it to the wall surface on the inside by coving or tiles adhesive.
Apply thick kitechen foil on top behind the rad by the PVA glue. (if not already there). Make sure to mount the wide radiator brackets before gluing the foam/polystyrene to the wall. Also make sure, that the rad is 10-15 cm above the floor. You can use bits of wood with longer bracket screws between brackets and wall if the rad is too close to the wall/insulation. If the customers wants, you can apply it to the entire external wall with rad, and line it with paper/decorate it over. Cut the Styrofoam onto 50x50CM tiles, so there is less stress in it when the glue dries. Make sure the base adhesive layer is COMPLETELY dry before trying to apply a paper on top of Styrofoam! Wait for a few days (up to a week).

PS: I'm really surprised, nobody was mentioning it on here, looks like some folks would greatly benefit from the business/private Christmas trip to somewhere like Norway, Iceland, Alberta province in Canada or at least Germany, Poland or Russia, and exchange experience and ideas with the plumbers/CH systems maintenance folks there. It would get them properly prepped to the future UK climate surprises.
Make sure to cover the aspects of condensing boiler/outside sever pipes operations at -20 C :8: and rads sizing.
Hope the UK midlands/north guy's can understand about what I'm talking by looking onto their calendar and outside their window now...
While there is the global warming, we have an increase in climate volatility here, and it only takes 1-2 nights for typical UK house without power at -15C to get it's owner searching for new CH install quote and a toilet(s), unless you've good some solid fuel backup or generator + lots of fuel... or know how to completely drain it before your's house reaches 0 degrees ... or have used some antifreeze in the CH system.

PPS: I've heard about such behind the rads insulation on TVP1 ~25 years ago...

And I wish everyone a Happy White Easter. (if the forecast is right).

 

[tamz]

While there is the global warming

Shhhhh. That stopped years ago. They now call it climate change because it always changes. Keep taking the medicine :wink:
[video=youtube;AxM841f08VA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxM841f08VA[/video]

 

[Roger Welton]

It's global warming again at the moment as its warm outside

 

[Heating-eng]

There more Zones the better really,