I rarely have anything to do with heating systems, but we are putting one in a job and I want to get familiar with the latest-greatest in thermostats. This is RFH and there will be I believe 7 zones: 4 down and 3 up. Client wonders “when I walk in the house and want to turn on the heat, will I have to go to 7 separate thermostats and dial in each one?” which I think is a good question–I’d find that annoying. I assume there must be units that can control multiple zones from a single location, but am not familiar with the market. Client also wants something easy to use, she is not a gadget person. Of course I will be talking to the designer/installer about this but there is doubtless info here that he does not have.
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Unless the client is going on vacation, she should be leaving the heat alone. daily setbacks with most radiant methods are not recommended. http://www.healthyheating.com/bb2/viewtopic.php?t=653&sid=2b190d20edaf1ccb114575363655c60a RB lists a nice exemption to energy star requirements there for setbacks and mass radiant.
anyway, if for some reason the setback is important and/or she goes on vacation a lot, we like Teknet 4 systems and a 480 user switch.
There is cost involved, but beyond the convenience factor you'll also get a fully intelligent, fully integrated heating system that can manage its own temperatures, efficiency and heat source with great skill.
That's one way to skin the cat at least.
-=Northeast Radiant Technology=-
Radiant Design, Consultation, Parts Supply
http://www.NRTradiant.com
This is a second home that is empty for days and sometimes weeks at a time. I will check out that link, thank you.
in that case you might want to add a phone switch as well. we wire one into the 480 to flip the whole system out of setback early, so it's warm when the owners show up.next year, an internet option is supposed to be available as well... but, they said that last year too.-------------------------------------
-=Northeast Radiant Technology=-
Radiant Design, Consultation, Parts Supply
http://www.NRTradiant.com
Radiant heat if in concrete will be SLOW to respond and in wood floors not as fast as forced air furnace. You CAN do 'night setback', but it is a LOT trickier than air systems. You have to anticipate the time you need heat. For concrete systems, this might be e.g. 4-6 hours ... that is ... set back at 6pm and start up at 2 am. A wood floor might be more like 1-2 hours.
Problem with radiant heat as the radiant heat is normally detected by a SPACE temperature stat ... there may be some 'radiant' stats available these days, but historically, the downside of radiant heat is that you still detect and control on space temperature. The best way to do this is anticipate the benefit of the radiant system by setting the stat 2-4 degF lower than what you might normally have for a space temp.
Controls for 7 zones ... if you want to do a 'great job', use something like Automated Logic Corp (ALC). commercial style computerized controls. You can schedule every day of the year and change the schedule at a moments notice ... from any web based connection!! Plus it has user friendly graphics that make it easy to 'check it out'.
Plus, it has other capabilities ... such as supply water reset control strategy ... really the best way to control a hot water system both energy and comfort wise. This control will lower the water temp as it gets warm outside and raise it as it gets cold. The more the pumps run continuously, the better; the energy and the comfort are dialed in.
The ALC system can also do things like give you a call if something is not right, etc. It can be expanded to lights, etc.
Maybe a bit expensive and overkill for residential, but 7 zones is quite a bit. How many pumps do you have? 7 zone valves controlled by stats, right? My house has 5 zones and two pumps. One pump for 2 concrete zones and one for wood floor zones. If any zone on the pump calls for heat, the pump runs.
Also Wirsbo, TACO have controllers that might help. Manual thermostats - yes ... they will have to go around and turn them up/down. Night setback stats (e.g. the Honeywell standard stats) will require much trial and error. Most people I think leave their stats alone. If you have a lifestyle of out of the house a lot ... I'd seriously consider the ALC based system, spend the bucks and have the ultimate veratility ... it's sweet! Maybe there is an upbeat residential controller that does the same for less ... I'm mostly a commercial guy ... that keeps a not so steady eye on residential technologies/products.
Mark Williams, HR, OR