Heating system and control 8 February 2021 at 11:42AM in LPG, heating oil, solid & other fuels 10 replies 101 views

Mike0187

Hi all, I recently purchased a new house and just trying to sort everything out as you do, I was hoping someone on here could help out as the heating control is well, outdated to say the least, i have added a picture so you all can see, I've tried searching for this control unit but haven't found anything close, im wanting to change this for obvious reasons to something a bit more modern and most likely efficient too, preferably digital (previously used to the old honeywell digital with the sliders) and have the ability to turn the water and heating on separately, the house oddly enough has a gen 1 smart meter so I been told, this is for both the mains gas (boiler) and electricity.

The thermostat in front room again is old but I dont actually think it works so needs replacing, found a modern equivalent but they dont have a L and the Neutral is from what i found just cut back out the way, but was wondering where the Live would go to as new ones are iirc numbered 1 to 6, picture to show inside what I have.
So if anyone can help I'd be greatly appreciated or would this be better to get a plumber/electrician to have a look at the setup
Thank you

Gerry1

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/DataSheets/Horstmann/Horstmann_WiringGuide.pdf

matelodave

The wiring to that programmer can only turn one thing on and off, which might be the boiler or might be the boiler and pump but it cant operate them separately as the switch suggests.

I'd suggest that it cant differentiate between hot water and hot water with heating with only one connection. To do that it would need another connection one to fire the boiler and another to enable the pump via the thermostat. You might find that the boiler just runs continuously under the control of it's internal thermostat ( a lot of old four pipe systems operated that way) and the time switch just enable the pump to come on when the room stat calls for heat

You need to check out how the system operates - is it a four pipe gravity fed system or is it a two pipe with motorised valves. Is there a thermostat on the hot water tank. What make and model is the boiler. Have you got a wiring junction box near the boiler. Does the "programmer" enable the boiler or does it just enable the pump.

You might be better off getting something like a wireless programmable stat and giving up on the external wiring but it will depend on how your system plumbing is configured

Mike0187

Hi, as far as a few questions go, there is a thermostat on the boiler itself from off to max, past 5, not sure on the make will check and get some more pictures,
The boiler will only turn on via the horstmann unit.
Pump is directly under the boiler but from what it looks like is a 2 pipe system, there is 2 tanks in the loft, small one for central heating and larger for hot water, most of the piping seems to be new, and an new emersion heater, I have looked but cant find any therstatic control valves so assuming its boiler controlled, its a bit of a frankenstein mix of old and new which is why I'm scratching my head at it.
Radiators need replacing which is no problem for me and ill be putting some trv valves on 
I'll get some pictures and hopefully can be pointed in right direction 

Thank you

FreeBear

If the control is anything to go by, you have an ancient vented boiler coupled to a hot water cylinder..

For a modern control that allows you to set on times and different temperatures throughout the day, have a look at the Drayton Wiser system. With a HW tank, you'll want a two channel system with both a cylinder thermostat and a room stat.

Mister_G

Mike0187 said:

Hi, as far as a few questions go, there is a thermostat on the boiler itself from off to max, past 5, not sure on the make will check and get some more pictures,
The boiler will only turn on via the horstmann unit.
Pump is directly under the boiler but from what it looks like is a 2 pipe system, there is 2 tanks in the loft, small one for central heating and larger for hot water, most of the piping seems to be new, and an new emersion heater, I have looked but cant find any therstatic control valves so assuming its boiler controlled, its a bit of a frankenstein mix of old and new which is why I'm scratching my head at it.
Radiators need replacing which is no problem for me and ill be putting some trv valves on 
I'll get some pictures and hopefully can be pointed in right direction 

Thank you

Do you have anything like this in you system?
It's a 3 port valve and enables you to switch the boiler output to either hot water, heating or both (Y plan)?  Or you could have an S plan system which uses two 2 port valves to do the same thing.

Mike0187

Hi, I've had a good look but definitely got have them control valves, unless I'm the loft which I doubt, took a few pictures, excuse the red, it needs painting over, not my choice haha

Mister_G

Thanks.  You will need these, as they are what control whether the boiler heats just the hot water or just the radiators or both.  Looks like you need to get a plumber in to advise.  Depending on how the pipework runs, it may not be too difficult (or expensive) to modify the system to suit.  The pipework looks pretty accessible.

FreeBear

Mister_G said: Depending on how the pipework runs, it may not be too difficult (or expensive) to modify the system to suit.  The pipework looks pretty accessible.

By the looks of things, a zone valve on the HW tank, plus a tank thermostat coupled to a half decent controller is all that is required - Maybe £150 in parts (£250 if you go for a Drayton Wiser) plus labour. It will cut your gas consumption and allow for much better control over heating & hot water.

Mike0187

Brilliant thank you all for advise, from what I can see most of it is pritty straight forward and no real access issue, only thing would be routing the wires but dont think that would be too difficult, best bet then to get a plumber in and will take the advise as the edc report did mention about installing a thermostat so must be what you said and definitely help with efficiency 

Thank you all 👍

Mister_G

Yes, making the system more controllable will certainly improve its efficiency.