Pre-wiring for new boiler: S-plan combi?

I'm finalising my rewire spec, and am trying to cover future works to the house.

I currently have an old back boiler in my living room, next year I want to have a new boiler (a high-flow combi) installed in my kitchen so I can have a coal fire reinstated in the living room.

The S-plan heating concept looks attractive to me, as I like the idea of being able to have different zones, namely:

1 zone for the living room (to stop it getting too hot when the coal fire has been reinstated)
1 zone for the rest of the downstairs and the upstairs hallway
1 zone for the master bedroom
1 zone for the spare bedrooms

Is S-plan suitable for combi boilers?

Because the boiler would be shifted to a completely different end of the house, and some radiators will be moved, I've realised that very little of the existing CH plumbing could be re-used. I was thinking about laying in CH pipes to pre-plumb the various CH zones back to the area above where the new boiler would go, to save disruption and effort when the boiler is installed (professionally installed by an ARGI, I feel I should add.)

Is plastic pipe really suitable for CH? All the manufacturers seem to claim it is, and I love the idea of hearing no bangs and creaks when the heating is running, but I'd imagine it gets a touch soft with CH water running through it... and isn't compression joining under floorboards bad practice?

How to over complicate a heating system. If you must zone the heating just have upstairs / downstairs with TRVs fitted

petit_pablo said:

How to over complicate a heating system. If you must zone the heating just have upstairs / downstairs with TRVs fitted

Click to expand...

I need to be able to programme different zones for different times though... fairly large house, single occupant, erratic schedule.

I was even contemplating one of those internet-connectable wiring centres until I realised it would add nearly £1000 to the price of an installation once you take into account the hardware and fitting...

EDIT: I just re-read your post. Does this mean that I can have two heating zones with a combi? I.e. upstairs zone and downstairs zone? Is that particular boilers or most of them?

Simple Just have a header and plumb it all from that.

Donkmeister said:

Is S-plan suitable for combi boilers?

Click to expand...

yup and i have 4 zones on mine (4 floors) no probs

doitall is this one of yours?




if so


Respect mate always good to see pride in work,but talking about headers and sorry for a quick hijack, but a quick question for you as you obviously have experience of larger installs (or any other installers reading)
I live in a four story georgian terrace, At the moment i have a 28kw combi (non condensing) that serves the whole house, split into four zones with programable stats on each floor, this arrangement has served me well as only me and my son live here and different floors are in use as required(will not bore you with details)
now that i am nearing the end of renervating the property I will be reverting back to a cylinder with a view to sell as i am putting in an extra bathroom and fitting a new condensing boiler

question is
do you think,bearing in mind that the property is split into 4 zones that it is worthwhile fitting A lowloss header ? (would the boiler condense better?) or should I just presume that as the house is fairly large that when I sell, A family will move in and therefore most of the house will be in use all the time so it dosn't need as much zoning?

matt

Donkmeister said:

...The S-plan heating concept looks attractive to me, as I like the idea of being able to have different zones, namely:

1 zone for the living room (to stop it getting too hot when the coal fire has been reinstated)
1 zone for the rest of the downstairs and the upstairs hallway
1 zone for the master bedroom
1 zone for the spare bedrooms

Click to expand...

This is an illogical setup that will not work very well, is overly complicated to setup and unnecessarily expensive.
Find a good installer, and leave the design up to him; he is the one that knows what he is doing.

Donkmeister said:

Is S-plan suitable for combi boilers?...

Click to expand...

S-plan will work on any domestic gas boiler.

Yes one of mine Matt.

In your case It depends how the zones are plumbed in, but from the sound of it I would leave it as is, unless you are re-piping anyway.

An email if you want to discuss it.

OP, I certainly don't think it's illogical, and could save a packet on running costs if areas are just not used very often, however the down side is, when calculating the radiators, you must allow for the unheated space, or the heated rooms will be cold.

Thanks DIA. That's an impressive heating system! Sports centre?

TBH, I won't be trying to size any radiators as I will leave that up to the system designer/installer along with sizing the boiler etc.

Glad you think the system isn't illogical, in my experience single-zone systems have some drawbacks when you introduce other sources of heat - such as a coal fire.

As I've lived in the house a couple of years now I have a good idea of how I use the house, what rooms I use and how often. Admittedly I could make do with a single zone and shut radiators off and on as required but I like the simplicity of setting a thermostat and letting the system do the rest. Also, being of the age where most of my friends have babies and small children, it would be nice for them to be able to set the temperature in the bedrooms just right when they come to visit.

Village hall.

All the 5 zones are used at different times of the day/week, by programming each zone when it was occupied we halved their fuel bill.

If most of the property is unoccupied through the winter, it only needs background heating to take the chill/damp off, therefore a zoned system as above is perfect, and very cost effective.

As before, the occupied spaces have to allow for the unheated space, so slightly larger radiators are needed.