Don't know how to operate the system properly

[macmac1]

Hi to all,

I moved to a new flat recently with an old Honeywell heating system.
We managed to operate the system fine until now, but suddenly the pump seems to work over time, and makes an annoying humming sound every too often, without us using the water. This wasn't before and I think we must moved one of the buttons there by mistake.

I have attached pics of the system, and I would be very grateful if someone can take a look and see if something can cause that.

http://www.diynot.com/network/macmac1/albums

From what I've been told, the tank seen here is the spear one (as there an extra large in the loft) and wasn't functional until now.
Maybe we pressed something and now it functional as well? is there a way to disable it?

Thanks.

 

[D_Hailsham]

I moved to a new flat recently with an old Honeywell heating system.

Honeywell don't make heating systems, they make some of the components in boilers as well as the controls. I can see two motorized valves (the silver boxes attached to the pipes), which control the flow of water through the pipes. There is a cylinder thermostat (first pic) about 30cm up the side of the large yellow hot water cylinder. This controls one of the valves. The other valve will be controlled by the room thermostat.

We managed to operate the system fine until now, but suddenly the pump seems to work over time, and makes an annoying humming sound every too often, without us using the water.

Which pump are you talking about? The red Grundfos one or the one on the shelf above the hot water cylinder?

The timer (last pic) show CH OFF and HW ON. This means that the hot water is on 24 hours a day. Is this intended?

From what I've been told, the tank seen here is the spare one (as there an extra large in the loft) and wasn't functional until now.

It's certainly not the spare. It supplies you with hot water. The large tank in the loft is the cold water feed to the tank in the pic. It may also supply cold water to the toilets and hand basins.

You should also have a smaller tank in the loft - this supplies water to the CH system when it has to be filled.

 

[macmac1]

Hi D,
Thanks for your quick reply.

As you can understand from my questions, I'm totally clueless

1.The red pump is the one that started to work more than usual.
The black one works only when we take a shower.
2.I've been advised to keep the HW ON all the time. Is it less energy efficient? can you advice otherwise?
3. I suspect that the two silver boxes attached to the pipes have something to do with the change occurred. Should they be on On, Mid or Off? maybe we moved them by mistake?

Thanks again for your help, and a happy new year.

 

[D_Hailsham]

1.The red pump is the one that started to work more than usual.
2.I've been advised to keep the HW ON all the time. Is it less energy efficient? can you advise otherwise?

That could be why the pump keeps coming on. As you draw off hot water, it is replaced by cold water from the tank in the roof. This obviously reduces the temperature of the water in the cylinder. When it has dropped by about 10°C the cylinder thermostat closes and the boiler an pump start up to bring the cylinder water back up to temperature. Obviously if you are using hot water continuously this might be necessary, but if the house is unoccupied most of the day this will not be necessary. I would set it to run twice a day, say from 5am to 6am, so the water is up to temperature when you get up (earlier if necessary) and then in the evenings say from 6pm to bed time. Experiment wit the times to meet your HW requirements.

3. I suspect that the two silver boxes attached to the pipes have something to do with the change occurred. Should they be on On, Mid or Off? maybe we moved them by mistake?

The silver boxes are the actuators which open and close the motorized valves in the heating and hot water circuits. The lever in the slot on one side should normally be at the auto end of the slot when the system is cold. When you turn the thermostat up you should hear the motor run; this will open the valve. You can check that this has happened by moving the lever to the other end of the slot; the lever should move very easily with no resistance. If the motor has not opened the valve, you will feel a resistance.

 

[macmac1]

Thank you very much for your kind help.

Happy new year.