Having already bought two controllers which don't really do the job, I thought I'd better ask around!
Our house which has a normal (not combi) boiler wired up as fully pumped S-plan (one heating zone, vented HW). The property is empty for periods of time, and also used by friends (who may not have training in heating systems) so needs to be simple to turn on & off.
I cannot seem to find a single controller which meets all of the following:
1. Is temperature programmable (i.e. not just on/off controller)
2. Has integrated timed hot water circuit
3. The CH ‘off’ mode puts the thermostat into frost mode (5 degree)
4. Has a single control that turns off both the hot water and heating – either front panel or via a ‘holiday’ jumper wired to external switch
The sticking point is the frost stat. If that was not a requirement, I’d just power the whole boiler off.
So far the closest I have is the Danfoss TP-9000. This has a really counterintuitive control – rather than two nice separate mode switches for HW and CH, you have to press a hidden button to flip the display (and mode button) between HW and CH setting. Even with instructions, I find guests power off the heating but leave the HW running. It does has a separate ‘holiday’ jumper to allow an external switch... but that only powers off the CH circuit, leaving HW running!
I also bought the Heatmiser PRT-HW. This has a nice clear display but the buttons are even more unintuitive – and again the frost mode does not disable the HW circuit, and the full power off disables the frost stat!
Does anyone know a model which meets all 4 – either simple enough to have an intuitive (preferably ‘mechanical switch’) control, or supports a proper remote ‘off’ jumper (which sets both frost mode and turns off the HW circuit)
I’ve looked across the main manufacturers (Honeywell, Sunvic, Danfoss etc) as well as some more unusual (Heatmiser, Grasslin) I’m about to install an ugly triple-pole switch to manually trigger holiday mode and disconnect the HW demand – but on the Danfoss the HW indicator light will still flash on and off – confusing again.
Our house which has a normal (not combi) boiler wired up as fully pumped S-plan (one heating zone, vented HW). The property is empty for periods of time, and also used by friends (who may not have training in heating systems) so needs to be simple to turn on & off.
I cannot seem to find a single controller which meets all of the following:
1. Is temperature programmable (i.e. not just on/off controller)
2. Has integrated timed hot water circuit
3. The CH ‘off’ mode puts the thermostat into frost mode (5 degree)
4. Has a single control that turns off both the hot water and heating – either front panel or via a ‘holiday’ jumper wired to external switch
The sticking point is the frost stat. If that was not a requirement, I’d just power the whole boiler off.
So far the closest I have is the Danfoss TP-9000. This has a really counterintuitive control – rather than two nice separate mode switches for HW and CH, you have to press a hidden button to flip the display (and mode button) between HW and CH setting. Even with instructions, I find guests power off the heating but leave the HW running. It does has a separate ‘holiday’ jumper to allow an external switch... but that only powers off the CH circuit, leaving HW running!
I also bought the Heatmiser PRT-HW. This has a nice clear display but the buttons are even more unintuitive – and again the frost mode does not disable the HW circuit, and the full power off disables the frost stat!
Does anyone know a model which meets all 4 – either simple enough to have an intuitive (preferably ‘mechanical switch’) control, or supports a proper remote ‘off’ jumper (which sets both frost mode and turns off the HW circuit)
I’ve looked across the main manufacturers (Honeywell, Sunvic, Danfoss etc) as well as some more unusual (Heatmiser, Grasslin) I’m about to install an ugly triple-pole switch to manually trigger holiday mode and disconnect the HW demand – but on the Danfoss the HW indicator light will still flash on and off – confusing again.