Thermostat Question

[old wrinkly]

I have an oil fired Grant boiler and use a Honeywell DT90E digital wired room thermostat to control my heating.

My bungalow has a wide range of room temperatures which makes getting the heating right quite difficult. If the lounge, where the thermostat is located, gets hot, the heating gets turned off and the other rooms get cold. It is very difficult to maintain a comfortable temperature in the lounge whilst maintaining heat in the other rooms.

A friend of mine had a thermostat with his gas central heating, which was in a small lobby, which allowed him to unclip the front plate (with the control and sensor) and place this in another location where it would wirelessly control the temperature, so as to get better heat control for his wife who was an invalid.

Can anyone suggest a suitable thermostat I could use to replace the DT90E and how much of a job would it be to replace it.

Many thanks

 

[mcmoby69]

sounds like your thermostat is working but its your system that needs looking at.
do you have a fire in the lounge, is it open plan, any trv's fitted. is your pump working properly?????

this all needs checking before you start randomly change the roomstat

 

[old wrinkly]

Thanks for the reply. Yes the thermostat is working correctly as is the pump. We have a seldom used calor gas fire and all NEW trv's. The room is not open plan.

To maintain heat in the main bedroom and associated en-suite the lounge temperature needs to be st high and then of course it can get too hot.

I have wondered if the location of thermostat is a contributing factor. It is the correct height on the wall but tucked in a corner of the lounge.

My friend has a similar problem. With the thermostat set to the temperature in the small lobby space the lounge, where his wife sat, would always be too cold. Removing the front plate and placing it in the lounge got over this problem and I was hoping to do the same by perhaps locating the thermostat in the bedroom, which is the coldest room in the bungalow as it's quite large and has windows both ends.

 

[mcmoby69]

all new trv's?

on every radiator? is there a bypass fitted to the boiler or pipework?

 

[old wrinkly]

Sorry not sure what you are asking, yes there is a new trv on all the radiators, I had them changed a short time ago so that they were all the same, previously I had a mix of makes/models and some were playing up.

No idea about a bypass on the boiler or pipework. What difference would that make??

Having searched extensively this morning I haven't been able to find anything which seems to match that which my friend had i.e the ability to just remove the main temperature sensor from the unit and place it in another location (this was the simple option I hoped for). That said, the only option seems to be a zoned system which would allow me to set the temperature in each room thus achieving a balanced heat.

Anything that is too "smart" wouldn't be a good idea because we are both in our mid/late seventies and my wife wouldn't cope with smartphone technology if I wasn't around.

The Honeywell evohome seems to be the sort of thing I am after but at a price. Are there cheaper alternatives?

So my question now is are there people here who could advise on a zoned system for my bungalow (lounge, 3 bed (one used as a computer room), hall, bathroom, kitchen, en-suite) and perhaps install, especially if they were in the Colchester, Essex area.

 

[rules&rulers]

you could fit a battery operated wireless room thermostat and move the thermostat anywhere you like although they are designed to be screwed to a wall via the supplied back/wall plate.

It would need professional fitting as there is a wiring alteration to fit the receiver. 2 wireless examples below.

They probably dont unclip from the wall but may be able to hang it on one screw.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/?iid=23213...0&device=c&campaignid=707291931&crdt=0&chn=ps

https://www.plumbarena.co.uk/produc...gclid=CPvh196Gg9QCFe0Q0wodz8MJOQ#.WSKdQGjyvcc

Others may have better examples to add.

 

[old wrinkly]

Hi, I bought a Honeywell DT92E on eBay over the weekend but looking at it in more detail it didn't seem to fit the bill so cancelled my order, as from what I could see the main wired thermostat stayed in position and the wireless element only allowed remote control i.e turn on/off it didn't have the ability to detect the temperature in another room and adjust the main stat accordingly. Was I wrong??

 

[D_Hailsham]

You say that you have a TRV on all radiators. This is wrong! There must not be a TRV on the rad in the room where the wall thermostat is located. The reason is that they will "fight" each other for control.

If the TRV is set to a lower temperature than the wall stat, the room will never reach the wall stat temperature, so the boiler will run and run and run until the boiler's internal thermostat turns the boiler off. If, on the other hand the TRV is set to a higher temperature than the wall stat the boiler will go off at the temperature set on the wall stat, so the will have no effect.

Try setting the TRV in the living room to Max and the wall stat to the desired room temperature. Then report back with the results.

 

[stem]

There could be two main reasons.

1. Radiator Sizing or Balancing issues:
If the radiators in the cooler rooms aren't getting hot, maybe they need balancing, so that more heat is directed to them and less to the lounge. If they are getting hot, but the rooms are cold, then the radiators may be undersized, or the radiator in the lounge is too big.

2. Thermostat in the Wrong Location:
Ideally it should be in the last room to warm up, so that the radiators remain 'on' in all of the other rooms long enough to allow them to heat up before the main thermostat starts turning the whole system off. You may have to downsize the radiator in the room where it is located to achieve this.

Because properties are different in use, orientation, construction size etc., it's not possible to say your thermostat should be located here or there. But consider the following.

Do not locate the thermostat in a room where it will be subject to other heat sources such as cooking appliances, used fireplaces, or sunlight. Any extra heat that warms up the room where the thermostat is located, will switch off the thermostat, and all of the radiators in the rest of the property.

It should be located in an open space to allow air to circulate freely around it so that it senses the true ambient temperature of the room in which it is located, not stuck in a corner, behind curtains or furniture, or subject to drafts.

Do not fit a TRV to the radiator in the room where the thermostat is located. if you do, it could turn off the radiator before the temperature set on the room thermostat is reached. In this event, the room thermostat will never turn off, and so there is no point in having it. [Some will fit a TRV, and either remove the sensor head or leave it set on maximum, but at some point no doubt someone would turn it down, so personally I would not fit one in the first place]

Fit TRV's to all other radiators to prevent the other rooms overheating.

 

[rules&rulers]

Best to get a professional to visit and fit what suits your needs and your current heating layout.

this is a diysite,want proper info get an expert to visit and splash some cash

 

[stem]

STEM is a cut and pasty merchant,forget his shyte comments.

That's rather rude and uncalled for. Normally I ignore unpleasant posts, but as you have made a slanderous comment, I feel the need to respond.

First of all I haven't cut and pasted anything. It's information gained from years of experience, helping two heating engineers who have called on my assistance when their usual electricians get stumped fault finding, or for help with tricky / complicated installs. True I have used some of the text before to answer the similar questions when others have asked. So, if any of it is "cut and pasty" it's from my own earlier posts. Part of my work involves being a technical author, writing specifications and manuals for factory control systems, so whilst the language I have used may reflect that, it doesn't mean it is plagiarised.

However, as you claim that it is "cut and pasty" perhaps you would be kind enough to advise where you believe that I have cut it from.

 

[AGAS]

Best to get a professional to visit and fit what suits your needs and your current heating layout.

Its very do able but we cant see your property or chat with with the occupants, STEM is a cut and pasty merchant,forget his shyte comments.

where do you think his shyte comments are then rules&rulers ?? i always find his comments to the point and on target , now you on the other hand , something about you don't sit right for some reason , and you know how i feel don't you .

stem is a knowledgeable bloke and maybe you might learn a thing or two from him as well even thou i expect you won't admit it

 

[old wrinkly]

Hi, thanks for all the replies.

As regards what has already been posted.it is evident that my original hope of being able to place a wireless device to set the temperature away from the lounge looks like a non start, the nearest is the Honeywell system. Re siting the wired thermostat is a non starter,too messy.

The hot weather now makes any testing almost irrelevant, so again thanks for the contributions but I need to consider things in more detail, perhaps in consultation my regular plumber who knows my system well.

Thanks again