I've been looking at the Myson kickspace convectors for my kitchen, which is unheated and the recent low temperatures are causing grief with the fridge freezer. Frozen milk.
How are they controlled? Is there any temperature feedback from the air intake or does an additional valve need to be placed, possibly motorised and in conjunction with a wall stat?
-- Dr. Craig Graham, Software Engineer Advanced Analysis and Integration Limited, UK.
The tangential fan is controlled by a three position switch -> Summer - Off - Winter
In 'winter' mode a thermoswitch turns the blower on when a (fixed) inlet water temperature is reached. Can't remember the temp but Myson will tell you. The blower will run all the time the water is above the set temperature. There is no feedback You can connect the blower supply via a wall stat - no power to blower = no warm air output. I haven't bothered to do this (yet).
In 'summer' mode the blower operates irrespective of inlet water temperature.
My cats love it in winter!
HTH Richard
There are a number of ways of connecting and controlling them.
Internally, they should be viewed as a simple unvalved radiator with a fan blowing across them. The fan has switchable speeds and operates in two modes, summer and winter. In summer mode, it blows continuously. In winter mode, it blows when the water temperature is hot.
To control, you can install a programmable thermostat. This will cause the fan to start whenever heat is required and available (if set to winter mode). However this will not cause the central heating to fire up if it is currently inactive. It will not prevent water circulating through the radiator when there is no call for heat. This will keep the cupboard and supply pipes warm even when there is no call for heat if some other part of the heating circuit is on. The boiler interlock problem can be fixed with a relay.
Better is to install a 2 port valve on the system, preferably in an S-Plan-Plus. This prevents hot water circulating unnecessarily. It also causes the boiler/pump to fire when there is a call for heat. This is how mine is installed, along with a programmable thermostat. I intend to have a similar system in the conservatory when I build it.
Another cheap alternative is to fit the convector with a suitably located (i.e. not under the cupboards!) inline TRV. The fan convector can be set to winter mode always on. The fan will cut out if the TRV causes the water temperature to drop. Obviously, you don't get independent timing with this option, but it will cut the flow when appropriate.
Christian.
Thanks for the responses.
I plan on having the pipework under the cupboards, so a TRV is pretty much out of the question. Whether I control the fan or the water depends on the relative costs; unnecessary water flow won't be a problem since some heat will be needed in there all the times the heating is on. Controlling the fan sounds like it would be a lot cheaper and I don't need to make sure an automatic valve is accessible for maintenance.
I've just fitted a Smiths, with a room stat. This has normal and boost speeds (like the myson) but I find it quite noisy even on normal and am tempted to add a "dimmer". There don't seem to be many "on line" suppliers, I think I found one but it was undercut by Plumb centre "retail" price.
Best to have the Kickspace on its own loop from the boiler if doing this, as the Kickspace is then another independent zone. The Kickspace can be on with different time, and not interfere with the rest of the system.
This is not recommended at all. The TVR will cut down the flow to the Kickspace and cause it to blow warm, not hot. A Kickspace needs a very flow and a high water flow temperature to avoid cool draughts.
Locating the 2-port valve under the cupboards is an easy task and it is accessible enough under there.
The main problem is getting unzoned primary pipework to it if the primary pipework isn't already nearby. Obviously, it can be connected to an existing nearby heating zone, but then you don't get independent timing or boiler interlock operation.
I suppose you could wire up the boiler interlock, by forcing the heating zone open when the fan convector demands heat. However, this could cause overheat in the room with the room thermostat. Luckily such overheat isn't likely to be severe if you overspecify the fan convector, as it will then require a lower duty cycle than the conventional radiator.
Christian.
Hah. No problem there; no room stats and all radiators connected straight to the primary pipework from the boiler, some of which I think is close enough for me to get at, though perhaps I'll connect to a more convenient spot where it will be sharing a couple of feet of 15mm with another radiator.
Zoning and room stats are things I'm looking into for a summer upgrade but the original installers just put a TRV on each radiator and didn't even do any degree of balancing.
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