Dumb fan convector?

[Tim Watts]

I am starting the installation of the central heating at the Bungalow (aka "Squidville")...

The conservatory has UFH pipes and the whole system will be controlled by a HeatGenius Z Wave system.

The conservatory also needs a fast heat up option for winter when it would be silly to keep UFH running flat out - the room losses are 2kW with outside being 0C, inside around 20C (measured with an electric heater this winter).

I really want a dumb wet convector - hot water going through it all the time and fan controlled by ZWave (that's easy, I can arrange that).

It also needs to be a long thing wall unit under a window.

However, Myson's new Lo-Line units are "smart" and assume the water will be controlled. That is possible (use my control signal to operate a zone valve) but there are other problems - I cannot guarantee the fan unit will come on even if the water is hot, it it's been turned off locally.

I'd much prefer a dumb unit with a simple fan and maybe a rocker switch for high/low fan speed.

Does anyone still make them?

[The Natural Philosopher]

I installed some 'let the water flow, we will control the fan'. type wall mounted units some years back

Got about 1.5KW out of a 600x600 panel at 60C water IIRC

Two speed fan.

[Tim Watts]

What was the make? I am aware others (eg Smiths) make similar units, but the domestic ones all seem to be smart. It might be that I'd have to find a commercial unit for my purposes...

[Jim White]

Our old Myson Minivector has just decided it doesn't want to play nicely, and I have been investigating alternatives. It's a bit of a minefield. Copperarad are still going, but the BSS website is a bit pants. Smiths Staccatto looks interesting. Deep Googling will find others, but they are not cheap. In the end I have decided to spring for a new motor for the Myson for the time being. I'll look at replacing it in the summer, as a system drain-down does not appeal at the moment. I would have thought that you could probably disconnect the clever bits to revert to a dumb unit with a little ingenuity :-) I have had this old Myson for c30 years. The fast warm-up is brilliant, and there really isn't room for a conventional rad. Good luck, and let us know what you go with.

Cheers, Jim

[harry]

Or similar other make.

[Tim Watts]

Thanks for those names - gives me something to good for Jim :)

[Andrew Gabriel]

They don't look to be fanned units. If you plan on using convector skirting units, do check very carefully that the heat output is good enough for the room. Often, you can't achieve enough heat output for a room that way.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Biddle is worth a look

[Tim Watts]

Thank you - I'll google them :)

[Tim Watts]

I was reading the Myson instructions:

"In manual mode, with water temperature control, any of the 3 fan speeds can be selected and the fan will operate when the water temperature in the coil is greater than 32°C. This means that heating performance can be controlled manually, and the unit could be controlled via an external room thermostat. The unit can be controlled using the infra red remote control handset supplied with the unit (see fig. 5) and also using the control panel on the unit (see fig. 6). If necessary, however, the control panel can be locked electronically to prevent tampering once the controls have been set (see over)."

So it sounds like this could work well enough with the water controlled with a motorised zone valve. It would be unwise to use the HeatGenius ZWave rad valves:

1) They are battery powered so there's upto a 10 minute lag between turning on remotely and the valve waking up and noticing;

2) The valve above try to be clever and throttle the water flow to avoid overshoot. We don't want that. Fan coils need high flow rates.