Relocating thermostat - wireless?

[larkim]

SWMBO has charged me with moving the thermostat to a more appropriate place= within our house. =20

Am I right in understanding that a wireless thermostat would comprise a rec= eiver box which would be placed on the wall at the location of the existing= wired thermostat, and then the wireless part would be the bit that actuall= y measures the temperature and commands the boiler to do its stuff? Or doe= s the wireless bit just allow you to tweak the parameters of the thermostat= , leaving the temperature measurement at the place that it always was sited= ?

(I know that the temps should be measured in a room which doesn't have TRVs= , so in theory moving a stat around breaks this rule, which is why I am mil= dly confused about where the temps are actually measured).

Thanks!

Matt

[Jim K]

ce within our house.

eceiver box which would be placed on the wall at the location of the existi= ng wired thermostat, and then the wireless part would be the bit that actua= lly measures the temperature and commands the boiler to do its stuff?

yes, so you can move it around with you as necess. & it reacts to where it is not the receiver (which could be in a cold garage say)

Jim K

[Kevin]

within our house.

receiver box which would be placed on the wall at the location of the existing wired thermostat, and then the wireless part would be the bit that actually measures the temperature and commands the boiler to do its stuff? Or does the wireless bit just allow you to tweak the parameters of the thermostat, leaving the temperature measurement at the place that it always was sited?

so in theory moving a stat around breaks this rule, which is why I am mildly confused about where the temps are actually measured).

The wireless thermostats I've used are in two parts: the sender, that measures the temperature and allows you to set a target temperature (and times if it's programmable), and the receiver.

The receiver is a plain box, perhaps with a couple of leds, and deals with the switching that the boiler expects. They're often situated near the boiler or "wiring centre" if that's how it's been installed.

You could perhaps mount the receiver in place of the old room thermostat, but be aware that the wireless stat receiver will probably need a mains supply, including a neutral, whereas the old thermostat may just be fed with low control voltage.

If you put the sender in a room with a trv, take the head off the trv so that the thermostat can't keep calling for heat when the trv says "no, I'm warm enough".

[Jim K]

lace within our house.

receiver box which would be placed on the wall at the location of the exis= ting wired thermostat, and then the wireless part would be the bit that act= ually measures the temperature and commands the boiler to do its stuff? =A0= Or does the wireless bit just allow you to tweak the parameters of the ther= mostat, leaving the temperature measurement at the place that it always was= sited?

TRVs, so in theory moving a stat around breaks this rule, which is why I am= mildly confused about where the temps are actually measured).

mmm I leave mine on FULL. unless you discover some parts of the house are not warm enough when the wireless stat (in another place) says "enough" & turns the boiler/ pump off. In this case you can turn down the radiator's thermostatic valve (where the wireless stat is) to compensate - little by little - trial & error til you get the balance right.

Jim K

[larkim]

lace within our house.

receiver box which would be placed on the wall at the location of the exis= ting wired thermostat, and then the wireless part would be the bit that act= ually measures the temperature and commands the boiler to do its stuff? Or= does the wireless bit just allow you to tweak the parameters of the thermo= stat, leaving the temperature measurement at the place that it always was s= ited?

TRVs, so in theory moving a stat around breaks this rule, which is why I am= mildly confused about where the temps are actually measured).

Kevin

Thanks for this, especially the hint about the wiring. The boiler is a WB = Greenstar 30CDi (I think!). After it was installed I swapped the bog-stand= ard "dial" thermostat for a "digital" programmable one by Drayton. I can't= recall what the wiring was like behind there, so I suppose I should check = that out! I can see that it would need some form of power to run the recei= ver, and then an ability to signal the boiler. Are these usually 12V or is= it 230V?

Thanks!

Matt

[Jim K]

place within our house.

a receiver box which would be placed on the wall at the location of the ex= isting wired thermostat, and then the wireless part would be the bit that a= ctually measures the temperature and commands the boiler to do its stuff? = =A0Or does the wireless bit just allow you to tweak the parameters of the t= hermostat, leaving the temperature measurement at the place that it always = was sited?

e TRVs, so in theory moving a stat around breaks this rule, which is why I = am mildly confused about where the temps are actually measured).

WB Greenstar 30CDi (I think!). =A0After it was installed I swapped the bog=

-standard "dial" thermostat for a "digital" programmable one by Drayton. = =A0I can't recall what the wiring was like behind there, so I suppose I sho= uld check that out! =A0I can see that it would need some form of power to r= un the receiver, and then an ability to signal the boiler. =A0Are these usu= ally 12V or is it 230V?

you should know as you;ve already swapped the stat once already?!

JFG your current one and read the install instructions /tech spec?

Jim K

[The Natural Philosopher]

So far, so good.

Not necessarily, no. It can go anywhere convenient, and the usual place is near the rest of the central heating controller stuff.

In short at the FAR end of the existing thermosta wires.

and then the wireless part would be

Correct.

Or does the wireless bit just allow you to

No.

At the transmitter. Which is battery powered and of limited range, especially when you have foil backed plasterboard walls :-)

[Richard Russell]

Exactly. We have a Honeywell DT92E which I can highly recommend. It works fine as a direct replacement for an ordinary three-wire (live, neutral, switched) mains-voltage thermostat.

Richard.

[Mike Barnes]

larkim :

Possibly but not necessarily. I have a Honeywell setup where the receiver is inside the timer/controller. There's nothing where the wired thermostat used to be and there's nothing extra by the timer.

Not with this system, the wireless part contains the temperature sensor.

[Lobster]

Further to what others have said; re your comment above, yes you're quite right, but the idea of having a wireless thermostat is not the ability to move it round at will (even SWMBO's); but rather to fit it permanently in the most appropriate location and not have to worry about running cables to it. (And in that location there should be no TRVs on the radiators).

[Jim K]

how would you define (or divine) the "most appropriate location"

Jim K

[Dave Liquorice]

That is also the best place as the Rx may well need permenant mains rather than the time switched mains that will be at the normal thermostat position. Also the Rx will require neutral which may (or may not) be at the thermostat position.

Hum now to me the "far end" would be the end furthest away from the origin or source. So the "far end" of the existing thermostat wires would be the thermostat position, the "near end" being next to the other system controls/wiring centre. BWTH the Rx is best near the wiring centre...

[Jonathan]

Ours are battery operated.

Jonathan

[The Natural Philosopher]

generally the coldest part of the house that you want to say warm.

Having an overall thermostat AND TRVS is a bit illogical to be honest.

The only consistent way to make it work is to arrange essentially for all the TRVS to have shut down before the final room - with the stat in

- gets up to temperature.

Mots people use a hall or landing master 'stat - where there are no radiators at all - relying on leakage from the rest of the house to warm it.

In an ideal world every room would have a zone valve, a thermostat and the outputs of those would control the boiler.

But that is too expensive - though energy prices being what they are, its not altogether stupid for a new build, and I would definitely go that route on one.

[Richard Russell]

Strictly speaking our Honeywell DT92E RX *should* have permanent mains, but in more than three years operation fed from time-switched mains there has been no sign of any problems, other than a 'communication failure' alarm on the TX during the night-time hours (the Honeywell is rare in having bi-directional RF communication, so I'm using the terms RX and TX loosely).

Richard.

[Kevin]

I did that when I installed a system for the in-laws. TRVs are just too fiddly for many old folk, particularly when conventionally installed just above the floor. Changing the temperature setting by a degree or two is just so much easier on a digital display at eye level.

I even fitted programmable thermostats, but they managed to defeat me by

1) insisting on the same high temperatures 24/7, even in bedrooms and 2) insisting on leaving all the room doors open.

I'm converting my own installation by fitting actuators, originally Sauter but now ones more like

place of the TRV heads, again with programmable thermostats. I'm pleased with the result.

[Lobster]

IME zone valves are one of the most common parts of the CH system to fail, and I'm not sure I'd want to introduce a whole raft of them into my house, even if in theory it's more efficient...

[The Natural Philosopher]

well yes, but in practice TRVs fail as often

[larkim]

te place within our house.

se a receiver box which would be placed on the wall at the location of the = existing wired thermostat, and then the wireless part would be the bit that= actually measures the temperature and commands the boiler to do its stuff?= =A0Or does the wireless bit just allow you to tweak the parameters of the = thermostat, leaving the temperature measurement at the place that it always= was sited?

ave TRVs, so in theory moving a stat around breaks this rule, which is why = I am mildly confused about where the temps are actually measured).

a WB Greenstar 30CDi (I think!). =A0After it was installed I swapped the b= og-standard "dial" thermostat for a "digital" programmable one by Drayton. = =A0I can't recall what the wiring was like behind there, so I suppose I sho= uld check that out! =A0I can see that it would need some form of power to r= un the receiver, and then an ability to signal the boiler. =A0Are these usu= ally 12V or is it 230V?

I swapped the stat a few years ago, I don't have a photographic memory for = that sort of stuff. And I didn't have the model number with me when I post= ed, expecting that all stats worked the same!

Anyway, have JFG'd now.

Matt