FHT80B too noisy for bedroom

[simonknee]

Hi,

Very useful forum here on a subject I didn't even know existed until a few months ago.

Setting up an FHT80B and FHT8W system and put my first unit in a bedroom. In the early morning the whirr-whirr of the motor is loud enough to wake you up - and we're pretty deep sleepers. Any tips on this? Have I got an unusually noisy unit? Could it be resonating through the rad?

Anybody had the same issue and come up with a solution?

At present it seems the bedrooms are going to have to stick with manual thermostats which will severely limit the efficiency of the system.

Simon

[russell_allen]

Hi there,

I've had 7 of these things running in the past, and for some reason there does seem to be a massive noise difference between the load ones and the quiet ones! Fortunately for us, the ones in the bedrooms seem to be dead quiet, the one that kicks off all the noise is the one in the bathroom.

There does seem to be a connection between the size of the radiator and the noise output - how big is the radiator you're controlling?

Of course that could be coincidence, and it could just be a manufacturing issue - I'm tempted to open one of these things up one day and see what's going on inside, in case it's a simple case of applying some grease?

Russ

[simonknee]

My next ones are on the way so will be interesting to see if they are quieter. The radiator is a standard single unit about 5' long. I will report back when I get some more.

[simonknee]

Got a couple more and they are just as noisy if not more so! Did you really have some that were "dead quiet" Russell? I need another pair of FHT80 to complete the system but my current three act as an alarm clocks - a very unwelcome side effect? Perhaps the ones from MyGreenerHome might be quieter. Not sure that a bit of grease is going to silence the whirr-whirr grind-grind of the Conrad ones. :-(

[floyd]

I've had the same experience. I got the same FHT 8v and FHT 80b from http://heatefficient.co.uk to replace some Honeywell MT4-230-NC wax valve heads switched with X10, because the X10 switches were too noisy.

At the moment I'm deadening the whirring sound by wrapping a t-shirt round the drive. It's a bit untidy, but works ok. I may try to make more permanent covers but suspect we'll just get used to the noise with time.

The FHT has the major advantage, though, that it's wireless so I don't use all the sockets and don't have flexes trailing about the place.

[simonknee]

Since our bedroom floor is often covered in clothes anyway perhaps this is the solution! Ok, so I'll take one apart later today and see what can be done to quieten it down.

[russell_allen]

Ok, so I'll take one apart later today and see what can be done to quieten it down.

Hi Simon,

Did you have any luck?

Russ

[simonknee]

Hmm, no luck yet. Tried adding extra grease (the unit is pre-greased) and this did quieten it down a bit but also slowed down the action - it was pretty sticky stuff I used - so the effect may have been illusionary. Tried removing as much grease as possible. Didn't have much effect either.

I reckon that it is going to have to be sound insulation (like the t-shirt) to cure. So next I am going to try and add extra mass to the inside, something akin to the deadening panels they use inside car doors. Need to find a suitable material first. Temporarily I am going to use up all the odd socks we have on the outside.

[fredd500]

Could it be how hard it has to work to drive the TRV valve? Could replacing these with new ones quieten it down a bit?

One thought, how early are you switching to comfort temperature? If too early, are you wasting energy - why not set it to a time a bit closer to when you want to wake up anyway? (ok, i'll fetch me coat )

[russell_allen]

Could it be how hard it has to work to drive the TRV valve? Could replacing these with new ones quieten it down a bit?

In case it's any use, when I fitted my FHT setup, I also replaced all the central heating plumbing and as part of this fitted new thermostatic valves throughout.

Even though all the TRVs are brand new, I've still got some noisy ones - interestingly the quiet ones all seem to be the ones that are plumbed into copper tails going into plastic 22mm pipes under the ground floor.