My central heating system at home is typical for a large house we have 9 separate zones: 8 for the heating and 1 for hot water. I searched the Web for any commercial system to fully control the house and could not find anything for the home that supported more than two sets of radiators.
Thus I decided to embark on the project myself as I have an MSc in Computer Control and so this was an opportunity to put some of my training into good use.
I have posted details of the system on the following Web Site
Our requirements were fairly straightforward: -
The end result is the Home Central Heating Control System (HCHCS), which I am now hoping to make available for other energy aware homeowners to benefit from in kit form (i.e. full installation instructions, parts list and PLC Software).
How does the HCHCS system save energy ?.
And does it save energy? Well yes! The system has been running in full operation for over 6 months. Over this period we have experienced a heating bill saving of approx 50% (NB. see the savings page on the Web Site for details). We haven’t had to revert to fail over operation at all during this period. We have tested the fallback operation on all zones and there were no problems - but then its operation is fairly simple.
Thus I decided to embark on the project myself as I have an MSc in Computer Control and so this was an opportunity to put some of my training into good use.
I have posted details of the system on the following Web Site
Our requirements were fairly straightforward: -
- Full flexibility in programming on/off times.
Simple manual temperature control.
Ability to fall back to existing system should the system fail.
Simple On/Off via a mechanical switch panel for override control.
The end result is the Home Central Heating Control System (HCHCS), which I am now hoping to make available for other energy aware homeowners to benefit from in kit form (i.e. full installation instructions, parts list and PLC Software).
How does the HCHCS system save energy ?.
- Rooms are only heated when needed (e.g. bedrooms are normally only heated in the evenings and coming on at different times to suite the occupants age and for those houses that are only ocupied during the daytime and at weekends this can be automatically programed in).
By running the boiler and hence the water at a higher temperature for a shorter time than in a conventional system unwanted heat loss in the delivery pipes is reduced.
And does it save energy? Well yes! The system has been running in full operation for over 6 months. Over this period we have experienced a heating bill saving of approx 50% (NB. see the savings page on the Web Site for details). We haven’t had to revert to fail over operation at all during this period. We have tested the fallback operation on all zones and there were no problems - but then its operation is fairly simple.
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