Smart heating newb

[yfaykya]

Hi,
My home has underfloor heating downstairs (12 zones) using danfloss T4 thermostats in each room and upstairs (4 bedrooms) is all one zone with thermostat in the hallway. Can anyone recommend a good smart heating system bearing in mind the underfloor and all the zones?
Thanks.

[SensibleHeatUK]

Honeywell Evo could be used, either with two of the downstairs zones combined (sharing one time program but still using separate room sensors) or using two Evo Touch controllers, one for each floor, which then gives you scope to control the upstairs radiators indpendently.

That gives you class-leading levels of control for the room side heating,meat demand control of the heating circuits/boiler, plus hot water control too (if the boiler is not a combi).

[kaivalagi]

Assuming all the zones have a replacement valve (?) then there are loads of options, either brand name such as the Honeywell stuff or Heat Genius or you can go with z-wave components (which are likely what the brands are using anyway) and have a software based controller on a 24/7 platform such as a good quality NAS or with one of the various hardware z-wave controllers such as Vera edge/lite or Fibaro.

I will be fitting z-wave components (z-stick, boiler receiver, Stella Z TRVs and Philio multi sensors) and running Domoticz on my Synology NAS for my measly 6 zones I can then expand into lighting etc on the same platform later.

[SensibleHeatUK]

For the UFH you'll either need a control platform that includes a suitable intelligent manifold wiring centre (such as Evo), or a system which has relay modules and wall sensors or a smart stat with integrated relay (to wire back to the existing "dumb" wiring centre) to make sure the manifold pump is controlled properly. There should not be any need to replace the UFH manifold thermal actuators, these should be suitable for wiring straight into the new controls (providing they are 230v actuators).

[yfaykya]

Thanks for replies. I see heatgenius are releasing UFH controls at end of November. Might be worth a look.
If I was to go Evo and couple up some zones what would I need? All this talk of relays and manifolds confuses me a bit even though I am actually a techy!
Currently all the stats are wired to a room under my stairs where there underfloor pipes merge and the other 2 current zones (upstairs and bathroom rads). Should I just be able to replace all the stuff here? Also roughly what kinda of ££ would I be looking at?

Appreciate all the replies!

Thanks.

[SensibleHeatUK]

If it's not really making sense then I'd suggest speaking with an Evo supplier to discuss your requirements in detail, supplying some photos where necessary to allow them to properly asses what you have currently and how to best package controls to meet your needs. As these are modular systems there can sometimes be several ways to achieve the similar results, but with some important differences which you need to be aware of so you can make an informed decision before installation.

[kaivalagi]

Yeah, I think I got confused a little too, SensibleHeatUK knows his onions though by the looks of things.

As pointed out, if there are points where a relay could be wired in for each zone then the most simple solution (more complex than getting off the shelf purpose made) would be to get all the z-wave relays you need to trip each zone and have them managed through a controller based on temp sensors....just not sure on the relay requirements for your kit! You'd also probably need to get quite clever with the logic behind it all to control the heat efficiently. If a standard relay switch would work they're about ~£45 or so, a temp/PIR/light sensor is £45 a pop too, a z-wave controller is as cheap as £40 for a USB dongle for a 24/7 server (not including software) to approx £200 for a hardware controller such as vera/fibaro etc. But....I might be totally wrong and have missed the need for a bunch of other devices, I just don't know manifold/UFH stuff. That's all obviously DIY gear...go Honeywell / Heat Genius for a off the shelf solution, especially if you aint bothered about combining lighting etc into the same system.

[Otto-Mate]

Also roughly what kinda of ££ would I be looking at?.

There's a system builder here that will give you a rough idea of costs
http://sb.evohome.honeywell.com/

M.

[kaivalagi]

Also worth looking at pricing up on the Heat Genius site, they're slightly more pricey than Honeywell (not much) but provide better remote accessed control than evohome, they also have PIR based control logic too if you want.

Might also be worth speaking to somewhere like vesternet.com and explain what you have and need, they can price up something z-wave based most likely, worth asking anyway as I still think the most feature rich option is a z-wave based one assuming if you need to you can get a little techy.

[yfaykya]

I have included some pics of the current setup. Pic 1 is what controls the UFH and upstairs. The UFH downstairs has 8 stats in each room (there are 12 pipes so I guess the bigger rooms might actually be a couple loops). The timer to the left is what controls the towel racks in the bathrooms. The HW is controlled by a timer at the tank (and the tank thermostat).

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Another one in next post..