Installing a Evohome System

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  • tom2806
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • Feb 2015
    • 18

    Installing a Evohome System

    Hi

    So we have moved into a new build and we have a danfoss system fitted. Its a poor attempt at zoning the system, basically they have one thermostat in the hall controlling the ground floor and a thermostat in the smallest bedroom on the middle floor controlling the middle and top floor. The issue is that the middle floor thermostat clicks off so quickly because the small bedroom heats up quicker than the rest of the middle and top floor.

    IM fed up with trying to sort it so looking at changing it. The evohome is sticking with me at the minute but I do have a few questions if anyone would be able to answer:

    1. The wireless relay is fitted to boiler. I'm guessing this is the control that turns the boiler on / off and sends water to the radiators that are asking for it when fitted with the evohome TRV.

    2. Is it possible to leave the ground floor danfoss thermostat controlling the ground floor under the wired system and disconnect the middle floor thermostat and allow the relay to control any radiators fitted with a evohome TRV

    3. What are the possibilities of fitting the relay myself? I have a combi boiler so im pretty sure it cannot be that difficult. Whats the average cost to have someone come it for me?

    Any answers would be greatly appreciated

    Tom
  • Chicken
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • Feb 2015
    • 11

    #2
    Originally posted by tom2806 View Post
    Hi

    So we have moved into a new build and we have a danfoss system fitted. Its a poor attempt at zoning the system, basically they have one thermostat in the hall controlling the ground floor and a thermostat in the smallest bedroom on the middle floor controlling the middle and top floor. The issue is that the middle floor thermostat clicks off so quickly because the small bedroom heats up quicker than the rest of the middle and top floor.

    IM fed up with trying to sort it so looking at changing it. The evohome is sticking with me at the minute but I do have a few questions if anyone would be able to answer:

    1. The wireless relay is fitted to boiler. I'm guessing this is the control that turns the boiler on / off and sends water to the radiators that are asking for it when fitted with the evohome TRV.

    2. Is it possible to leave the ground floor danfoss thermostat controlling the ground floor under the wired system and disconnect the middle floor thermostat and allow the relay to control any radiators fitted with a evohome TRV

    3. What are the possibilities of fitting the relay myself? I have a combi boiler so im pretty sure it cannot be that difficult. Whats the average cost to have someone come it for me?

    Any answers would be greatly appreciated

    Tom
    Hi,

    I installed my Evohome last weekend and it was quite easy. It all depends on your ability and what you have already in your system. It's recommend to use an approved installer but as you will see from other threads this doesn't mean they're experienced installers, some local to me had not installed any just done the course!

    The wireless relay BDR91 needs to be installed a minimum of 30cms away from things that interfere with the RF signals such as metal. I'm not sure that it can be installed on the boiler as metal items are supposed to interfere with it and a boiler is a big metal object! If you have a thermostat elsewhere that's wired such as the hallway then the BDR91 can be placed there instead. You should seek advice about the wiring though because you cannot rely on the colour of the wiring. I bought my Evohome from Richard who owns Evohome Shop and he also provides after sales support which he did for me. My BDR91 was placed in my hallway as above. There should be a switched live wire which the relay triggers the combi to fire up to provide heating.
    I cannot answer question 2 as I'm not a heating engineer/plumber.
    If I was you and wanted to install myself I would take photos of your current wiring inside your thermostat control and ask on here.
    I will tell you what I did but this only applied to my situation and cannot take responsibility that your wiring will be the same especially as I said you cannot rely on the colouring of the wire sleeves.
    I had 4 wires, a blue, red, yellow and green/yellow. The blue went to N, red was a fixed live to first L, a link wire from 2nd L to A, and finally the yellow which was the switched live to B. The earth was made safe as not required for relay. As I mentioned, Richard helped me with this!

    Hope this helps

    Comment

    • Rameses
      Industry Expert
      • Nov 2014
      • 446

      #3
      Take a look at http://youlearn.honeywelluk.com/

      Home users can register and take the 'course' - this should help.
      getconnected.honeywell.com | I work for Honeywell. Any posts I make are purely to help if I can. Any personal views expressed are my own

      Comment

      • gl3n
        Automated Home Jr Member
        • Feb 2015
        • 31

        #4
        I found the install very easy but did have a British Gas (pre Hive) unit I wired the relay in place of.

        I have 15 TRV's in 12 zones, again easy to install when you have played around a bit and re read the instructions...

        The sense of achievement of self install makes the system seem much more valuable and worthwhile. Also getting a good installer can be hit and miss. I contacted 4, had 1 quote which was well over £500 just for install and above the cost of the system.

        In the end I went for Evohome shop and Richard provided some support. £1033 for the system compared to £1650 by an installer is a worthwhile saving. Also knowing the system better is again very worthwhile, if you are not happy to do the relay electrics just get an electrician in to do that.

        Everything else is something you should do as an owner of the equipment.

        Hope you enjoy whatever decision you make

        Cheers

        Glen

        Comment

        • top brake
          Automated Home Legend
          • Feb 2015
          • 837

          #5
          Originally posted by gl3n View Post
          I found the install very easy but did have a British Gas (pre Hive) unit I wired the relay in place of.

          I have 15 TRV's in 12 zones, again easy to install when you have played around a bit and re read the instructions...

          The sense of achievement of self install makes the system seem much more valuable and worthwhile. Also getting a good installer can be hit and miss. I contacted 4, had 1 quote which was well over £500 just for install and above the cost of the system.

          In the end I went for Evohome shop and Richard provided some support. £1033 for the system compared to £1650 by an installer is a worthwhile saving. Also knowing the system better is again very worthwhile, if you are not happy to do the relay electrics just get an electrician in to do that.

          Everything else is something you should do as an owner of the equipment.

          Hope you enjoy whatever decision you make

          Cheers

          Glen
          Glad you had a good experience installing your evohome system, interested to hear how you find it in use.
          I work for Resideo, posts are personal and my own views.

          Comment

          • sharpener
            Automated Home Sr Member
            • Jan 2015
            • 78

            #6
            Originally posted by tom2806 View Post
            2. Is it possible to leave the ground floor danfoss thermostat controlling the ground floor under the wired system and disconnect the middle floor thermostat and allow the relay to control any radiators fitted with a evohome TRV
            You would need to confirm that the two thermostats (i) operate independent zone valves and (ii) that they have a permanent live and neutral connections, if so it should be quite straightforward to fit the evohome boiler relay in place of the one on the middle floor and control the heat demand from evohome TRVs in the bedrooms, leaving the ground floor as it is. But you would not then have complete control from the phone app.

            If that is never going to be important to you then replacing the existing thermostat in the small bedroom with the receiver for a programmable wireless thermostat which you locate somewhere more sensible would be a lot cheaper.

            As the savings come typically from not having the bedrooms on during the day either of these would give you most of the benefit without installing a full evohome system.

            Originally posted by tom2806 View Post

            3. What are the possibilities of fitting the relay myself? I have a combi boiler so im pretty sure it cannot be that difficult. Whats the average cost to have someone come it for me?

            Any answers would be greatly appreciated

            Tom
            If you are happy doing a small amount of mains wiring (taking the usual precautions) then it is an easy DIY job using the instructions provided in the box

            HTH

            Comment

            • tom2806
              Automated Home Jr Member
              • Feb 2015
              • 18

              #7
              Hi

              Thanks for all the answers.

              If that is never going to be important to you then replacing the existing thermostat in the small bedroom with the receiver for a programmable wireless thermostat which you locate somewhere more sensible would be a lot cheaper.
              Can you suggest any decent wireless thermostats?

              I would eventually like to replace the whole system with the evohome so that's why I wanted to start with the middle and top floor as this is the issue we are having at present.

              Cheers

              Comment

              • sharpener
                Automated Home Sr Member
                • Jan 2015
                • 78

                #8
                Originally posted by tom2806 View Post
                Hi

                Can you suggest any decent wireless thermostats?

                I would eventually like to replace the whole system with the evohome so that's why I wanted to start with the middle and top floor as this is the issue we are having at present.
                All the major manufacturers do them, Danfoss, Drayton, Horstmann, Honeywell, take your pick.

                But if you plan to go down the evotouch route eventually you could fit evohome-compatible bits so they can be incorporated later, specialists here such as the Evohome shop or SensibleHeat will be able to advise.

                Or start straight away on the middle floor using the controller as the temperature sensor, fit one BDR91 relay where the existing stat is, and expand it all later.

                Either way you need to check out the existing system as per my original posting. The wiring arrangement Chicken describes above is pretty standard but you do need to check whether the control signal the boiler requires is mains or low voltage (hopefully the housebuilders will have left you the manuals), if the latter do not link L to A!
                Last edited by sharpener; 20 February 2015, 11:29 AM.

                Comment

                • tom2806
                  Automated Home Jr Member
                  • Feb 2015
                  • 18

                  #9
                  Ill have a look around at the different options.

                  We have standard TRV fitted to each radiator at the moment, I have been told that the motorised zone valves would need disconnecting to fit the evohome TRVs.

                  Is it possible to have TRVs on each radiator and motorised zone valves or is it one or the other?

                  Hope that makes sense

                  Comment

                  • top brake
                    Automated Home Legend
                    • Feb 2015
                    • 837

                    #10
                    Originally posted by tom2806 View Post
                    Ill have a look around at the different options.

                    We have standard TRV fitted to each radiator at the moment, I have been told that the motorised zone valves would need disconnecting to fit the evohome TRVs.

                    Is it possible to have TRVs on each radiator and motorised zone valves or is it one or the other?

                    Hope that makes sense
                    echo Rameses suggestion about doing the youleartn training, may answer some of your questions
                    I work for Resideo, posts are personal and my own views.

                    Comment

                    • tom2806
                      Automated Home Jr Member
                      • Feb 2015
                      • 18

                      #11
                      yh I had a look on there but cannot seem to find anything in regards to that issue.

                      Also I would have to change the radiator in the room with the thermostat to a Evohome TRV. This currently has 2 normal rad valves on, (well im guessing one is a lockshield) Im guessing I would need to drain the system to fit the TRV to one end?

                      Comment

                      • jonstatt
                        Automated Home Guru
                        • Feb 2015
                        • 111

                        #12
                        Originally posted by tom2806 View Post
                        yh I had a look on there but cannot seem to find anything in regards to that issue.

                        Also I would have to change the radiator in the room with the thermostat to a Evohome TRV. This currently has 2 normal rad valves on, (well im guessing one is a lockshield) Im guessing I would need to drain the system to fit the TRV to one end?
                        A plumber would not need to drain the system to install a TRV on one end. You can close the valve at the other end....take-off the pressure with the radiator bleed valve, clamp the radiator on the TRV side so it is supported and doesn't tip, freeze the pipe on the TRV install side, put a rubber membrane on the side of the radiator once disconnected so it doesn't pour out, and then install the TRV junction. As you need tools for this job which you almost certainly don't have, as well as the learning curve being a bit steep for you to attempt this, I would strongly suggest you need a plumber / installer for this. Do NOT try and do this by draining! If you did you will then need to put new inhibitor chemicals in the water and you will have to bleed the whole system carefully.

                        Comment

                        • tom2806
                          Automated Home Jr Member
                          • Feb 2015
                          • 18

                          #13
                          Hi

                          Just found out that my current thermostat is battery powered and not mains so I will struggle to fit the Wireless relay in this position as it requires a mains power supply.

                          I wonder if the wire to the thermostat will carry mains power or not?????

                          Cheers

                          Comment

                          • jonstatt
                            Automated Home Guru
                            • Feb 2015
                            • 111

                            #14
                            Originally posted by tom2806 View Post
                            Hi

                            Just found out that my current thermostat is battery powered and not mains so I will struggle to fit the Wireless relay in this position as it requires a mains power supply.

                            I wonder if the wire to the thermostat will carry mains power or not?????

                            Cheers
                            You are really scaring me with some of these questions. The wires to the thermostat depends on the system. In a simple set-up a thermostat will often have 3 wires going to it.....a live, neutral and a switched live

                            Comment

                            • tom2806
                              Automated Home Jr Member
                              • Feb 2015
                              • 18

                              #15
                              but if the thermostat is battery powered it surely will not have 230v mains to it

                              Comment

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