Heating timers

J

Just the One

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I am not sure if I would be better off with a new digital timer or thermostat.

At the moment all I have is a timer switch for the oil fired heating. The problem is that I can only set it to come on for a minimum of 30 minute increments. Sometimes this can be too much and I end up coming downstairs about 3am to turn it off. It all depends on the night in question of course.

Would I be better off getting a new digital timer (with remote control) that I can turn on/off from the comfort of bed or would it be better to fit a thermostat in the house.

Also, what way would the thermostat work? Would the heating have to be turned on at all times and kick in/out when it reached a certain temp?
 
You could do what I did in my last house. Like yours, the house only had a timer, and no thermostat.

I bought a programmable wireless thermostat from Danfoss, from Irish International Trading Ltd. Plumbers merchants will have them. It was called the Danfoss TP7500 if I remember correctly.

It was about €150, and consists of a receiver, that replaces your clock timer, and a programmable (wireless) thermostat. The Thermostat is battery operated and can be wall mounted in the house. Once you program the thermostat, it turns on and off the switch that now operates the boiler. The reason I went wireless was because I didn't want to chase any walls.

It took me about an hour to install, but as with all things electrical, you need to know what you are doing. If unsure, get an electrician to install.

It is one of the best €150 I've spent on the house. You can program the tempreture for each day, with six "on and off" periods each day.
 
Buddyboy said:
You could do what I did in my last house. Like yours, the house only had a timer, and no thermostat.

I bought a programmable wireless thermostat from Danfoss, from Irish International Trading Ltd. Plumbers merchants will have them. It was called the Danfoss TP7500 if I remember correctly.

It was about €150, and consists of a receiver, that replaces your clock timer, and a programmable (wireless) thermostat. The Thermostat is battery operated and can be wall mounted in the house. Once you program the thermostat, it turns on and off the switch that now operates the boiler. The reason I went wireless was because I didn't want to chase any walls.

It took me about an hour to install, but as with all things electrical, you need to know what you are doing. If unsure, get an electrician to install.

It is one of the best €150 I've spent on the house. You can program the tempreture for each day, with six "on and off" periods each day.
Click to expand...


cheers. where did you buy it... cannot seem to locate one.
 
The manufacturer is Danfoss, here is a link to the product

http://danfoss-randall.co.uk/Product/087N7418_MNU17433306.html

I bought it in Irish International Trading in Cork. Danfoss are a very big supplier of heating products, so most heating merchants should be able to order it. I will take a few days to arrive from England

To be honest, the guy at International Trading had never heard of a wireless programmer, but was able to order it when I gave him the model number (which is on the link above).

Be sure to specify the pack, which contains both the thermostat and the receiver (the part code on the link is for the pack). Also note that it is a single channel receiver, i.e. works off one thermostat. It is possible to get two or three channel recievers that will operate multiple zones from multiple thermostats, but I don't think you need those as, from your original post, you do not appear to have multiple zoned heating,

I'd be happy to answer any more questions, as I found the product to be excellent, and anything that makes the house more comfortable and reduces the fuel bills is worth it.
 
Buddyboy said:
The manufacturer is Danfoss, here is a link to the product

http://danfoss-randall.co.uk/Product/087N7418_MNU17433306.html

I bought it in Irish International Trading in Cork. Danfoss are a very big supplier of heating products, so most heating merchants should be able to order it. I will take a few days to arrive from England

To be honest, the guy at International Trading had never heard of a wireless programmer, but was able to order it when I gave him the model number (which is on the link above).

Be sure to specify the pack, which contains both the thermostat and the receiver (the part code on the link is for the pack). Also note that it is a single channel receiver, i.e. works off one thermostat. It is possible to get two or three channel recievers that will operate multiple zones from multiple thermostats, but I don't think you need those as, from your original post, you do not appear to have multiple zoned heating,

I'd be happy to answer any more questions, as I found the product to be excellent, and anything that makes the house more comfortable and reduces the fuel bills is worth it.
Click to expand...


thank you
 
Buddyboy or anyone

I recently bought a house and I have an oil boiler which can only be started manually in the boiler house i.e. turn on the sockets and it fires up there is no timer whatsover. Would this system be suitable for me and would it be easy for an electrician to install I spoke to my electrician and he mentioned connecting something to a pipe and it turning itself off when it reached a certain temp he had never seen a wireless one but said if i got it he would fit it if he could......apologies if this question is off the mark I know very little about this sort of stuff.

Cheers,

JD
 
JD77 said:
Buddyboy or anyone

I recently bought a house and I have an oil boiler which can only be started manually in the boiler house i.e. turn on the sockets and it fires up there is no timer whatsover. Would this system be suitable for me and would it be easy for an electrician to install I spoke to my electrician and he mentioned connecting something to a pipe and it turning itself off when it reached a certain temp he had never seen a wireless one but said if i got it he would fit it if he could......apologies if this question is off the mark I know very little about this sort of stuff.

Cheers,

JD
Click to expand...

The prog stat mentioned above

http://danfoss-randall.co.uk/Product/087N7418_MNU17433306.html

would be perfect for you. You would fit the control box after the sockets in your boiler house with socket turned to on. The control box would then only fire the boiler when it receives a wireless signal from the stat in your house. There would be a few wires (<6) to connect in the control box which would be easy if you knew your blues from your browns otherwise it's a five minute job for an electrician.
 
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What davidoco says is correct, it is the ideal solution for you, however..

I'd suggest connecting it before the sockets, so that it makes the sockets live when it is on.

The reason for this is that it allows you to plug out your boiler/pump if you want, while still having power to the receiver.

Part of the commissioning of the system is the pairing of the receiver and the transmitter/thermostat. If you disconnect power to the receiver, or let the batteries run out on the thermostat, you may have to pair them again.


What your electrician was referring to was a motorised valve to turn on and off the actual water going to the rads. This is used to create different zones in a house and is not necessary here. All you want to do here is turn on and off the whole heating.

As a side rant, it never ceases to amaze me how little control is built into most (older or cheaper) heating systems. If the SEI gave a grant to install a thermostat on old heating systems, it would go a long way to stopping the amount of heat and fuel wasted. (rant over)
 
Buddyboy said:
I'd suggest connecting it before the sockets, so that it makes the sockets live when it is on.

The reason for this is that it allows you to plug out your boiler/pump if you want, while still having power to the receiver.
Click to expand...


You'll have to fit a fused switch before the control box in any event as you won't get anybody to service your burner/boiler without being able to isolate it from the electricity. Before the socket would actually be better as you need to wire the pump and burner to the control box and I'm assuming they are independently wired at the sockets.

Buddyboy said:
As a side rant, it never ceases to amaze me how little control is built into most (older or cheaper) heating systems. If the SEI gave a grant to install a thermostat on old heating systems, it would go a long way to stopping the amount of heat and fuel wasted. (rant over)
Click to expand...

I was in a new 2500sq ft house recently with 3 zones (two heating and one hot water) and a master clock. So the fitter put in four manual clocks. One to turn on the burner and the other three to operate one zone valve each. What a waste when he could have a fitted a Horstman 3 channel programmer and given the user a much easier time (pun intended). There wasn’t one thermostat and not one TRV.
 
Thanks lads thats great......yeah they are wired back to 2 sockets.

Sorry to be a pest but the electrician is an old timer (no pun intended) who when I said wireless looked at me like I had 3 heads......can you list the steps he would need to do in order to get this work.......he knows electrics but he is the type to say there is no need for that etc unless i can tell him in lay mans terms how it works

I get the idea to connect it before the sockets so it has power independently of the sockets in the boiler house, but the fused switch I am lost on.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

JD
 
http://danfoss-randall.co.uk/Product/087N7418_MNU17433306.html

The wiring diagram pdf is posted above for the danfoss product.

I was talking about a fused switch on the feed from the house in the boiler house. It's just a switch with a fuse in it that you position somewhere on the wire before the socket plate you currently use.

For simplicity you can just take out the two plugs, unwire them, put them together in a junction box and wire going back to the danfoss control box. If he can't wire up a control box with the above diagram you really should get an electrician in to do it.
 
I have to say a big thanks for this thread - very interesting. I too have an old clock style 30min segment timer out in my boiler house controlling the gas boiler. I find it a right pain, particularly with the unpredictable weather over the last month or so - you're either freezing or sweltering, facing the unenviable task of going out in the rain and dark to change the timer, only to have to do it all again the next time the weather changes.

I'd love to be able to control it from inside the house - I've had it on the long finger for a couple of years now due to a horror of chasing walls and redecorating. This sounds like the perfect solution.
 
thanks for the help, i will be in touch buddyboy,

he is an electrician so he should be able to read the diagrams, I just wanted to have everything sorted as he usually arrives does the job and disappears and he can be hard to get as he is busy but he is doing a lot of other jobs for me so i dont want ot get anyone else and I dont want to delay him by not have the right info..

Thanks again lads this info is invaluable.
 
Sherman said:
I'd love to be able to control it from inside the house - I've had it on the long finger for a couple of years now due to a horror of chasing walls and redecorating. This sounds like the perfect solution.
Click to expand...


God bless the internet !!!

it allows me to find solutions that have been developed elsewhere, discuss and review them and (hopefully) order them.

It is a massive pool of knowldege and experience.

This particular solution took a few hours to find with a google search, a day to order, and an hour or two to fit and commission.

That's cheered me up for the day. "and it's good for the enviromnent too":D
 
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