Hot Water & Central Heating Blog » Hometronic energy management

Energy Management upgrade to Surrey property

admin — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:38:14 +0000

For this update, we are near Dorking in Surrey, UK.

House near Dorking, Surrey

Our customer had a large house with around 26 radiators, we had been contacted because they had an Archie Kidd Thermal gas boiler that needed a service, and we are the regional experts for this unit.

Amusingly, they had been informed from the previous owner that the boiler was an expensive unit that represented the very best boiler that money could buy. When they examined it, it looked like an industrial antique and they were a bit sceptical.

Kidd Model 2 boiler being serviced

Truth is, the previous owner was right! Still available today, these boilers are incredibly economical and were designed to last.

We were asked how we might improve the distribution of heat in the house, which was used for home working during the day and was occupied by a family at other times. The owners were concerned that significant areas of the property were being heated when for much of the time only a handful of areas needed to be at occupational temperature.

We recommended the Honeywell Hometronic system as the best solution. Every radiator and towel rail is fitted with a special radio linked control valve, which are managed by a small control panel.

Small Hometronic panel in kitchen controls entire house

The panel is configured to recognise and control up to 16 areas of accomodation, and alter the heating distribution according to the preferences of the user.

Hometronic radiator control in the conservatory

In this way, a home office can be heated to a pleasant level in the height of winter, together with perhaps the kitchen and the downstairs WC; the rest of the house can be allowed to drop to a much lower temperature, saving lots of gas. Just before the children return home from school, Hometronic can boost their rooms to a comfortable temperature.

In the same way, the precise locational control delivered by hometronic allows towel rails to be heated in the summer for certain times of the day, using the main central heating boiler.

The Hometronic control extends to the hot water provision too, and can be expanded to lighting and other powered devices. A popular option is the ‘lighting replay’ facility. This learns which lights are used and can replay typical occupational lighting changes when you are on holiday to simulate the house in occupation.

If you own a larger home and want to get to grips with energy wastage, the Hometronic system is one of those rare ecologically viable products that offers real savings without sacrificing comfort.

Major refurbishment in Woldingham, Surrey

admin — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:32:27 +0000

Our client has bought a 1960s house in the well regarded village of Woldingham, Surrey, and embarked on a major remodelling of all services and interiors.

When finished, the building will incorporate a modern kitchen, and comprehensively remodelled interiors.

We have assisted our customer in the selection of the heating system, but they have also contributed much to the specification, including the innovative Jaga Strada ‘low H20′ high efficiency radiators.

HWCH will be fitting a large underfloor heating grid on the ground floor, a 46Kw Viessmann 200 series light commercial boiler, accumulator boosted DualStream hot and cold water system, all controlled by the Honeywell Hometronic radiator and underfloor control system.

The industrial gas meter has been moved as part of the works, and our commercial gas engineer will be installing a new underground service to the house and swimming pool boilers.

Work is expected to finish in early 2009, but for now,here are some photographs;

Viessmann 46Kw boiler in utility room

Part of the underfloor heating grid just installed

Cylinder cupboard 35mm pipework under test

Water pressure system in Bletchingley

admin — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:04:25 +0000

This job was in a large house which had two open flued water heaters on the 1st floor providing hot water to the bathrooms.

Our customer wanted the old gas appliances removed for safety reasons, and also desired a mains pressure system to feed his new baths and showers, instead of the noisy and unreliable pumped system.

We recommended a DualStream accumulator fed unvented system. The accumulator (which boosts the available water flow rate in the house) was fitted in one airing cupboard, and a 300 litre unvented cylinder was fitted in the other.

DualStream accumulator in one airing cupboard

The accumulator fed system discharges water at an enormous flow rate into the showers and baths.

Shaun puts the finishing touches to the DualStream unvented HW cylinder

In fact, it quickly exposed a faulty plastic pipe joint fitted by another bathroom installer. After a quick pop up the system was fully operational.

Vaillant EcoMax Pros in basement

The new system was adapted to run off a pair of existing Vaillant open vented Ecomax Pros in the basement. One of these was not working but it was a simple arcing electrode fault.

We rewired these units to work with the Honeywell Hometronic radiator management system, now our customer has full control of 16 different zones of heating.

Large Viessmann and underfloor heating in Woldingham

admin — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:51:04 +0000

From the kitchen...........

This customer was having a large extension fitted on the rear of the property, in the form of a wooden Amdega conservatory.

We suggested that water based underfloor heating would be far cheaper to run, and more effective than the electric matting recommended by the conservatory builder.

New Amdega conservatory - underfloor heating by HWCH

The old 50Kw Potterton commercial boiler was removed and replaced with a top quality Viessmann 300 49Kw system boiler with KM bus varispeed pump.

Viessmann 300 49Kw in utility room

The house suffered from inadequate heating in the triple aspect bedroom and lounge, and also the large number of rooms meant that heat was being wasted during the day when some of the family were at school.

Repiping the areas into separately controllable zones was not a practical option, so we fitted the Hometronic radiator/UFH management system. This allows the customer to set temperatures differently throughout the house in up to 16 separate zones, throughout the day/week.

Radiator fitted with Hometronic valve (a bit blurred!)

The lounge is treated as a separate zone, so if the customer has set the temperature to 20C for the evening, the radiators will come on as frequently as necessary, without affecting the rest of the house.

Hometronic controller for heating and hot water

The conservatory is now lovely and warm, and the Viessmann boiler is saving lots of gas compared to the old inefficient Potterton unit.

Vaillant boiler kills bills in East Croydon

admin — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:47:23 +0000

Our customer had a large detached house in East Croydon, Surrey.

Our venue for this posting

Their existing boiler (an old Ideal Mexico open flued unit) was located in a cupboard in one of the reception rooms, taking up lots of room and making the roof uncomfortably warm in the summer.

As far as our customer was concerned, there was only one place for his new boiler, and that was the roof space.

Vaillant 637 boiler on HWCH carpentry

We constructed a vertical platform for the boiler and control equipment, and as per company policy we used the services of our roofing subcontractor to pass the Vaillant flue through the roof tiling (we always use our specialist roofing team for external works).

Our customer also wanted to have mains pressure hot water throughout the house and needed the space occupied by the old open vented hot water cylinder.

So we installed a new Vaillant uniSTOR 260 litre unvented cylinder in the loft, on a specially constructed platform.

Vaillant uniSTOR 260 pressurised cylinder

Our customer needed a radiator in the hallway to replace a very old fan convenctor unit mounted on the wall. We fitted a recessed, flush unit from Smiths, called ‘SpaceSaver’, into the under stairs area. All that could be seen was a small grille.

SpaceSaver convector heater mounted into panelling

The SpaceSaver unit uses heat from the boiler and incorporates a small fan inside. Usually used in the plinths of kitchen units, they are also very useful when a discreet solation to heating a space (without radiators) is required.

Finally, as our client has a large house which is only normally occupied by two people, we fitted the Honeywell Hometronic radiator management system. This allows immediate zoning of all radiators and rooms, using wireless technology.

Hometronic controller in upstairs cupboard

Hometronic allocates heat to areas normally occupied at a certain time; similarly it reduces wastage of energy by automating the provision of lower room temperatures in rooms not normally occupied at certain times of the day. Energy cost savings of 25% can be achieved, whilst rooms that are being used are more comfortable.

A greener, more comfortable house!

Grant Vortex boiler, Two DualStream units and Hometronic

admin — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 17:07:24 +0000

Our client, a farm near Tadworth, Surrey, had an older boiler running two gravity hot water cylinders.

Our customer in Tadworth - not the dog!

The spacious house had a fully equipped annexe with its own hot water provision.

We specifified two DualStream accumulator fed systems, which would replace the old noisy shower pumps and provide a silent, fast flow fresh water service to all outlets.

In the main house we relocated the hot and cold water services into an attic room, to liberate more room downstairs for a bedroom enlargement.

DualStream No 1 in attic room

The other DualStream was sited in the annexe.

DualStream unvented No2 in annexe

The whole system was powered by a new Grant 36-46Kw Vortex condensing oil boiler (with a 3yr warranty) located in the garage.

Grant Vortex condensing oil boiler in the garage

We then converted every radiator to Hometronic using the HR80 valve;

Hometronic radiator valve - remote control your heating!

this, combined with the Hometronic Manager controller, gave our customer the ability to control the heating in the house in 16 completely addressable zones.

Dean commissioning the new Hometronic system

In addition, they can also control the hot water storage cylinders independently, all from the Hometronic Manager (see picture above).

Dean has given them ‘lifestyle buttons’ programmed to allow for guests, the entire heating map and hot water provision can be changed to accommodate any scenario with one simple button press.

Every room in the house is now thermostatically controlled, and the boiler only fires when necessary. You won’t read about this system under ‘energy saving’ in Good Housekeeping; we are years ahead of the game in energy conservation.

2006 HWCH installation upgraded to Hometronic

admin — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 16:20:57 +0000

Outwood, Surrey

Our customer, in Outwood, Surrey, owns a large house that has recently been comprehensively extended.

In 2006 HWCH fitted a DualStream accumulator boosted unvented hot and cold water system, to make all the baths and showers deliver a hotel-type performance. At the same time we fitted the latest Grant Vortex 46Kw oil fired condensing boiler plant in the cellar.

In 2008, following the building extension works, we were invited back to upgrade the installation with our Hometronic domestic heating controls. This innovative product allows our customer to divide his property into 16 separate zones of heating, each individually monitored and controlled by radio links.

The Hometronic controller was fitted in a utility room, out of the way.

Hometronic Controller Outwood 2008

From this unit the customer has full control of all 16 areas, plus hot water timings. As there are usually only three occupants to the house (which now includes a granny annexe), the heating levels can be phased during the day to follow the occupants, rather than heating the house in its’ entirety.

Radiators adapted to Hometronic - Rear Hallway

In fact, up to 1600 different temperature set points can be programmed in for a week. No customer has yet managed to schedule that many changes!

All radiators are adapted to take the Hometronic hardware, even the towel rails, which can now be scheduled to warm up in the summer! On their own! No pipework or flooring adaptations are usually needed.

A towel rail being adapted for Hometronic, warm towels in the summer!

At the same time we made a few alterations while the system was being converted. Here is a radiator being added to a previously unheated WC.

While we were there, we added a radiator in one of the WCs. Much more comfortable.

Finally, the system HWCH installed in the cellar back in 2006 was updated by our in house electrical specialist, and the system was filled with Fernox inhibitor and tested.

Dualstream OSO 500/300 litre and Grant Vortex condensing oil boiler

Our customer will now have warmer rooms when and where he wants them, whilst saving energy everywhere else in the property. We believe Hometronic is the future for heating larger houses….

Kidd Boiler in renovation of large house in Tandridge, Surrey

admin — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:20:15 +0000

The Kidd boiler was very popular in the early years (1982 onwards) with people in the music industry, many of whom were pioneers of environmental awareness. Abba, Peter Gabriel and the Alan Parsons Project are some notable customers of Kidd Boilers over the years.

Inside a Kidd Model 260 – stripped down, preparing for lifting

In a recently completed installation in Oxted, Surrey, we had to lower a Kidd Model 260 into an internal boiler room of a large private house.

There was no space for a conventional crane, and to install a lifting hoist would have required some quite complex scaffolding.

So we used a Genie tower lift, more often used in the rock and roll event lighting industry (where I used to work, many years ago), to lower the 350kg boiler into the cellar and lift the old boilersout. There were three old boilers in the cellar, two operational and one from a bygone era which was obviously to heavy to remove when it died.

Going down! the Kidd Boiler is winched into the cellar through a very tight opening (stairs removed)

The boiler flue will emit large quantities of plume and steam, being a high efficiency condensing boiler. A new Kidd alumimium flue liner was inserted into the boiler room chimney.

Going up -one of the old boilers being lifted out

This installation also involved HWCH in the removal and refurbishment of 26 cast iron radiators, which were shotblasted and reconfigured in new sizes by our contractor. Finished in a mixture of white and metallic bronze, they look truly stunning.

refurbished School radiator and custom coloured Hometronic valve

The house was completely replumbed in a mixture of steel barrel and copper tubing.

Interestingly, only one electrical pump is used for the whole installation. HWCH and Kidd Boilers believe that pumps waste heat and electrical energy, and many larger houses can have 4 or 5 pumps all working to raise the electricity bill and contribute heat losses.

The Kidd Boiler uses an internal Grundfos pump, inside all the boiler insulation. Any heat losses from the pump (both from electrical and latent heat) are thus recycled back into the boier jacket proper. As Mr Kidd says, it is foolish to waste heat. Mr Kidd always expects a Kidd Boiler room to be a cool one.

Finally, we fitted the Honeywell Hometronic building management system to the house, enabling 16 homeowner-configured heating zones to be controlled completely separately.

Each radiator was fitted with a Honeywell radio linked motorised valve (those fitted to the bronze radiators were specially colour matched), 42 in total.

School radiator fitted with Hometronic valve

Another example, this time with a bronze Hometronic valve (special order from Hot Water & Central Heating)

The house is also equipped with two DualStream accumulator pressurised hot/cold water systems. One covers the main house, the other, the guest bathrooms.

The Honeywell Hometronic energy management system is furnished with 10 configurable ‘Lifestyle’ buttons. When our customer has guests staying, they simply press the corresponding button and the heating adapts to encompass guest bedrooms, upper hallway temperatures rise, reception rooms are heating for longer periods, and the second DualStream hot water system is energised.

All clever stuff, but with an end game. With an older house, there is a limit to how much you can insulate against heat loss. Although we fitted one of the most efficient boilers available, further savings can be achieved by using your heat more productively, when and where it is needed. Hometronic takes it to the next level.

With oil pushing 60p a litre, you simply can’t afford to waste it.