Two zones controlled by a single Nest thermostat. Now needs separating out

[Brian0782]

Hi

 

I had UFH installed a couple of years ago and the installer laid the pipes in a way that the living room and dining room could operate as two zones. At the time however I decided that I would like one Nest controlling both zones just to see how it gets on.

 

A couple of years on I now would like to have the dining room controlled by it's own Nest.

 

I've spoken to a couple of plumbers and I'm not sure if they are understanding my requirement.

 

From the pipework picture below I can see the dining room has it's pipes laid separately to the living room. However I'm unsure if what I'm seeing is in fact two separate zones.

 

Am I making sense? If so is there an easier way for me to word the requirement to the plumber

 

Thanks

 

 

[ProDave]

It's an electricians job not a plumbers job, that's why he does not understand.

 

Show us a picture of the bottom rail of the manifold.

 

The key will be knowing which pipe loop connects where on the manifold and then reconfiguring the UH4 and adding another thermostat.

[SimonD]

2 minutes ago, ProDave said:

It's an electricians job

 

Or any self-respecting heating engineer. 😉 And agree completely with the rest 😊

[Brian0782]

20 minutes ago, ProDave said:

It's an electricians job not a plumbers job, that's why he does not understand.

 

Show us a picture of the bottom rail of the manifold.

 

The key will be knowing which pipe loop connects where on the manifold and then reconfiguring the UH4 and adding another thermostat.

 

I think I meant heat engineer rather than plumber! Sure will take a picture in the morning. Don't want to wake the kids up by making a racket under the stairs! 🤣

[Brian0782]

I have attached the bottom rail of the manifold.

 

2 x L1 is what I imagine the two zones to be and is controlled by one Nest

OF is the office which is controlled by the Salus

KIT is the kitchen where the installer ran some pipework via a back wall in case I want to put UFH there in the future. This is not in use.

[JohnMo]

Chopping your system into smaller parts does risk your boiler going into short cycling mode - I assume you are aware and have made allowances for this.  Short cycling will possibly end up using more fuel to get a worse outcome - conder house.

 

If one area is just getting too warm, reduce the flow for those loops a little every day until you get the result you want  

[Brian0782]

11 hours ago, JohnMo said:

Chopping your system into smaller parts does risk your boiler going into short cycling mode - I assume you are aware and have made allowances for this.  Short cycling will possibly end up using more fuel to get a worse outcome - conder house.

 

If one area is just getting too warm, reduce the flow for those loops a little every day until you get the result you want  

 

The problem is the Nest was in the dining area and that's a cold spot. So I was finding the living room was getting really warm whilst trying to warm the dining room.

 

I've since moved the Nest to the living room and now the dining area is quite cold. 

 

That's why I want to install another Nest so I can control the dining area separately.

 

I don't know how to adjust flow rates. If it's a better option than installing a second Nest I'm all for it. It'll definitely be cheaper.

 

 

 

 

[Brian0782]

23 hours ago, ProDave said:

It's an electricians job not a plumbers job, that's why he does not understand.

 

Show us a picture of the bottom rail of the manifold.

 

The key will be knowing which pipe loop connects where on the manifold and then reconfiguring the UH4 and adding another thermostat.

Dave, I've uploaded a picture. Are you able to see if it's been installed a 2 zones?

[JohnMo]

27 minutes ago, Brian0782 said:

The problem is the Nest was in the dining area and that's a cold spot. So I was finding the living room was getting really warm whilst trying to warm the dining room.

 

I've since moved the Nest to the living room and now the dining area is quite cold.

 

In the colder area increase those loop flows by 0.5 on the flow meters, the other area that tends to be hotter reduce by 0.5 on the flow meter. Tweek until you get a happy medium. Take a few days, doing one adjustment at a time.

 

Bit of fiddling is way better solution, you learn as you go. Just note down the start point before you start and log what you do so you can go back a step or two later if needed.

[JohnMo]

32 minutes ago, Brian0782 said:

don't know how to adjust flow rates. If it's a better option than installing a second Nest I'm all for it. It'll definitely be cheaper.

Take red cover off, there will be a black knurled nut below. Turn clockwise to reduce flow.  You will see the indicator currently at 2 - move up/down. Hot areas move to 1.5, cold area 2.5.

 

[ProDave]

44 minutes ago, Brian0782 said:

Dave, I've uploaded a picture. Are you able to see if it's been installed a 2 zones?

You would need to look inside the UH4.  I suspect at the moment only two of the UH4 zones are being used, and one of them is connected to both the L1 actuators.  You would need to bring in an additional UH4 zone into use, the next spare one with the new Nest connected to that and the new zone controlling one of the L1 actuators leaving the original one as it was.

 

Unless you know for certain which if the L1 zones goes to which end of the room there may be a a "try it and see" element to setting it up.  i.e turn one end of the room's thermostat right up, the other end right down, and if the wrong end of the room warms up, swap them over.

[ProDave]

13 minutes ago, JohnMo said:

Take red cover off, there will be a black knurled nut below. Turn clockwise to reduce flow.  You will see the indicator currently at 2 - move up/down. Hot areas move to 1.5, cold area 2.5.

 

Just be aware if you turn it too far anticlockwise to increase the flow, it might unscrew all the way out, then you have to be quick screwing it back in again before you get too wet.  Guess how I know.