STEAM CONTROL

Chas_2

I'm now working in a small apartment complex which has a fairly new heat timer which was supposely set by some one from heat timer and my take on it is not good ,ever day i get to the job i see windows open to me that not good ,this unit has no indoor sensors so that means no indoor feed back to me that means no good ,espically the pre dertermined cycle time and pre set time between cycles on the job i'm doing it is not good alot of mains and a older designed system which originally burned coal it in my mind does not mesh well ,i would think a temperture average thermostat using remote sensors would be a better fit i belive the tekmar 269 has aopition for up to 2 ensor it's worth a look see ,i'll be checking it out ,the r&d control post before looks very nice but fairly high priced but heat timers ain't cheap from the prices i was told in comparision the r&d rd200 looks like a very nice mangement system i'll be reading up further on the stuff peace and good luck clammy

bob young

STEAM CONTROL

four family residential bldg. best control for absentee landlord. tekmar or heatimer or other. i figure weatherhead , sensor at end of furthermost return off steam main & control panel. weil- mclain egh115 ....500,000 btu -spark ignition--new. single yo-yo thermostat existing at present time. all comments appreciated.

ChrisL

A couple

www.rdcontrolsystems.com

www.esicontrols.com


I am using the esicontrol in a 13 unit building, and have been very happy with it. It will average the temp of a number of units, and has great historical data to view. Might be more than you need, but it excels in a building where you get temp variability due to different wind/sun exposures.

Chris L

bob young

heat-timer or other

Thanks ,bro. i did expect a whole lot more input on this subject. i don't get it.

bob young

thanks Clammy

the heat-timer usually ,from what i understand , has a indoor sensor on either the end of longest main or at top furthurmost radiator. this job is for my accountant so i am trying to research it as best i can or he will torture me for the rest of my life ! tough to get a technition who is an actual crackerjack with this item & who knows if heat-timer per se would actually be truthful. lol in any case thanks much Clammy.

Chas_2

indoor sensor

yes Bob there indoor sensor is suppose to be mounted to the last raditor take off ,i just find it wastefully that there's really no true indoor sensor sensing room or apartment temp i only see it as a control that just cycles the boiler on a call from the sensor the weather and then runs a pre determined time even after the sensor is satisfyed it may work for a hot water system but with steam there to many variables like vents ,traps you know peace and good luck clammy

ttekushan_3

Tekmar 269

I like the tekmar 269 single stage steam control because you can literally dial in the parameters. No fixed steam cycles here. The cycle time is adjustable from a few minutes to 100 minutes depending on the system characteristics. I like this because I can fine tune the control for every building's heating and heat loss characteristics.

The 269 has the requisite outdoor sensor and "steam established" sensor that goes somewhere out there at the end of a main. But you can also install up to 2 (two!) room sensors so as not to overheat the building. If you so chose, an external night set-back ("unoccupied") timer can be installed. There's an early-start feature to this that ramps down the heat as you approach "unoccupied" and a ramp up to "occupied." If the control deems the weather too cold to be able to make up after the set-back it simply cancels the set-back. The reason they don't include the clock is that there are any number of ways to actuate the "unoccupied" mode.

I know this doesn't apply to your situation, but for retail or office spaces, the "unoccupied" function can be actuated from any switch closure- be it a timer, an auxiliary alarm relay, a door lock switch, etc.

Also, temp settings are read in actual degrees. Sometimes they don't align with actual temperatures if you don't use the room sensors. So I strongly recommend the room sensors.

These controls are among the easiest to use and have been bullet-proof in my experience.

Hope this helps.

-Terry

ChrisL

Tekmar

I looked at the tekmar pretty extensively, before going with the esi control. It only uses indoor temp feedback to LIMIT temperature. Or in other words, to shut off the boiler. It does not use indoor temp to decide when to turn the heat on, or for how long without an overshoot. I thought this might be a problem under non-normal conditions such as a windy day or such. In my opinion, a honeywell thermostat would probably be just as good, if you used remote sensors.

Chris

LAG

heattimer

has a new series with wireless sensors that can be placed in different locations for indoor feedback. sometimes a repeater is required. i think it's the platinum series.
tom