micro zone or not

jonny88

So I got 3 zones in house.Grandmother has apt attached.We programme our stats.So my boiler has been cycling like Armstrong in his prime as her apt maybe 1000 sqft ish.I was getting upto 60 cycles p,day on heating.So i jumped out house stats a basically made whole house one zone coming of Grandma stat.Cycles are down to 4 or 5 per day which I am happy with.I know it was bad planning at start plus Alliance 3/4 coil is really having a hard time transferring heat.House is 2700sqft boiler 20-115k.It is heating house at minimum fire.Obviously we are heating main house when no one is there but it is preventing short cycling.Thoughts,thanks you in advance.

EzzyT

What kinda heat and boiler you have?

jonny88

Condensing with alliance indirect.High output baseboard.Saving up for radiant.Im liking less cycles on the boiler and got a cleaner for cool today.Thanks

EzzyT

I know it's sounds crazy for just only 3 zones but do you have room for a buffer tank? I've installed buffer tanks before in situations like your having and have helped the short cycling a lot.

jonny88

Thought about it but to much has gone into the system.I agree with where you are coming from and as a last resort I might take your advice

EzzyT

Plus you might need the buffer tank when you switch over to radiant

NYplumber

You may benefit from having each zone on its own reset curve with a Taco iValve. Having a buffer tank and sipping off of it will give you longer cycles spread throughout the day. At some point you have to think, do you just want to tweak what you have or spend money.

jonny88

I think I will ride it out for a while.I haven't told anyone in the house but another day with 4cycles is making the boiler a little happier I think.Will look into the Taco I valve though,something new to learn about.Thanks guys.

NYplumber

@Hatterasguy what does the thermostat have to do with the boiler? If you dont have the load it will only modulate so far down before it cant any more and at that point what gives is a raise in temperature. Imo you most likely throttled your zones too far down so the boiler doesnt have enough water to chew on.

As for the ivalve, it may be crude but it sure beats cutting fins or throttling down. You need a certain amount of agitation to transfer btu. You can get the proper flow and not over deliver temp by sending a lower temperature. And cutting fins isnt your friend with a mod con you want more fins not less.