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New 3 zone Radiant Heat System Questions
We have Just moved into a new house that has a 3 zone radiant floor heat system. I have never had a system like this before. I have always just been electric forced air systems so I have a few questions. About the system: Electric Boiler- Thermolec 27kw with a Taco SR-503 Relay zone controller and 3 (3 speed pumps) one for each zone. Zone one has 4 loops. Zone Two has 10 loops and zone 3 has 3 loops. My question (one of many to come I'm sure) is this. On Zone Two, the Thermostat is in the Master Bedroom and set to 72 deg. The great room is on Zone 3 and has a separate thermostat in that area. The Kitchen and Dining (attached to the great room) are all on Zone Two. I have the thermostats both set to 72 deg. However zone 2 runs ALL the time and very rarely shuts down. Zone 3 hardly ever runs. It is 78 deg in the greatroom / Kitchen area and 73 deg in our master bedroom. I am Assuming since zone 2 runs a lot more that is putting bunches of heat in the greatroom kitchen area thus making it so much warmer than the bedroom where the termostat is. The bedroom for whatever reason tends to stay fairly chilly thus the call for more heat. The Manifolds have the Red Cap Flow Meters on the hot side and White shut off Knobs on the cold side. All Flow Meters are showing around .6 GPM flow. Do I need to adjust the flow rate to the kitchen / dining loops to be less maybe? Or is there some other Adjustment that can be made to even the heating out across those 10 loops? I'm looking for tips / education on how this system works! Oh I forgot to mention the temp on the boiler is set at 120 deg and is running between 15-20 psi. Zone One and Three have a Delta of 20 and Zone two is a Delta of 10.
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Comments
Does that boiler have outdoor rest control onboard? If so that will help even out heat delivers, adjusting supply temperature across the heating season.
Assuming that enough tubing is installed in all the areas to cover the heat load, as .6 is about correct for 1/2 pex loops.
Also confirm the thermostats are in fact wired to the correct zone pumps, could be a wire crossed. And that when the thermostat is turned down, that circulator does in fact shut down.
Simple first steps, there could be a mis-piping causing ghost flow in zones, a pic of the boiler piping would shed some light.
trainer for Caleffi NA
The magic is in hydronics, and hydronics is in me
If you can borrow, or buy
With 7 loops it will take some time to dial it in.
Is there carpet in any of the areas?
trainer for Caleffi NA
The magic is in hydronics, and hydronics is in me
Is the garage being maintained for working in? That would be one zone to run lower temperature, to keep energy costs inline..
You should have plenty of boiler power 92,000 BTU/ hr for 3900 square feet.
What are your electrical rates?
trainer for Caleffi NA
The magic is in hydronics, and hydronics is in me
trainer for Caleffi NA
The magic is in hydronics, and hydronics is in me
Ideally the system would start at the beginning of heating season and stop when the season ends.
We may see that condition some day, for now limit the cycling without sacrificing comfort
trainer for Caleffi NA
The magic is in hydronics, and hydronics is in me