Do I have separate zone heating.? Help/ advice wanted please

[Husk24]

Hi All

My First post.

I have moved into a house recently. I have a system boiler with a water cylinder. Downstairs I have two timer/switches, one controls the heating downstairs and the second one controls the heating upstairs, however in order to turn the heating upstairs I have to also have to have the heating switched on downstairs, the boiler does not switch on just with having the upstairs timer on.

I have spoken to an installer on the telephone today about isolating upstairs heating to downstairs so I can turn the heating on upstairs without having the downstairs heating. He said it appears to be a electrical installation issue, he says if l have two separate timers the piping should be all separately zoned and more likely not wired properly.

Any experts here comment on this please? is it an electrical issue or something to do with piping /system?

I also have a thermostat for downstairs heating which switches the heating on/off downstairs only.

Thanks in advance!

H

 

[ballvalve]

Hi All

My First post.

I have moved into a house recently. I have a system boiler with a water cylinder. Downstairs I have two timer/switches, one controls the heating downstairs and the second one controls the heating upstairs, however in order to turn the heating upstairs I have to also have to have the heating switched on downstairs, the boiler does not switch on just with having the upstairs timer on.

I have spoken to an installer on the telephone today about isolating upstairs heating to downstairs so I can turn the heating on upstairs without having the downstairs heating. He said it appears to be a electrical installation issue, he says if l have two separate timers the piping should be all separately zoned and more likely not wired properly.

Any experts here comment on this please? is it an electrical issue or something to do with piping /system?

I also have a thermostat for downstairs heating which switches the heating on/off downstairs only.

Thanks in advance!

H

Hi All

My First post.

I have moved into a house recently. I have a system boiler with a water cylinder. Downstairs I have two timer/switches, one controls the heating downstairs and the second one controls the heating upstairs, however in order to turn the heating upstairs I have to also have to have the heating switched on downstairs, the boiler does not switch on just with having the upstairs timer on.

I have spoken to an installer on the telephone today about isolating upstairs heating to downstairs so I can turn the heating on upstairs without having the downstairs heating. He said it appears to be a electrical installation issue, he says if l have two separate timers the piping should be all separately zoned and more likely not wired properly.

Any experts here comment on this please? is it an electrical issue or something to do with piping /system?

I also have a thermostat for downstairs heating which switches the heating on/off downstairs only.

Thanks in advance!

H

a pic of the cylinder and pipe work might help.

 

[Murdoch]

OP .......... its a new house ........... so fingers crossed the installer will come back and look / advise and then fix.

 

[Husk24]

Its not a new house, but I will upload some pics, I moved into this house three years ago, never really enquired why the above was the case

 

[Murdoch]

Its not a new house, but I will upload some pics, I moved into this house three years ago, never really enquired why the above was the case

OK , mis-read the OP

Photo's would help!

 

[Husk24]

Here are pics

 

[Husk24]

One more

 

[DGT plumbing]

Oh my, what a hideous looking installation. But to answer your question it does look like someone has tried to do seperate heating zones but not done it right. On the last picture, from what I can make out, you have two valves. The horizontal one controls your downstairs, the vertical one does your upstairs. The trouble is that your downstairs one needs to be open so the upstairs one can be fed. The horizontal (downstairs) valve needs to be moved to the other side of the tee which feeds the vertical (upstairs) valve.
If it's a system boiler why is there another pump and why is it pluged into an extension lead.

 

[Husk24]

Hi

As far as im aware one valve is for conservatory, it’s written on it, the conservatory just has a temperature controller, one valve is for downstairs and 3rd for water cylinder, there doesn’t seem to be one for upstairs, correct me if im wrong.

 

[DGT plumbing]

This new information puts a different light on it. I'd need to see the bigger picture, I can't work it out from what I can see and what you have told us. Too many unknowns and it's too messy.
You've still got the same problem with the conservatory heating then. Are you certain the upstairs controls don't activate the vertical valve. Hang on a min, that's a tee above that valve with 10mm coming out of it. Was this work really done by a plumber or a builder?

 

[Husk24]

Hi DGT, thanks for ur response, hopefully you can work this out for me lol. I don’t really know which valve you were referring to but in picture but the previous owner was infact a builder lol. I have had the boiler replaced last week, nothing else was changed but what I can say that the gas engineer who surveyed before the installation could not find the valve that turns the upstairs heating on. Tried looking all over. The boiler was basically fixed in same spot and I got the thermostat installed too that controls the heating downstairs.

I have two timers both located downstairs, one for downstairs, one upstairs, as mentioned upstairs only comes on as long as downstairs is on. I also have a room temp controller for conservatory with trvs, it is on a separate zone from the other rooms downstairs. All seems a bit mish mash!

 

[DGT plumbing]

It definitely has a builders touch too it all. I'm guessing then that the valve for the upstairs must be hidden somewhere and was probably an after thought. You would have to put in a separate feed to the upstairs valve for it too work independently. So I'm afraid you are stuck with it for now, it's not going to be a simple fix.

 

[Husk24]

Could this hidden valve be faulty? Could it be possible there is no valve for upstairs atall? or is that just not possible? If there is one, is there a easy way to locate it?

 

[DGT plumbing]

From what you said,

Downstairs I have two timer/switches, one controls the heating downstairs and the second one controls the heating upstairs, however in order to turn the heating upstairs I have to also have to have the heating switched on downstairs, the boiler does not switch on just with having the upstairs timer on.

It does sound like there is a valve somewhere. When the valve is closed it is stopping the flow of water to your upstairs radiators. When you turn on the upstairs timer the valve opens and lets the water flow through. So it's working to that extent. However, if you turn it on without the downstairs being on it is not calling to the boiler to turn on, probably because it's not been wired in proper, like I said before an after thought by the builder.
It sounds like it's been installed on the same flow pipe as the first valve so the first valve has to be open to let the heat through to the second valve.
If there was no valve at all, the upstairs would be on when downstairs is on. If the valve was faulty upstairs wouldn't work at all.

 

[Allgoode]

Looks like it was installed by Stevie Wonder................ on a bad day..............

 

[Husk24]

Interesting. So one of the possibilities be an electrical wiring issue, l could get an electrician in. Or if it has been installed on the same flow pipe as the first valve, is a big job to rectify this? can this be all done with the piping near the boiler of would it involve ripping floor boards? Really appreciate your advice. Thanks

 

[DGT plumbing]

Doubtful and electrician will solve this as you need to find the valve. It's not an easy fix at all. If you want independent zones you need to have independent flows to each zone and each zone in turn has its own zone valve.

 

[Husk24]

Mm the valve could be anywhere, most likely underneath somewhere

 

[Murdoch]

No amount of asking questions on here, or other forums can give you a definitive answer ....

Find a decent GSR heating engineer from local recommendation and get them to come a look at it all properly ...

 

[Husk24]

@ Dgt, you have given me sufficient information, shame your not in Yorkshire! Thanks

 

[DGT plumbing]

No amount of asking questions on here, or other forums can give you a definitive answer ..

Find a decent GSR heating engineer from local recommendation and get them to come a look at it all properly .

And also get someone who is G3 qualified as that cylinder installation looks poor.

 

[AWheating]

The system should have been commissioned and functionally tested by the plumber/ engineer.

Its very important with an unvented cylinder installed to check the correct operation of the zone valves and controls including the stats correctly turn off.

i would say the system was installed then wired and nobody has bothered to check it works correctly. Id be asking the plumber back to correctly commission it.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

@townfanjon arnt you in Yorkshire ?

 

[townfanjon]

@townfanjon arnt you in Yorkshire ?

Sorry only just seen this one ..

Only had time to look at the pics , wants starting again IMO

 

[Husk24]

Im in West Yorkshire, Keighley, where are you townfanjon? Any comments relating to above appreciated