In article , Mike Barnard
writes
On Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:14:24 +0100, Mike Barnard
wrote:

Any CH design guru's aid me in my small dilemma please?

I have a 1960's mid terrace Wimpy (spit) three bed house. It had no

Thanks for all the inputs. Excuse me if I don't reply to each post
individually.

I certaintly agree in the idea of zoning in larger houses, but this is
a small 3 bed terrace house. No room at all to supply pipework to
each rad! And I'll have to cross many floor joists so I don't want to
cut too many pipe holes in either.

Although I have chosen to centralise the controls and run separate feeds (1
feed/return pair per room) there is no need for you to do the same, you can
run a live backbone throughout the house (2 pipes) and place the controls
where they are needed. I would suggest though that you make the controls
accessible with the minimum of fuss as there will be a time when you need
to access them in (and without) anger. If you can make splits off the
backbone in places like airing or other cupboards then do so. Be sure to
insulate the backbone feed and return (at least) as there is no point in
heating the rest of the house if you're just fending off a bit of winter chill in
the master bedroom overnight.

So, a couple more questions if I may.

1. Can I have a common return to the boiler or will that cause
problems?
Separate paths for feed and return can run into problems but see above for
the alternative.

2. Are there any websites that show the theories behind zoning? Yes,
I have googled and found many sites seling valves, but no tech guides.
Nothing in the FAQ either.
I don't think so, nobody does this, they think it is too hard.

3. Should I just do the two north facing rooms?

4. Or three zones... North facing up, south facing up and downstairs?

5. Or one zone up, one down...

4 zoning would seem like a reasonable split, 2 up & 2 down. Reasoning
downstairs being why heat the kitchen at all when you're watching telly?
Upstairs is probably less in need of a split but it shouldn't be too hard to
do. Separate zones really are superior to the sort of results you get with
TRVs.

6. What size pipes can I get away with if I'm only doing a couple of
rads?
Depends how big the rads are of course :-), but 15mm to 2 rads off a
22mm backbone would be safe.


Anything else of a practical nature? Regs?
Each room needs a control, whether it be TRVs or stat.

Do it, you won't regret it.
--
fred
Plusnet - I hope you like vanilla