Written by Daniel Walker, Walker Company Heating & Air (303) 386-4082
It is important to note that not all electronic thermostats are programmable. If you are looking for a more modern look and features, upgrading your thermostat is a great idea.
The short answer to this question is NO. The reason, in-floor systems along with cast iron radiator systems are high thermal mass. High thermal mass is great when you want to store heat energy and release it over an extended period of time. The concept of high thermal mass heating revolves around this principle. However if a high thermal mass cools, it also takes a extended period of time to heat back up. If you allow your thermal mass system to cool over night or when you are away from home, (dependent upon how much you allow it to cool) it could take hours or even days to recover. When it does finally recover, in all likelihood to much heat will have been absorbed heating your space well beyond its needs. So, now you have gone from hours or days of discomfort due to low temperature, to hours or days of discomfort due to high temperature.
So you might be asking yourself, “If I can’t program a setback temperature into the zones, then how can I save money and energy”? Lots of options are available for saving money and energy with these types of heating systems. Some of them incorporate demand based temperature modulation, or variable speed pumps, you can really get fancy with it. You are only limited by your budget. The most inexpensive way to see some energy savings is the addition of a warm weather reset. Many newer boilers already have this option installed from the factory, it just may not have been set up during installation. What this control does is measure outdoor air temperature and adjust the boiler’s maximum temperature accordingly. If it is very cold outside the control will allow the boiler to operate at its maximum heating capacity. As outdoor air temperature begins to rise, the control will lower the boiler’s maximum temperature. When the control senses warm weather, the control will take it a step further and turn off the boiler and circulation pumps entirely.
If your domestic hot water is heated from your boiler system, not to worry. These controls even account for that allowing the boiler to run at maximum capacity until domestic hot water demand has been satisfied.
If your domestic hot water is heated from your boiler system, not to worry. These controls even account for that allowing the boiler to run at maximum capacity until domestic hot water demand has been satisfied.
Why run the boiler all year when you only need it in the winter? It should be clear by now how the addition of a warm weather reset to your boiler system can save you lots of energy and money. A word of caution for those of you thinking, “I will just turn the boiler off in the summer”: another important feature of a reset control is that it automatically exercises your pumps. If your pumps are not allowed to run for a short period of time regularly, seals will dry out, leaks may appear, all-out pump failure could result. With the money a reset control will save you over time, it is well worth the initial investment.