Home  5  Books  5  GBEzine  5  News  5  HelpDesk  5  Register  5  GreenBuilding.co.uk
Not signed in (Sign In)

Categories



Green Building Bible, Fourth Edition
Green Building Bible, fourth edition (both books)
These two books are the perfect starting place to help you get to grips with one of the most vitally important aspects of our society - our homes and living environment.

PLEASE NOTE: A download link for Volume 1 will be sent to you by email and Volume 2 will be sent to you by post as a book.
Buy individually or both books together. Delivery is free!


powered by Surfing Waves




Vanilla 1.0.3 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.

Welcome to new Forum Visitors
 Join the forum now and benefit from discussions with thousands of other green building fans and discounts on Green Building Press publications: Apply now.




Heating and cooling: First fixing- cat 5/6 needed for heating controls etc?

Bottom of Page

1 to 17 of 17

  1.  
    • CommentAuthorcubbs
    • CommentTimeJan 2nd 2016 edited
     
    Happy New Year folks

    Are cat5 or 6 cables needed between our plant room and to ufh manifolds positions? Eg Nest heating controls etc?

    What are the recommended weather compensating heating controls? To run oil boiler for starters but log burner and solar thermal in the future

    Thanks
    • CommentAuthorgravelld
    • CommentTimeJan 2nd 2016
     
    Normally heating controls use a wireless network, although people are beginning to report problems as networks conflict...

    Cat6 worth it for heavier loads though.
    • CommentAuthorcubbs
    • CommentTimeJan 2nd 2016
     
    What wire is usually used for stats?

    2core?

    Cheers
    • CommentAuthorEd Davies
    • CommentTimeJan 2nd 2016
     
    Posted By: gravelldCat6 worth it for heavier loads though.
    In what sense? More bits per second, more amps or more volts? Can't image heating controls need Gb/s.

    If in doubt, stuff a Cat5 cable in.
    • CommentAuthorgravelld
    • CommentTimeJan 2nd 2016
     
    Bits. I just mean wired networking, so Cat5 also OK, just typing on a phone so took the lazy route.
    •  
      CommentAuthordjh
    • CommentTimeJan 2nd 2016
     
    Before trying to install Cat 6, check the bend radius and termination details. Or in other words, put in Cat 5 cable because it'll do what you need. You can use almost anything for most stats, although it does depend what they're switching. If they're switching mains, then follow the wiring regs. If they're switching heavy loads then you may want to think about a contactor or relay in between.
    • CommentAuthorCWatters
    • CommentTimeJan 3rd 2016
     
    Have you decided what stats and UFH manifold/wiring centre you will use? I would decide on those before putting any wire in. Many stats still use mains wire because they switch 230V. Some are 12V some networked etc.
  8.  
    I ran CAT6 for all of my data and home automation cable. It is slightly more difficult to pull and work with but it's not really any more expensive anymore.

    There's a lot of supposedly 'dodgy' chinese network cable about - worth buying from a reputable supplier. I used Blackbox.co.uk whose prices are only a little more than eBay anyway.

    I believe CAT6 cores are slightly thicker than CAT5 but it's marginal - it's a data cable. You can run some low current low voltage non data stuff over it but not much more.

    In my experience
    - retrofit stuff is wireless but if you're starting from scratch wired is always going to be more reliable but isn't necessarily cheaper.
    - there are both 230v (which would need 230v cable) and 12v (which will run over CATx cable) options from Heatmiser.
    - Manufactuerers spec surprising cables for stats and the like - my Viessmann weather compensater outdoor unit is supposed to be connected with 2 core min 1.5mm2 cable. That cable is certain to be low voltage and tiny current so it seems massively overspecced. The cables I've run in case I want to later add internal stats or controllers is cat6 (you can always use multiple cores to up the cable cross section to be on the safe side).
  9.  
    If you're building a new house spend your money on insulation, airtightness and triple glazing and go for a bog standard heating system with minimal controls. With ample insulation, airtightness and windows you eliminate the need for an upstairs heating system.
    • CommentAuthoralexphd1
    • CommentTimeJan 3rd 2016
     
    Apart from the heatmiser network stats is there any other hardwired network stats on the market?
    • CommentAuthorSprocket
    • CommentTimeJan 4th 2016
     
    CAT5 (or 6 of you can) is such handy stuff to have everywhere.
    If getting it there is easy I would put it in anyway.
    Network (eg. to Hang WiFi Access points from), phones, security kit, industrial sensors, IP cameras, video and audio if you really need it etc.
    • CommentAuthorcjard
    • CommentTimeJan 5th 2016
     
    I started out with all these good intentions, I'll use kilometers of CATx, I'll have everything I need wired.. Home cinema, XxY matrixers, home automation yeah!

    And then I looked at how I live my life currently - browse internet via ipad on wireless and watch movies on a gigabyte brix bolted to the back of the TV and I realised I couldn't be bothered...

    VH's point is a good one - if your house is a machine to live in, decide how complex you want the machine to be according to how you'll live your life

    That said, while it's all still studs, catting up every room with X number of cables for future use will take less than a day. I'm planning to CAT5 between every light switch to make installing more fibaro kit in future a n easier possibility. Wire is pence, the fibaro bill would run into thousands
    • CommentAuthorgravelld
    • CommentTimeJan 5th 2016 edited
     
    The trouble with complexity is that it's multi dimensional.

    I consider a wireless network more complicated than a wired one, but it depends on who's perspective you take.

    The reality is that wireless devices are useful, and so wireless is now the minimum, as it were.
    •  
      CommentAuthordjh
    • CommentTimeJan 5th 2016
     
    I'm with Caius. I pulled one Cat 5 into each room from a central switch (actually I have two switches, one near each end of the building to reduce cable lengths, and the router acts as another switch in the utility room). They all run Ethernet; if I want to run any other service then I'll carry it over Ethernet. I also put in some spare radial power wires from the CU to places I thought I might want heaters, but so far I haven't felt the urge to use any. Phones are wireless, computers are wired in my house.
  15.  
    Modern houses can be much more difficult for wireless networks than older houses: steel framing and foil backed insulation block it very effectively.

    We have a basement with a reinforced concrete slab above. Unsurprisingly nothing gets through so that has got it's own wireless access point (and so little gets through that it relies on a wired cable - no wireless to wireless range extender is going to work).

    There's a steel frame on our ground floor and our stairs cantilever off it - that's pretty effective at blocking wireless signals as well. I'd thought a single access point would easily cover the upper floors from the top of the house but actually it seems I'm going to need one point on the ground floor and one on the top to cover every room.

    There's no signal standing right outside the front door either - I don't think I'm going to have to worry about getting hacked by passers by.
    •  
      CommentAuthordjh
    • CommentTimeJan 5th 2016
     
    Yes, if the construction includes much metal then wireless will be affected, but again one cable to each room is probably sufficient provisioning a priori. If you have no wireless outside the house, I guess you have no mobile coverage inside it either? That would be annoying.
  17.  
    Different frequencies. Mobile reception inside isn't brilliant but it's acceptable

1 to 17 of 17

  1.  
Add your comments

    Username Password
  • Format comments as
 
Back to Discussions Top of Page
   
The Ecobuilding Buzz
Site Map    |   Home    |   View Cart    |   Pressroom   |   Business   |   Links   
Logout    

© Green Building Press