EKO 25 install question

[JWF]

Boiler delivered earlier this week, all plumbing is complete. I currently have 4 zones controlled by zone valves and each zone has its own thermostat.

How should hook up these to the controller?

 

[Nofossil]

What is in your system besides the EKO and the four zones?

I'm not intimately familiar with the controller on the newer EKO, but usually each thermostat simply controls its related zone valve. The EKO controls its circulator. If you have no storage, the EKO will go into idle if there isn't enough demand to absorb the boiler's output.

I ran this way for my first year. I set the basement zone to a really high temperature and closed most of the basement baseboard shutters so that there would always be at least one open zone that would absorb some heat. I didn't want a situation where the boiler is cranking at full output and suddenly there's no demand at all.

I built and reloaded my fires to try and roughly match the overall heat load.

 

[JWF]

What is in your system besides the EKO and the four zones?

I'm not intimately familiar with the controller on the newer EKO, but usually each thermostat simply controls its related zone valve. The EKO controls its circulator. If you have no storage, the EKO will go into idle if there isn't enough demand to absorb the boiler's output.

I ran this way for my first year. I set the basement zone to a really high temperature and closed most of the basement baseboard shutters so that there would always be at least one open zone that would absorb some heat. I didn't want a situation where the boiler is cranking at full output and suddenly there's no demand at all.

I built and reloaded my fires to try and roughly match the overall heat load.

That is what I was going to do, add about 7000 btu of baseboard in the basement for a open loop and have the rest of the house stay as is. Do you think that is enough or would it need more baseboard?

 

[Nofossil]

If you have no storage, then you probably want the EKO to go into idle when the house is up to temperature. It will idle when the outlet temperature exceeds the setpoint (180 degrees on mine). I used the basement zone to make a less abrupt transition to idling when the main zones were satisfied. If the basement zone has too much capacity, you'll end up with the boiler not idling and a really hot basement. I'd think that 7,000 BTU would be enough load to ease the transition to idling. Some tuning and experience is involved ;-)

 

[JWF]

If you have no storage, then you probably want the EKO to go into idle when the house is up to temperature. It will idle when the outlet temperature exceeds the setpoint (180 degrees on mine). I used the basement zone to make a less abrupt transition to idling when the main zones were satisfied. If the basement zone has too much capacity, you'll end up with the boiler not idling and a really hot basement. I'd think that 7,000 BTU would be enough load to ease the transition to idling. Some tuning and experience is involved ;-)

Thanks for your advise, hooking the chimney up tomorrow, filling the boiler and then it's a waiting game for some cooler weather.

 

[rkusek]

the newer controller will allow you slow the fan speed down to 50% too which will greatly reduce the output too