I have a 1600sq ft radiant floor, being driven by an Steibel Electron Hydro Shark 2 Electric Boiler system. It's 1 zone and I'm using the recommended Honeywell TH-135 Thermostat mounted about belly-button level. My question is the best way to setup the temp of the boiler and the thermostat for the winter. My location is in Charlton, MA.
Last month I set the boiler at 118° and the TSTAT at 68° for the entire month. I believe my bill just for that floor, was $375!!! The TSTAT was set to cycle every 20 minutes. So the boiler kicked on every 20 minutes.
The house also has a 2nd level, approx 1000 sq ft, with no heating. Right now the radiant does a good job and the upstairs temp is only 4-5 degrees cooler. I also have a Venmar Eko 1.5 HRV installed, but didn't have it running last month. The house has an ICF Foundation, Spray foam insulation R-45 ceiling and R-20 2nd level wall cavities, with 1" Foam board on exterior of home.
I was told my current setup wasn't very efficient and I was never expecting this high of a bill just for the heat. I was told I should invest in some Tekmar control system and a floor and outdoor sensor. With this setup it be more efficient and automatically adjust the boiler temp as needed, based on the outdoor temp? I don't quite get how it all works but that's what I was told.
This month I'm setting the boiler at 110°, and I'm still able to get 68° on the TSTAT. But I changed the TSTAT mode to 'conventional' I think its called, where it turns on automatically? What seems to happen here is if it gets to 67° the boiler kicks on, bringing the temp to almost 69°, then the boiler shuts off and repeats. The boiler doesn't kick on as much now, but it runs longer when its on.
Does anyone have any advice on why its so expensive at this point or how to make it more efficient? Note here too there is no furniture or anything in the home yet and on 1 side of the home there are 40ft worth of glass sliding doors. The house is Passive Solar design.
Thanks,
Ryan
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