Frustrated to no end...Basement and Hydronic Floor Heat

[John Grant]

Larry, I did find a pump in that compartment. But, it only runs when Zone 1 is set to Gas and the thermostat is calling for heat. I have not been able to find any other circulation pumps yet.

[Thor 37GT]

Just thought I would throw this out there. Not all aspires have in floor heat.

[John Grant]

Originally Posted by Thor 37GT

Just thought I would throw this out there. Not all aspires have in floor heat.

This is true, original owner I spoke with says yes and it worked awesome. That thought had crossed my mind [emoji23]

[Thor 37GT]

Do you have a white thermostat on the wall behind the toilet?

[John Grant]

Originally Posted by Thor 37GT

Do you have a white thermostat on the wall behind the toilet?

No it’s this thermostat, there was a white thermostat in the basement though.




This is the thermostat that was in the basement. I replaced it with an entry level digital Honeywell Thermostat.

[Thor 37GT]

I have a thermostat like what is in your basement on the wall behind my toilet that controls the floor heat and my thermostat in the cabinet is different than yours so I don’t think I will be much help to you. Sorry

[Mwoodofd]

Sounds like that circulation pump may be connected to the wrong zone. If it comes on when zone one is turned, that would be my next place to try. Not sure if it is something connected to the back of the thermostat that could be easily switched to try.

The floor is not getting enough circulation if it is connected to zone 1 - would only run when zone 1 heat registers are running. When I turn on zone 2 gas, and the thermostat is calling for heat, I can hear that pump turn on, and it will run until the coach reaches the temp set. I believe sure the rest of the pumps on on the AH unit.

[jherrin99]

Here is some information that I copied from this forum about how the aquahot zones work that might shed light on your problem. I apologize but I forgot who posted it, but it is good info and has helped me alot.


Another thing to keep in mind is that Zone 2 and Zone 1 use the exact same plumbing loop. Zone 2 is really just sort of a "virtual" zone. The only difference between Zone 1 and 2 is that Zone 1 turns on the fans in the 3 heat exchangers. Actually, I think this is very clever.

Point is when you run Zone 1 you are also heating your floors to a certain extent because the hot water is flowing thru all the same pipe as "virtual" Zone 2.

When Zone 1 is on, the fans in the 3 heat exchangers are on and of course extract more of that heat into the air inside the coach and let less of it go to heating the floor. When Zone 2 is on the hot water runs thru the same pipe and all three heat exchangers but the fans in the three heat exchangers remain off and more of the heat goes into the floor.

I know this because we had a kink in the PEX pipe inside our floor which was not accessible to repair without surgery. During the troubleshooting process and working with Joyce and team I got very familiar with the pipe and zone layout. Entegra of course stepped up and made it right after a trip back to Middlebury - fortunately no tiles needed to be ripped out.

Also FYI, remember the Aquahot (all models as far as I know) have only two circulator pumps. So where do the four zones come from? One of those pumps is for Zone 1 & 2 (salon) and the other is for the Zone 3 (bedroom) and basement.

Same "virtual zone" deal with the Zone 3/basement - when heat is called for on Zone 3 (bedroom) hot water flows thru the bedroom and basement heat exchangers but only the fans on the two bed/bath heat exchangers turn on. If the basement thermostat is on and calls for heat, hot water still flows thru the same bedroom and basement heat exchangers but only the fan on the basement heat exchanger turns on.

You would know right away if you have a kink - for example if you set Zone 1 to come on, you should feel heat at all three heat exchangers (mid coach, under kitchen sink, under dash) after several minutes (gas/diesel burner should be on). If you do have a kink, Zone 2 won't work either.

[smlranger]

Originally Posted by John Grant

No it’s this thermostat, there was a white thermostat in the basement though.

Attachment 185282


This is the thermostat that was in the basement. I replaced it with an entry level digital Honeywell Thermostat.
Attachment 185283

That looks like a millivolt t stat. Not sure a digital t stat that usually needs a DC voltage to work can replace a millivolt. Just something to consider.

[Armye7]

I was just thinking the same thing. Jherrin99 post makes sense to me. When mine zone 1 runs a lot my floor temps drop. Soon as zone 1 shuts down my floor reheats.

[hawgguy]

Originally Posted by smlranger

That looks like a millivolt t stat. Not sure a digital t stat that usually needs a DC voltage to work can replace a millivolt. Just something to consider.

This one works with a triple A that lasts a year or so.
Much nicer and the switch doesn't stick like the stock Tstat

[John Grant]

Folks, you’ve all been so helpful and also you have educated me a lot. I’m understanding this setup much more now than I was prior to this.
So this is what I have come up with and where I’m at.

All interior registers blow hot air when Thermostat is set to gas.

Located a circulation pump in the rear compartment behind the rear axles. This pump only runs when I set my thermostat to zone 1 heat. No other combination of settings will turn on that rear circulation pump.

Basement heat stopped working a month ago, replaced thermostat and still no basement heat.

I’ve checked every single fuse and breaker I can located throughout the entire coach. All are good.

All temps on interior thermostat are set accordingly to Entegra CS recommendations.

I am told I indeed do have hydronic floor heating and that it has worked fantastic in the past.

Zone 2 Heat should call for warm floors, it does not.

I’ve had a certified aquahot tech onsite and quite frankly, jr didn’t know how everything was supposed to work, only that the aquahot was in good working order.

Any thoughts on next steps good people?

[pasdad1]

Originally Posted by John Grant

Folks, you’ve all been so helpful and also you have educated me a lot. I’m understanding this setup much more now than I was prior to this.
So this is what I have come up with and where I’m at.

All interior registers blow hot air when Thermostat is set to gas.

Located a circulation pump in the rear compartment behind the rear axles. This pump only runs when I set my thermostat to zone 1 heat. No other combination of settings will turn on that rear circulation pump.

Basement heat stopped working a month ago, replaced thermostat and still no basement heat.

I’ve checked every single fuse and breaker I can located throughout the entire coach. All are good.

All temps on interior thermostat are set accordingly to Entegra CS recommendations.

I am told I indeed do have hydronic floor heating and that it has worked fantastic in the past.

Zone 2 Heat should call for warm floors, it does not.

I’ve had a certified aquahot tech onsite and quite frankly, jr didn’t know how everything was supposed to work, only that the aquahot was in good working order.

Any thoughts on next steps good people?

Maybe call Entegra and truly verify that your coach was built with floor heat.....not just take the word of previous owner.....

[John Grant]

Originally Posted by pasdad1

Maybe call Entegra and truly verify that your coach was built with floor heat.....not just take the word of previous owner.....

Entegra CS says it has floor heat