Can I wire multiple thermostats to one circulator?

Can I wire multiple thermostats to one circulator?

PostBy: John On: Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:09 am

I have a continuously running circulator between my coal boiler and my oil boiler (they are running in series). I would like to only turn on this circulator when a call for heat is made by one of my house zones. Is it possible to wire my system so that both the zone initiating the call, as well as the circulator between the coal and oil boiler will turn on at the same time?
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Re: Can I wire multiple thermostats to one circulator?

PostBy: stoker-man On: Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:21 am

I don't see how this would be any different than the setup on a regular oil boiler with zone valves installed. The circ is remote and can be electrically connected with a relay using either high or low voltage wiring.
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Re: Can I wire multiple thermostats to one circulator?

PostBy: Bob On: Thu Jun 18, 2009 1:15 pm

I know it is possible--my system is wired that way. A Honeywell R845A is designed for two separate loads and is what is used in my system.
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Re: Can I wire multiple thermostats to one circulator?

PostBy: Yanche On: Thu Jun 18, 2009 4:55 pm

If you have multiple zones each with their own thermostat and circulator you can use a Honeywell R845A on each pump including the common pump. The common pump in your case would be the circulator between your two boilers. Look at the attached R845A schematic. Note the two sets of load contacts (contacts 3,4 & contacts 5,6). Each circulator would have one of these controllers. The power to the circulator would be switched by contacts 3,4. The second set of contacts (5,6) on every R845A except the one controlling the common circulator would be wired in parallel. This parallel circuit would be wired to the thermostat terminals (T,T) of the common circulator R845A.

The operation would be as follows. When any of the thermostats demand heat, it's R845A controller contacts close, the circulator is powered and the second contacts also close. This second circuit then powers the thermostat input the of the common R845A controller. The paralleling of all the "second" contacts creates a logical OR circuit and the common pump run whenever one or more of the thermostats call for heat.
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Re: Can I wire multiple thermostats to one circulator?

PostBy: John On: Fri Jun 19, 2009 8:14 am

Thank you all for your responses. Currently, I have a Taco SR 504 controlling the zones in my house, is there any way to use this control in order to achieve the same functionality as the R845A? Currently, zone 4 is available.
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Re: Can I wire multiple thermostats to one circulator?

PostBy: John On: Fri Jun 19, 2009 9:59 am

O.K., I just read on the Taco website that "leaving the jumper in between ZC ZR, you can put the hot leg of the pump on the ZR terminal (tie neutral into neutral coming into the board). ZR (with jumper in) has a 120v output when any zone calls for heat." I think this is what I want. My thought is to disconnect the wiring for the (always running) circulator pump from C1/C2 on the aquastat currently located on the coal boiler, and move it to the ZR terminal on the Taco SR504, with the hot tied onto the ZR terminal and the neutral tied to the neutral terminal for Zone 1 to complete the circuit. It seems rather straightforward (even for a beginner like me). Am I missing anything?
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Re: Can I wire multiple thermostats to one circulator?

PostBy: Yanche On: Fri Jun 19, 2009 12:47 pm

That should work. Before you rewire just put a light bulb load from neutral to the ZR terminal and see if it works as you desire.
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Re: Can I wire multiple thermostats to one circulator?

PostBy: John On: Tue Jun 23, 2009 8:05 pm

As I learn more and rethink my setup I think that a minor modification might do the trick. Can I run a thermostat wire from the oil boiler's aquastat to the coal boiler's aquastat? My thought is that any calls for heat are sent back to the coal boiler, thus actuating the circulator (that circulates between the two boiles) only when a call for heat is being made? What would be nice about this type of setup is that I can simply turn off the coal boiler and shut down to valves when I need to run the oil boiler as all the pertinent controls are isolated to the the appropriate boiler.
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