Smart thermostat

macman

Even the most intelligent of smart thermostats can't change the laws of thermodynamics: the longer the system is running and calling for heat, the more it will cost. All these devices do is make more sophisticated decisions about when to call for heat and when not to.
These threads invariably go off topic and turn into a discussion about the convenience of internet/smartphone-controlled thermostats. Convenient they may well be, but that has nothing to do with reducing fuel consumption.

ispookie666

macman wrote: »

Even the most intelligent of smart thermostats can't change the laws of thermodynamics: the longer the system is running and calling for heat, the more it will cost. All these devices do is make more sophisticated decisions about when to call for heat and when not to.
These threads invariably go off topic and turn into a discussion about the convenience of internet/smartphone-controlled thermostats. Convenient they may well be, but that has nothing to do with reducing fuel consumption.

Spot on - it's all about convenience and avoiding temperature overshoot which my old thermostat was very good at!

Sterlingtimes

The beauty of Drayton's MiGenie is that it took me five minutes to install by removing the existing boiler control (standard socket) and replacing it by the MiGenie. The remaining components (wireless thermostat and internet hub) along with the mobile phone application took thirty took minutes to set up.

The system provides a good granularity over timer (hot water and central heating) and temperature settings (central heating only). It does not provide smart features such as in and out of home detection and weather detection. For a home that is occupied most of the day this is a good solution.

reeac

Sterlingtimes wrote: »

The beauty of Drayton's MiGenie is that it took me five minutes to install by removing the existing boiler control (standard socket) and replacing it by the MiGenie. The remaining components (wireless thermostat and internet hub) along with the mobile phone application took thirty took minutes to set up.

The system provides a good granularity over timer (hot water and central heating) and temperature settings (central heating only). It does not provide smart features such as in and out of home detection and weather detection. For a home that is occupied most of the day this is a good solution.

"Granularity" is a new one for me but I assume that it refers to the ability to programme in lots of detailed heating programmes. This is great if you're in the open air being kept warm by an infra red heater but in a domestic dwelling with sensible levels of insulation the thermal inertia of that dwelling will blur that granularity. I've heard about thermostat overshoot but never seen it myself to any noticeable degrees. My 18 year old Honeywell room stat has an on/off range of just over 1 degree C which suits me fine. Sorry to be a Luddite.

ispookie666

reeac wrote: »

"Granularity" is a new one for me but I assume that it refers to the ability to programme in lots of detailed heating programmes. This is great if you're in the open air being kept warm by an infra red heater but in a domestic dwelling with sensible levels of insulation the thermal inertia of that dwelling will blur that granularity. I've heard about thermostat overshoot but never seen it myself to any noticeable degrees. My 18 year old Honeywell room stat has an on/off range of just over 1 degree C which suits me fine. Sorry to be a Luddite.

The overshoot is generally due to latent heat in the heating system - once the boiler cuts out the heat in the radiators continue to warm the house. My old thermostat used to constantly get my house + 1 C more than set. I tried tweaking the thermostat and it would not be triggered -leaving us cold. Tried changing the boiler temp which helped - but our living room was always cold.
At least with the current one PID and it being smart and me not having to do anything The temperature stays within 0.2C barring when we fire the oven up