Boiler timeswitch & thermostat confusion

dellboy102

Hi All


I have a Vaillent EcoTEC pro 24 combi boiler which is probably around 7 years old, the mechanical 24 hour timeswitch on it seems to have packed up, the clock still works however when set to the "clock" setting the heating stays on constantly, I think just replacing that control should resolve.



I was looking at options to replace and have confirmed https://www.vaillant.co.uk/homeowners/products/vaillant-timeswitch-160-control-2176.html should just be a straight swapout on the boiler fascia.


My question was around Thermostats, the house has no thermostat (heating is controlled manually so its normally on a hour in the morning and 2 hours in the evening), if I wanted to get a wireless thermostat in future does it need a specific controller on the boiler?


The timeswitch 160 controller states "timeSWITCH 160 needs to be bought with a Vaillant VRT 15 room thermostat from elsewhere in your home", not sure if that means I must have a VRT 15 thermostat and nothing else will work.. dont want to limit my options if that is the case.

stator

From their wording it sounds like it won't work without the thermostat


Do you have TRVs on most radiators?

dellboy102

stator wrote: »

From their wording it sounds like it won't work without the thermostat

I'm ok with getting a wireless thermostat from another brand (cant see a Vaillant one) but like you said, if it needs this specific Vaillant one that may not work, wasnt sure if all thermostats have standard outputs which plugs into any boiler so it doesnt matter..



Currently I have no TRV's installed, all radiators are set to max which seems to work fine most of the time as the heating use is fairly controlled, its only used when needed and not left on.

stator

There are a couple of types of wired thermostat and you can generally use thermostats with control systems of a different make. Old style ones switch the mains voltage on or off, newer style ones switch a low voltage signal (which makes it easier to have the thermostat in a convenient location)


Most thermostats installed these days are wireless though.



But I don't know about this specific controller.

dellboy102

Thanks all, i'll try calling Vaillant to confirm as a sanity check.

southcoastrgi

Get a wireless programmable stat or somethink like hive/nest & just leave you existing clock on, you will save the cost of replacing the clock & have far more control thus saving energy

dellboy102

southcoastrgi wrote: »

Get a wireless programmable stat or somethink like hive/nest & just leave you existing clock on, you will save the cost of replacing the clock & have far more control thus saving energy

Yep totally agree and I've come to the same conclusion, only planning to be in this house 2-3 years so not too sure if I'll go for the full hive/nest setup (cant see any offers out at the mo), anyone recommend any decent value wireless stats which also allow scheduling? control via smartphone would be a bonus..

southcoastrgi

City Plumbing do a boss RF prog stat that's cheap enough but it's not app based

dellboy102

Thanks, I'm leaning towards the Salus RT510RF, seems to have decent reviews and they also do a panel which will plug in directly to my Vaillant.