The Doozer Family Self Build

theonlywayisup

Doozer, can I ask if you have asked yourself if you really need to be that automated? How unpredictable is your family in/out time?  How much energy will you really save and how much do you really want to think about it?
We have holiday cottages and they are a similar set up = UFH downstairs, rads upstairs.  We are here there and everywhere and yet manage on the 'old fashioned' electronic timers.  The downside is that I can't control what the holidaymakers do but then I would rather they were warm when they want to be and not when I decide. The house on the other hand, well, we aren't cold.   I love automation but too much just defeats the object, for me. 

Doozergirl

Everyone else is quite predictably out during the day, but I'm not.  I can be working from home, or not, and disappear off for entire weekends pretty regularly.  And I'm hopelessly disorganised, so I will leave timers running with the house being heated when I'm out, but sit like an idiot next to the draughty window with the house at 16 degrees, refusing to move from a blanket when I'm in.  

I want it warm when I'm home, and not when I'm out 😬

 

I think I will start with the dressing room radiator off altogether though.  

I think two smart thermostats is as far as I'm prepared to go.  Individual radiators seems silly.  It's not that big a house.  

greenbee

I have two Nest thermostats (and 4 smoke/CO alarms). The thermostats give me geofencing (although if I've been away for a week and forget to switch them to 'Heat' before I leave for the airport/when I land the house can take a while to warm up... I do wish they could link to a diary!). And upstairs is generally turned on after and off before the downstairs one. I have separate electric UFH in the bathrooms and kitchen which can't go on the Nest system unfortunately, but that's on even less, and works best when left on consistently (there is holiday mode, which I do occasionally remember to set). I don't bother with wireless rad stats as I've set all the rooms up relative to each other and don't particularly need them warm at different times of day as I tend to wander out of my office at regular intervals, so like the rest of the house not to be arctic!

Doozergirl

Thank you, greenbee.  I can associate with that.  Diary functions would be great.

Thinking about it, you're right about the UFH.  Upstairs and downstairs will have very different patterns as the UFH will need to be mainly on and consistent, whereas upstairs would be more on and off - and fairly predictable.  

This sort of thing blows my mind.  

greenbee

If the house is very well insulated, it may not be an issue as you'll probably find the temperature is fairly constant with minimal heat loss. Probably not worth investing in anything expensive until you've worked out how you need it to work. 

FreeBear

Probably a bit late in the day, but....

I have installed sensors in several places around the house all linked by Modbus cabling (four core screened data cable). These are all hooked up to a tiny little central computer that controls the boiler & pump. Have since added a couple more wireless sensors to keep track of temperature & humidity outside and in the wine cellar. The heating system isn't zoned, but it wouldn't take much (apart from the expense) to add "smart" TRVs. Any changes to the configuration would be trivial edits to a text file.

The control system is set up so that I can have different temperatures set throughout the day and week. So a low level at night, and ramping up during the day so that the place is nice and warm in the evening. Weekends get set to be a degree or two warmer in the mornings.

As an added bonus, the computer also controls the smart switches for the lights - One light in particular gets left on by Miss A. Just a couple of lines in the configuration file, and it will turn off with the kitchen light. Could just as easily add a time delay to automatically turn off (might save that one for another day).

I really, really wouldn't want to be reliant on external Hive/Nest/Tado servers to control my heating or any other smarts in the house. If the internet goes down (which it did for me last night), or the service provider pulls the plug, you end up with an expensive pile of useless tech. Much better if the system can operate as a stand alone setup without the need for an internet connection.

Total cost for the home automation currently stands at around £150 - Down side is it does require a bit of computer knowledge, so not an "off the shelf" solution for many.

Doozergirl

I'm envious!  I wouldn't know where to start!   

FreeBear

A Raspberry Pi, a tech savvy daughter, son, or partner and (my current choice), https://www.home-assistant.io/

Doozergirl

I did invest some time in this, and tried to hook my son in.  I did some googling and attempted to watch a 25 minute intro to home assistant. I fell asleep 🤦🏼‍♀️ As much as I want it to be 'me', it just wasn't happening.  

I've had nine years to think about it, which is why I've left it all to the last minute when I have no time! 

Hopefully the son helps me using the business marketing degree he's doing instead!! 

FreeBear

Doozergirl said: I've had nine years to think about it, which is why I've left it all to the last minute when I have no time!

My mum had been wanting a patio. Spent last week with a mini digger, and have got the area leveled and hardcore compacted. It has only taken 40 odd years to get to this point.