Smart Thermostat

Bendy_House

One step at a time!

At the moment, AAZ isn't sure the reason some rads don't heat up isn't simply because the TRVs haven't been opened enough.

Bendy_House

AAZ, that boiler is getting on a bit, tho' should be ok for a while yet as it's an unstressed 'system' boiler - so you have a hot water cylinder as well? Can you confirm, please?

You have shown us two wall 'stats. These control temps. Where are the TIMERS? How do you turn the hot water on?

ChasingtheWelshdream

I have recently installed Hive mini as I am on a budget and it saved a little bit. It kept losing connection so Tech Support remoted in and told me the thermostat was too far from the receiver and hub (it was halfway between the two and isn’t a huge distance anyway). I was disappointed to have to pay an extra £30 for a signal booster, and even now it loses connection occasionally.

It works OK mostly, but hasn’t been quite as good as I had hoped. I had wanted to put smart TRVs in some rooms but I am unsure if I can trust everything to stay connected all of the time.

powerful_Rogue

Another vote for Drayton Wiser. Had mine installed since 2017 and can't fault them. Did a lot of research at the time and DW seemed the best.

Usually get some great Black Friday deals on their kit via Amazon as well.

AAZ

ChasingtheWelshdream said:

I have recently installed Hive mini as I am on a budget and it saved a little bit. It kept losing connection so Tech Support remoted in and told me the thermostat was too far from the receiver and hub (it was halfway between the two and isn’t a huge distance anyway). I was disappointed to have to pay an extra £30 for a signal booster, and even now it loses connection occasionally.

It works OK mostly, but hasn’t been quite as good as I had hoped. I had wanted to put smart TRVs in some rooms but I am unsure if I can trust everything to stay connected all of the time.

Thanks for the feedback , well that's not so good of hive then

AAZ

Bendy_House said:

AAZ, that boiler is getting on a bit, tho' should be ok for a while yet as it's an unstressed 'system' boiler - so you have a hot water cylinder as well? Can you confirm, please?

You have shown us two wall 'stats. These control temps. Where are the TIMERS? How do you turn the hot water on?

Many thanks for help, really appreciate it
I have a hot water cylinder this is on the first floor.
Two thermostat , Honeywell is on ground floor in the corridor and Siemen is upstair again in corridor.
Timer is near boiler in utility

AAZ

BUFF said:

AAZ said:

Bendy_House said:

Ok, basics 1...

When you turn your boiler on, usually via a timer/programmer, it heats up water to a temp determined by a temp control on the boiler front. So, identify this control, and see what it is set at.

For the best boiler efficiency, you want this temp control to be as low as possible that still works in effectively heating your home. It should make sense that, in winter, this water temp will need to be higher, and it can be lowered as it becomes mild again. Most folk don't bother, and will have their boiler running too hot - an efficiency waste. Anyhoo, that's largely bytheby at the moment - just understand that your boiler just heats water, and at a temp determined by a control on the front.

So, timer/programmer goes click at the set time, and the boiler comes on. The hot water gets to the rads and heats them up. The rooms warm up too.

In MOST rooms, the rads should have TRVs, which are large-headed control knobs with a scale from 1 (or 'frost' = * ) to 5. These numbers correspond roughly to actual room temps, with 1 being around 10oC (I think), 2 being ~16o, 3 is 20o, 4 is 23-ish, that sort of figure. So, in a bedroom, which you might want at, say, 18o, you'd set the TRV at just under 3, and the rad 'should' come on (IF the room temp is less than ~18o) and heat up. As the room temp reaches the TRV setting, it should shut off the flow to the rad, maintaining that temp - Ie, it'll come back on, and off, as required.

So, what's on your rads, and do they do this? 

There is TRV in each room and sometime the radiator does not switch on even though I have increased temp on my thermostat , may be it is to do with TRV sensing the room is already at that temp.

I was planning to instal a smart thermostat so it is easier to control temp and switch it on and off more easily through app
I was only looking at Hive and Nest but I should also look at Drayton wiser

I would also look at Tado. With Black Friday coming up there should be some good deals across "smart" thermostats.
& of course Vaillant have their own.

Btw that Siemens RDH10RF & RCR10/433 set up is a Class IV thermostat. I haven't a clue about the Honeywell but having 2 wireless receivers+thermostats from different  companies seems an unusual set up to me.
Do you have a zone valve?

I have purchased this property in March so although 6 months in still discovering , I don't know if I have zone valve

AAZ

Bendy_House said:

One step at a time!

At the moment, AAZ isn't sure the reason some rads don't heat up isn't simply because the TRVs haven't been opened enough.

TRV has been opened , but either they are faulty, but I will bleed them first and if not may be get a heating expert to have a look on the system

Bendy_House

AAZ said:

BUFF said:

I would also look at Tado. With Black Friday coming up there should be some good deals across "smart" thermostats.
& of course Vaillant have their own.

Btw that Siemens RDH10RF & RCR10/433 set up is a Class IV thermostat. I haven't a clue about the Honeywell but having 2 wireless receivers+thermostats from different  companies seems an unusual set up to me.
Do you have a zone valve?

I have purchased this property in March so although 6 months in still discovering , I don't know if I have zone valve

AAZ, sorry, pal - you have three zone valves (ie 2-port motorised valves).

Well, two of them are for the two heating zones, and the third is for heating up your hot cylinder. If you look in the cupboard where your hot cylinder is, you will identify three nearly-identical objects. No, not the spiders, but the three silvery rectangular objects on your pipes.

These are electric valves. Two are controlled by their wall stats, and the third by the DHW timer.

If/when you fit your Smart Stats, they will take over the control of everything, the TIMES and the TEMPS.

(A note on the Hive Mini, first - I have one of these on one heating zone, and the Hive 'Maxi' (not really called that) on another. They work faultlessly. I love them - they just make heating control soooo easy. When we snuggle down to watch t'telly of an evening, and pull the nearby blanket two warm dawgs a bit closer, I just reach for my phone and knock a degree off the set temp, and the heat level is usually perfectly fine for the rest of the evening. It UNDOUBTEDLY saves us energy. Next morn, the heating is on to greet out get-ups. The issue one person has had on here re. WiFi connection, will almost certainly apply equally to all such systems; I doubt very much, but don't know for certain, that Hive has a poorer signal than others. Having praised Hive, they are quite 'basic' in their control of the boiler - ie, pretty much and on and an off (a bit better than that, but hey). Perfect for my ageing GlowWorm, but you should future-proof your new choice.)

So, I would keep researching, with the aid of forii like this one, and ultimately choose a system that is becoming the new standard for boiler control. Things like 'Opentherm' and what's the other one mentioned on here? Ie, when you DO make the change, it'll be happy telling your current boiler to go onski and offski, but will be capable of telling your replacement boiler to 'tone it down a bit, pal. Good, that's fine. Now up a wee bit. Nice job. Hang on - it's getting colder outside - tweak me up, pal...' That sort of thing.

Bendy_House

AAZ said:

Bendy_House said:

One step at a time!

At the moment, AAZ isn't sure the reason some rads don't heat up isn't simply because the TRVs haven't been opened enough.

TRV has been opened , but either they are faulty, but I will bleed them first and if not may be get a heating expert to have a look on the system

A TRV doesn't do anything other than act as a control 'tap' for that radiator. Ie, it monitors the ROOM temp, and it opens and closes the valve to the radiator to try and make it get to the temp set on the TRV dial. But, if the boiler isn't running - if the WALL stat is 'off' - then the TRV can 'try' as much as it wants, but the rad won't heat up 'cos there's no hot water from the boiler.

So, to TEST a TRV, the wall stat controlling the boiler for that zone - upstairs or downstairs - first needs to be 'calling for heat'. Ie, it needs to be turned UP until it 'clicks', and the zone valve opens and the boiler clicks on.

So, if the rad you are testing is upstairs, you first turn UP the wall stat until you know the boiler has come on. Then you check the setting on the TRV, and compare that with that room's temp. If the TRV is at '3' and the room is 'warm', then good chance it isn't going to open, so the rad won't come on. So, turn it up to 'max'. Does the rad NOW heat up?