Heating controls

Pmarmalade · 29 October 2019 at 12:20AM

Current set-up:

- Vaillant ecoTech pro 28 R2 combi boiler
- Danfoss programmable timer (wired)
- No thermostat
- Boiler is in the kitchen, with no radiator, so it's always cold regardless

Is it possible to have a wireless heating control/thermostat in a warmer room but still also have an advance/+1 hr button at the boiler itself?

Ideally, I'd like others in the house be able to 'advance' the heating but not mess with the thermostat or timer.

matelodave · 29 October 2019 at 9:00AM

A programmable wireless thermostat located in another room would allow you to have up to six different temperatures a different times of the day and on different days of the week. Some have a +1 hour button and most if not all will allow you to tweak the temperature and will then return to the their programmed setting at the next switching cycle.

The costs range from around £35 up to well over £100 so it's worth checking out the functionality that you want. The reciver unit ist connected to the boiler and then the thermostat can be anywhere else in the house

They are easy to fit if you've got a little electrical knowledge but shouldn't cost all that much to get an electrician to do it.

It would be useful to know what your programmable timer does (what model is it) because if the boiler is a combi (ie you have no hot water tank and the boiler supplies your hot water taps directly) you should be able to replace the timer with a programmable stat. In fact why was a programmable stat not fitted in the first place.

Pmarmalade · 4 November 2019 at 3:46PM

Thanks for the reply. It's a combi boiler, yes.

You'd have to ask the previous owners about why they didn't fit a thermostat

I'm specifically looking for the ability to have a wireless heating control/thermostat but still also have an advance/+1 hr button at the boiler itself.

jefaz07 · 4 November 2019 at 4:13PM

I don’t think you can, the clock you have now will go to the switch terminals which turn the boiler on and off.
A wireless stat would need to use them unless you had a built in stat.
Can I ask why you need that feature at the boiler?

Talldave · 4 November 2019 at 4:26PM

A +1 hr button has no meaning when you have a programmable thermostat, since you've moved from time control to temperature/time control. If the thermostat is satisfied, what are you expecting the +1hr button to do? [When you install the wireless thermostat, you leave the programmer for heating set to On 24/7].

That said, you can almost achieve what you want to do using a Heatmiser Neostat with a remote wireless sensor. You locate the Neostat next to the boiler and set it to use just the remote sensor. You can then manually override the programme on the Neostat. The downside is that to do that you need a Neohub to get the Neostat linked to the remote sensor, so the project will cost you nearly £200 to implement. It would give you control from your smartphone as well though - removing the need to ever go near the boiler/thermostat!

Pmarmalade · 9 November 2019 at 7:25PM

Thanks for the replies

I have a lodger who works unpredictable hours during the day. I'd like to be able to set a programme for him coming home, but obviously that's impossible.

I'd like to allow him to press the +1hr button whenever he gets in, without cancelling the programs I've set or turning the thermostat up to 30 etc.

The house has wall cavity insulation, double glazing, thick loft insulation and I'm in a mid-terrace - so I've no idea how it loses heat so quickly, but the downstairs absolutely does!

I've looked into Nest, Hive and Tado, but this is the first time I've come across Heatmiser Neostat so I'll have a look - thanks!

Talldave · 9 November 2019 at 7:42PM

Most of the smart systems allow Geo linking to phones. That might be your solution, where the heating kicks in when one or more of the registered phones returns home and overrides the current "off" state.

matelodave · 9 November 2019 at 7:48PM

My Danfoss programmable stats have a +1 hour button.

I can also tweak the temperature if I want to and the programme will revert to it's normal cycle at the next programmed period, which avoids it being forgotten. Even if it does get whacked up to 30 it will only be until the the next cycle time (its an ongoing problem I have with my wife which I'll never ever solve, but it avoids the heating running all night or for several days)

They've also got a holiday function which allows us to shut it down for a few days (or even weeks - 99 days is the maximum) and then turn back on before we come home home, so we've got a nice comfy house. The only thing they don't do is switch from GMT to BST so that has to be done manually.

You really need to decide what functionality you want and then find a device that provides it, rather than lashing out lotsamoney on a Hive/Nest and finding out that it doesn't actually do what you want.

Pmarmalade · 9 November 2019 at 8:26PM

matelodave wrote: »

My Danfoss programmable stats have a +1 hour button.

I can also tweak the temperature if I want to and the programme will revert to it's normal cycle at the next programmed period, which avoids it being forgotten. Even if it does get whacked up to 30 it will only be until the the next cycle time (its an ongoing problem I have with my wife which I'll never ever solve, but it avoids the heating running all night or for several days)

They've also got a holiday function which allows us to shut it down for a few days (or even weeks - 99 days is the maximum) and then turn back on before we come home home, so we've got a nice comfy house. The only thing they don't do is switch from GMT to BST so that has to be done manually.

You really need to decide what functionality you want and then find a device that provides it, rather than lashing out lotsamoney on a Hive/Nest and finding out that it doesn't actually do what you want.

Thanks; that Danfoss sounds about as close as I've come so far, actually. What model is it?

I feel I do know exactly what I want, but trying to find the specifics of the lock modes for each device is proving difficult, so I thought I'd ask owners. The Nest, for example, has a PIN lock but no manual boost button, so it's out.

My ideal feature set is exactly this:

- Thermostat needs to be wireless so it's in the living room (or another heated room) and not next to the boiler in its cold location. Obviously most systems have a wireless stat.

- Allows lodger to do a +1hr 'boost' without giving them full access to override all the other settings. I don't think this solution/set-up exists, however?

That really is all I need. Having read around I thought the only way I was going to achieve this was by keeping the control in my bedroom and allowing the lodger a way to 'boost' it if they needed it outside of the scheduled time.

Pmarmalade · 9 November 2019 at 8:34PM

Talldave wrote: »

Most of the smart systems allow Geo linking to phones. That might be your solution, where the heating kicks in when one or more of the registered phones returns home and overrides the current "off" state.

I realise this and it's a very desirable solution, but I don't think there's a system where the app won't also give the lodger full access to override absolutely anything and everything? I've come to learn that many people will never understand that turning the thermostat up to max doesn't actually heat the house up any quicker, and refuse to believe otherwise... then the windows get opened when it inevitably gets too hot :rotfl:

matelodave · 9 November 2019 at 8:54PM

My Danfoss (eight of them, one for each room) are around ten years old, model number TP7000 RF.

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