Hub Controller options

Banjo Carney

No it continued to do it. Obviously it hasn't been in use now for the last while so it's been a case of out of sight out of mind. It was a real pain last winter when I wasn't at home so I may look at an alternative or just go back to the ordinary one.

deezell

You can see on the tado if its calling for heat. The three wavy bars will be lit, 1 to 3 depending on the level of on/off modulation. If the 'Inside now' temperature exceeds the programmed temperature these will be off. If the boiler is continuing to fire though the stat is off, then there is some reason Switched Live is being sent to the boiler. If the Tado relay or the extension kit CH relay are still closed, though the wavy lines/led on the ext. Kit show off, then either the Tado contacts are fused together, some other contacts down the line say in a zone valve, or else there is some other old stat or timer that hasn't been disabled and is still influencing the boiler firing. On the image below the 'inside now' is well over set, because its a warm day, and the house heats beyond the CH setting, which is never exceeded at this time of year. In winter, the set is sometimes exceeded when the solid fuel stove is burning, this is unregulated and can heat the room beyond the CH setting. Again, the CH will remain inactive until actual room temperature cools below set. Also, check that you haven't an offset programmed into your settings. This is used where a poorly located stat doesn't accurately reflect room temperature (mounted on a cold outer wall or near an exterior vent).

PMC83

hey folks,

Just wondering if anyone could recommend a decent generic controller and someone that can install?

We've had Hub Control for the last 2 years and a bit of a disaster, terrible customer service and so on, left without heat for 2 weeks last year as they hadn't someone to come out and fix it.

I'm basically looking for a controller that isn't tied to a specific company and any electrician / boiler guy can service. After the Hub Control experience I really don't want to be at the mercy of one specific crowd company when it comes to fixes / maintenance.

Thanks

Wearb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122577438#Comment_122577438

Any wifi stat will be tied up to some external server.

You shouldn't have been without heat. Your regular service person should have been able to provide a temporary workaround.

I've installed mostly Hive (did a few sonoff and other generic wifi plugs) and have been mostly trouble free.

Just had 1 customer whose Hive "hub" gave up the ghost. That took me a callout and a half hour to work out the problem.

BTW I always tell my customers that once I install and get it working, any callback will be charged at regular rates. I've had too many that were expected to be done for free when it was either a wifi problem, someone messing with configuration or server problem Etc.. All outside of my control.

deezell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122577438#Comment_122577438

Understand that your heating system is generic right up to the two wires that are connected to the Climote thermostat switch or relay. That switch could literally be a wall light switch, turning the heat on or off manually. In many installs its a simple electro mechanical timer, or a mechanical bimetallic strip thermostat. When you move to the next level, electronic thermostats, or timers, or both combined in the one wall unit, with or without Internet access and an app, nothing from the two wires back to the boiler and pumps and radiators has anything to do with a specific thermostat vendor. With some WiFi enabled thermostats with generic apps selling for under €50 on amazon, there is no room for maintenance on these. if a problem happens in the thermostat to WiFi to Internet to app ecosystem, you just reconfigure or chuck it out. Even reputable brands such as Tado are sold for as little as €100 occasionally, and any handy person can connect the two wires to the wired wall stat (or the receiver if a wireless model) or to other wireless only model like Hive. Any problem past the switch/relay contacts in the stat or receiver is an IT issue, and calling out a heating engineer is probably going to cost more that the entire kit cost. If you have to pay a tradesman to do what is essentially home automation gadget configuration, the time cost will far exceed the materials cost. You can buy a Tado wired starter kit and have it running and closing it's relay, showing up on the app, programmed with schedules set, all without connecting a single mains electrical cable, other than plugging in the internet bridge power supply. The stat will run on its batteries, and you can watch and hear it click on and off as its timer or thermostat calls for heat. After this is proven to work, it's only a short job for a competent trade or diy person to connect the stat in place of your existing Climote or other wired device. You wouldn't bring your smartwatch to a watchmaker if it had issues in its ecosystem connectivity, similarly for smart thermostat devices, the mains electrical switch in them is rarely the problem when you have operating issues.

justbmad

Hi, hope some one can help. I have a Horstmann Channel Plus XL 21 with 2 channel programmer. We installed a Hub Controller when they came out because of an offer they had which is now ended. We still have the Hub Controller for turning on heating & the Horstmann is used for the hot water. We want to change back to having one unit to control both heating & hot water as the Hub Controller gives issues time to time. Is it easy to revert to the original setup? the guy from Hub Controller disconnected the heating from the Horstmann unit when installing the Hub Controller but I presume it can be reconnected somehow. We were also thinking of replacing the Horstmann Channel Plus XL 21 with a newer unit EPH 2 Channel R27-HW.

Wearb

Should be easy enough to reinstate it.

deezell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122578994#Comment_122578994

Two wires, one for the CH that was moved to the Hub, one for the HW that is still in the Hortsmann. An easy competent diy to restore CH to the Hortsmann, but if you're going to pay a sparks to do this, then have a new smart controller/ reciver at the ready. The Tado wireless starter Kit is ideal, or the Hive Thermostat with HW timing. Both have a receiver that wires in place of your current Hub/Horstmann, giving you full control of CH time/temperature schedules ad HW timing, plus a number of smart features and home automation integration with Google, Alexa etc. The wireless wall thermostat can be placed optimally to measure home temperature, living room, hall or other general reception area. As per my previous post for the wired Tado CH Thermostat kit, you can bench test and Internet configure theseCH/HW kits by powering up their receiver with a temporary mains lead, the thermostat is battery powered, the Internet interface or bridge is a simple plug in. All pairing and configuration can be done, the App tested and the reciver operation status indicators and relays observed working before the HW/CH wires are transferred and the receiver fixed to the wall. It's a stress free method, your existing system is still in control, until you are assured that all the niggly wireless and Internet connectivity has been enabled, and you can call in the sparks for the last bit of installation.