Home heating automation

That eph is just a battery powered wired thermostat.

Tadi will do as many zones as you want, it's just that you can only have on wireless CH wall stat, if you're adding the extension kit for wireless CH and HW timing. Additional CH zones are possible with wired wall stats.

Hi,

Interesting thread here, hope I’m not going off topic….

We had a hive system installed shortly after moving into our house 2 years ago and the installer told me mid install that he was going to have to install it in such a way that the upstairs zone would only work when downstairs was also on.

This defeats the purpose of having zones and is wasteful and expensive for us…

Might be hard without seeing the system but do you have any idea if I can get someone to set it up as two independent zones?

We had a new boiler installed in Jan and I asked the engineer but they didn’t want to get involved in the hive set up - although I’m not sure it’s actually a hive issue.

Aoife

Thanks Wildcard.

Tried to attach a pic (which may or may not work), and I see the unit you mean with a green light… And there is only one of them in the house.

So I guess what I need is an engineer to come and set up zones, which may or may not be a simple job from reading other similar threads.

Thanks for explaining that.

Be careful with Opentherm, depending on the boiler, some have problems modulating at low temps (below 40c) and when TRVs or other valves are closed, the return comes back too warm and can cause boiler to short cycle. This happened to me with Ideal Combi boiler, works okay with all valves open, modulates at 45c and boiler doesn't have to cycle but when it can't shed excess heat it causes a problem.

Yes it was a seemingly good deal to help SAVE energy, and correct that it replaced an existing 3 zone controller. Grrrrr….

Good to know it’s an electrician I need because I did ask the guy that installed the gas boiler in Jan and he really didn’t want to get involved in the Hive setup, I just got a blank look.

Thanks again.

Aoife

Are these codes generic? And not expired? Do share.

If you don't have temperature feedback from a thermostat, then you can't set up your zones to heat to a set temperature, even with Home Assistant. All you could do is turn the individual zones on and off for set periods of time, with the temperature reached in each zone unregulated, climbing and falling, too hot maybe, or too cool, entirely without feedback and control. You do not need the wiser system for that. A couple if cheap SonOff wireless switches will allow you to set on/off times via Home Assistant.

What you should do is get the Drayon Wiser (or Hive) system with two Smart wireless stats. These Smart stats can be optimally located, to replace the Silly stats you currently have, with meaningful temperature readings. The receivers for these stats will then replace the two channel Climote to control the two zones. You can use home assistant to set these stats' temperatures and adjust their schedules, or you could just use the stats' own apps to set them up, and use HA to monitor, and manually boost when needed.

Without stats, you have no feedback, and no temperature reading to report to Home Assistant. I don't think a stat's receiver, of any brand, can be actuated as a simple relay switch by HA if the associated stats are not paired. If it's relays only you want, a simple HA controlled WiFi twin wall light switch could replace the Climote for €20-40. This one in Power City at €37 would do the job.

https://powercity.ie/product/271788

I'm not aware that the wiser hub relay can integrate with any other brand of temperature sensors other than its own stats and TRVs, except perhaps via third party integration with Alexa, Homekit, IFTTT, Google etc. Zigbee coding enthusiasts no doubt will differ. As I said, if you only intend using the wiser hub as a relay or switch to provide the live mains signal to your boiler/valves to fire CH, then there are cheaper and simpler ways to do that.

If you want a system with TRVs, which can address the Drayton hub relay, then Drayton have their own integrated ones. It's fun and a challenge to blend devices from different manufacturers into a system, connecting them with the various home automation protocols on a logical and physical level, but you need to get at least a working system up and running, and Wiser in It's most basic form provides that in a proprietary package. Wire free stats to measure temperature. A receiver hub for these stats to connect to. A relay or relays to fire the boiler or open the zone valves, and a bridge from these to your router and the Internet. With Drayton, these three functions are contained in the one box, the hub or receiver. WiFi connection to your Internet router. Zigbee connection to Thermostats or TRVs . Wired connection to your boiler or zone valves. Have a view of this installation tutorial which is both instructive and very informative. https://youtu.be/yuxWDCRwIuc

While it is possible to use some of the Drayton parts alone, integrating them with other devices, sensors and relays, it's very much an enthusiasts domain, and often results in an unreliable system that only the perpetrator can operate. Get the Drayton kit 3 with 2 stats. Get some TRVs later. Once it's running as expected, and you can see it on Home Assistant, experiment with your other sensors, see can they influence the operation of your system beneficially, or do they just cause confusion. You can always revert to the proven system. If you're not the sole user of the heating system, and you create a Frankenstein hybrid for your own amusement, you will quickly find yourself the sole user. Have a read below of Tommy8844's unstructured query to the Home Assistant forum. Nest, Zigbee, Wiser, no hub, blah blah, then the stern warning from Angelo as to the consequences!

Get the Hive TRVs, they will integrate with your existing system, and be able to turn on the boiler as well as opening or closing the valve, using the same app. Use this chart to set hive TRVs temperatures in terms of mechanical TRV 0-5 scale.

I’d be cautious of using a light switch to actuate a boiler without knowing what sort of power you’ll need. I have a sonoff 1pm controlling my oil boiler and that spikes to nearly 300w every time the boiler fires up, so you’d be pushing those switches to their limit if a combi boiler is similar.

You are too good with your time. I think you are right about going for one all encompassing system. I'll watch out for the Drayton wiser system on Amazon prime day and hopefully get a good deal.

Have to hand it to you deezell, you’re a wealth of information on smart heating!

Per my comment above I’ve had a fairly simple setup of a Shelly 1pm replacing the original clock timer for an oil boiler, with temp sensors in each bedroom feeding to a minimum sensor, so heating is always driven by the coldest room (through home assistant) - a very cheap, slightly smarter system than what was there while I decided what route to take. Totally agree with making something simple the entire family can operate, as much as I’d love to manage it all through HA. I’ve made a button on my wife’s phone that she can hit to just boost the heating for 45 minutes when she feels a bit chilly, and overall it’s been rock solid since this time last year. I do want to go down the road of zoning with trv’s on an old fashioned single zone system, and can’t help but think doing this through HA could tip Mrs. comete over the edge.

It looks like Drayton and tado are the two best options with trvs, have you experience/preference for either of them?

Help please! I want to be ready to pounce on anticipated Black Friday deals for a Tado set-up for my home. I'm deep down a rabbit hole around wireless receivers and extensions etc. Everytime I think I've narrowed it down, I see something that undermines it. So! If someone has the time and knowledge; this is my current set up.

Firebird condensing boiler (installed 2011). Water underfloor heating downstairs - with 5 wired thermostats (Honeywell dial ones installed in 2001) in different rooms. Upstairs we have radiators - 5 with TRVs installed in 2011)

This is where I get confused; there's a dual 7 day programmer in the utility room, which deals with radiators and Hot water, wired to the boiler room where there's a boiler, UFH manifold and a pressurised water cylinder.

Original plan was, Wired thermostat starting Kit - with all the add-ons. But then I see the V3+ plus HW extension - but it only seems to say Wireless. I don't understand WHY wireless, when I have wiring in place for multiroom thermostats.

What's my best bet? If I'm spending all those €€€s, I'd like to have tado control the HW too. My plumber is a bit old skool and we struggle to get an electrician to do anything in these parts - so would hope to do the install myself. Like many, am ok on tech, but not on plumbing/wiring/relays etc. Pretty confident I can swap over thermostats and TRVs though. As long as I have the correct kit!!

*Of course, if there's anyone in Mayo who is familiar with and installs Tado, then I might go that route too!

Appreciate any advice - thanks.

Respect!

Hive receiver uses Zigbee to communicate with Hive hub, Zigbee MQTT Home to be exact. HIVE can operate via alternative hub devices using this protocol. It's not clear exactly which protocol is used to connect Hive Stat to the receiver, it may be a low power subset of Bluetooth. I wouldn't be confident that you could connect Z Wave TRVs into the Hive environment, other than using top level communication between Hive and Spirit plus at HA level. I'd still advise @CPTM just getting a hive TRV and pairing it into the existing Hive system. Just use 21° as On or setting 4, and 6° as Off or setting 0.

https://www.screwfix.ie/p/hive-white-smart-trv-head/265gx