Smart Thermostats

[McSwede]

This is the beauty of smart TRV's with your smart stat. You can set the system up to do that. I have ours come on early in the morning to warm the towels. Every room with a smart TRV stays off.

[Jobbo]

I don’t see that as being terribly efficient though. Running a many kW boiler to heat up a couple of towel rails - along with all the heating system pipework, even if the rads are off, must be pretty wasteful.

[McSwede]

Maybe so but t warms the kitchen, hall, downstairs loo, etc as well as the bathroom towels rail and only need to be on for 20 mins to be effective. House is a nice temp when we come downstairs too.

We have cast iron rads through the house and they work a treat.

[duncs500]

Ok, so for the towel rails I basically need everything upstairs to be on a smart TRV as then it will be able to have everything else off except the towel rails.

Is it possible to get the underfloor downstairs on to a smart system as well? No doubt it is, but probably all a lot of unnecessary cost / hassle.

Whilst it would be cool to have a fully smart setup, probs not really worth it for me.

[jamcg]

I don’t see that as being terribly efficient though. Running a many kW boiler to heat up a couple of towel rails - along with all the heating system pipework, even if the rads are off, must be pretty wasteful.

A modern modulating boiler won’t be running flat out to do that, it’ll quickly get them up to temperature as it’s only heating a very small volume compared to the full system. Even better if you have a boiler that can be range rated- all Worcester combi boilers can be throttled right down on heat mode if set up correctly by the installer.

It won’t heat up all the system pipework, just the bits where the water is actually flowing through, the sections going to isolated radiators will be sat stagnant and not moving. You’d be surprised how contained the heat can remain in very small areas when you stop the flow through sections of pipework

[jamcg]

Ok, so for the towel rails I basically need everything upstairs to be on a smart TRV as then it will be able to have everything else off except the towel rails.

Is it possible to get the underfloor downstairs on to a smart system as well? No doubt it is, but probably all a lot of unnecessary cost / hassle.

Whilst it would be cool to have a fully smart setup, probs not really worth it for me.

You can get some trv heads that have a digital timer built in- gives you the ability to achieve this without having to go all in to a smart system. Personally I wouldn’t use this method as it gives you rudimentary control but no ability to easily override or monitor the actuation

Depending on the underfloor system you have it might have to be a specific controller to the setup, if it is just a single zone without multiple actuator heads on a manifold you can probably just run it off any old smart thermostat but you’ll need a professional to look at it and advise further

A good smart setup shouldn’t need to be fiddled with much at all. It should work seamlessly in the background without your intervention. Many of the ones available often link up with local weather stations and will adapt to external conditions based upon this.

I used to be very in the fence about them, but since installing a nest controller I’ve never looked back, the geofencing is great, and the ability to adjust heat via Alexa gets used quite often. Nest doesn’t have the option of Adding trv heads and isn’t going to be updated by google any more so not one I’d choose for a fresh install

[duncs500]

Right guys, after a bit of procrastination I need to get this sorted. This is what my thermostat looks like inside and out, can I not just wire in a new smart thermostat here rather than mucking about with wiring it up at the boiler? As long as it doesn't click, I don't mind it being in the bedroom.

[Matty]

Can't comment on the wiring. But a few things about my Nest

1. No click. But does glow. You wouldn't want it in the bedroom unless you also want a night light
2. Bedroom not the best place for a thermostat? Usually one of the warmest rooms
3. Needs to be within reasonable range of the boiler for the reciever unit. I assume you live in a large, 5 bed house that matches your means like the rest of us so bear that in mind.

Although back to point 1, I couldn't directly replace my old thermostat with my new nest, it lacked some cables so not always interchangable

[duncs500]

1.) Hmmm, yeah, isn't there a night mode or something? A constant bright glow could be a pain. Doesn't have to be a Google one though.

2.) Meh, as long as we're alright the little one needs to toughen up anyway. Bear in mind I've got a separate zoned underfloor with separate zone controllers downstairs. I do agree though, dunno why they didn't put it in the landing.

3.) If it's wired in, can't that control it just like it does now? Does it need a wireless connection to the boiler?

[mik]

Bedroom not the best place for a thermostat? Usually one of the warmest rooms

Alright Shagger - enough boasting.

[Carlos]

If that's a controller and thermostat shirley you can wire a smart receiver there and put a thermostat/controller wherever you want.

We've used Tado on the rentals in similar replacements.

[Swervin_Mervin]

If that's a controller and thermostat shirley you can wire a smart receiver there and put a thermostat/controller wherever you want.

This

Not sure why you'd put the stat in your bedroom.

Do you even have a stat the mo Duncs or just a controller?

[mik]

Do you even have a stat the mo Duncs or just a controller?

I believe that one is a combined stat and controller unit thingy.

[Swervin_Mervin]

Do you even have a stat the mo Duncs or just a controller?

I believe that one is a combined stat and controller unit thingy.

Ah, makes sense. In which case you could put the controller in there and a wireless stat elsewhere. In the case of evohome the base unit/controller can also be used as a stat, but the controller isn't actually the controller if you get me - it communicates with a relay with the relay wired to the boiler. So you'd have the relay on the wall where your old controller was, and you can put the controller on a stand or wall, as long as it's within decent comms distance of the relay.

[duncs500]

If that's a controller and thermostat shirley you can wire a smart receiver there and put a thermostat/controller wherever you want.

This

Not sure why you'd put the stat in your bedroom.

Do you even have a stat the mo Duncs or just a controller?

@Swervin_Mervin you tell me! Sure, not against that if it works with the wiring I've got. Just not keen on a controller near the boiler, thermostat somewhere else and a load of redundant cabling and hole in the wall to deal with in the bedroom (because laziness, incompetence and being too stingy to pay someone else to sort this out mostly).

@Carlos I believe @mik is correct, that device does both.

[duncs500]

We've used Tado on the rentals in similar replacements.

Saw these, they seem to have good installation guides for replacement of a multitude of stat/controller on their app which is appealing. Are they OK?

[Carlos]

I believe we used the simpler version like this that directly replaces what you have. Not had any complaints from tenants and to be honest they don't look that bright here if you went down this route and added functionality later. You can also get one with a receiver to replace what you have and a wireless stat to walk around with like a boss.



I like simple lol

[duncs500]

I believe we used the simpler version like this that directly replaces what you have. Not had any complaints from tenants and to be honest they don't look that bright here if you went down this route and added functionality later. You can also get one with a receiver to replace what you have and a wireless stat to walk around with like a boss.



I like simple lol

He does mention the clicking of the relay... does it click as loudly as my current one!

Some piece of work who put this in the bedroom, I did complain to the developer ages ago buy they refused to move it.

[Swervin_Mervin]

If that's a controller and thermostat shirley you can wire a smart receiver there and put a thermostat/controller wherever you want.

This

Not sure why you'd put the stat in your bedroom.

Do you even have a stat the mo Duncs or just a controller?

@Swervin_Mervin you tell me! Sure, not against that if it works with the wiring I've got. Just not keen on a controller near the boiler, thermostat somewhere else and a load of redundant cabling and hole in the wall to deal with in the bedroom (because laziness, incompetence and being too stingy to pay someone else to sort this out mostly).

@Carlos I believe @mik is correct, that device does both.

It looks like the cage underneath is standard square socket/switch cage. In which case you could either get a blanking plate to screw over it or as you say, replace with a new controller/stat. As I say, with evohome you have a relay box wired to the boiler and then the controller unit can be plugged in wherever you like, albeit realistically it's better if it's not too far from the relay. Relay looks like this

[duncs500]

It looks like the cage underneath is standard square socket/switch cage. In which case you could either get a blanking plate to screw over it or as you say, replace with a new controller/stat.

O RLY? It hadn't occurred to me that it would be actually, that does make it easier to tidy up.

Is it complicated to wire up if doing so at the boiler end?