Internet central heating controllers

[Octopus]

Is it me or are they as annoying as all the far eastern spam?

Yes we have the option to ignore them, but the rate they are appearing on the site is getting out of hand IMHO

Should there be a specific area for these?

I don't see why people on here are expected to give away their knowledge and experience for free, whilst the vendors of the products sit back and make profits ?

Just saying

 

[chris murphy]

agree, but ... basic law of physics. if as your exampleshows, joe bloggs remotely turns off his heating for 5 hours. then his house goes cold.then when he does come back, he's going to have to turn it on again to regain the heat loss while it was off.

Hello again telectrix,

I was not trying to be patronising or trying to irritate You when I wrote my previous reply - just in case You have taken it that way.

I described an example where the Heating `On` time was altered to be 5 Hours later than the `normal evening On time` - not turned off until the Householder actually comes in.

Depending upon the external temperature / `Heat Up Period` - lets guess an Hour - instead of the Home being at the set temperature by 18:00 / 6pm it would be up to the set temperature by 23:00 / 11pm for in this example when the Householder / Family came home later than usually.

And I did mention that they could set a lower temperature for the early evening which then reverted to their optimum setting perhaps an hour before they returned Home.

Most people don`t heat their Home`s during the day if they are all out at work / school etc.

Although when the British Standards etc. for Domestic Central Heating Heat Loss Calculations were first formulated in the 1960`s Heating systems were designed to be On for 24 Hours a day regulated only by the Boiler Thermostat.

As Gas was perceived to be very inexpensive in the 1960`s / 1970`s that method of operating a Home`s Central Heating was not seen as `expensive to run`.

The way that You are operating your Heating system obviously suits your Family and lifestyle so that is the `correct way` for You.

I don`t usually operate my Heating like that - I have a Programmer and a Programmable Room Thermostat controlling my system - I have various temperatures set for various time periods on the Thermostat.

However in really cold weather / external temperatures I would have my Heating On 24 hours with lower temperatures set for the periods when we are out and for the overnight hours.

Regards,

Chris

 

[Strima]

I'm doing a newbuild that's high end. He's going crazy on all the smart home gadgets so was going to put nest smokes in. I was disappointed to find they didn't do a heat detector. I'm putting in a texecom premier elite alarm so installing additional smokes and a heat that connect to the panel. I'm putting in a smartcom communicator so can be accessed/notified via the cloud etc.

I’m getting my kitchen extended in a few months so I could get away with a smoke in that area. However I would prefer a heat.

I’m surprised they haven’t manufacture one yet.

 

[telectrix]

However in really cold weather / external temperatures I would have my Heating On 24 hours with lower temperatures set for the periods when we are out and for the overnight hours.

that's what we do. seems to be the most economical way. and no, i don't think your post was patronising. it was informative. .

 

[static zap]

I’m surprised they haven’t manufacture one yet.

Not looked any deeper , but detecting difference between , a chip pan igniting.
And opening oven door on hi ,doing a large tray of roast spuds - feels intense to face !

 

[davesparks]

agree, but ... basic law of physics. if as your exampleshows, joe bloggs remotely turns off his heating for 5 hours. then his house goes cold.then when he does come back, he's going to have to turn it on again to regain the heat loss while it was off.

But he doesn’t turn it off, he turns it down, or the system turns it down for him

 

[Sooby2]

Maybe you can help me install one in to a 30 year old S Plan system.......

I've just had one put in along with a new boiler. The instructions in the Nest box show the wiring for S and Y plans and OpenTherm. It just becomes a matter of identifying what cable goes where - me and the gas installer spent a merry afternoon with his Megger and a wander lead.

And I can now turn the central heating down when the wife goes out, leaving it on full blast and I'm out and about.

 

[Squid]

I've just had one put in along with a new boiler. The instructions in the Nest box show the wiring for S and Y plans and OpenTherm. It just becomes a matter of identifying what cable goes where - me and the gas installer spent a merry afternoon with his Megger and a wander lead.

And I can now turn the central heating down when the wife goes out, leaving it on full blast and I'm out and about.

The sensible side of me is telling me don't mess with it in winter as if you screw up then there is no hot water or heating and you get cold ;o))

2 Valves, hot water tank stat, pump, controller for water, programable room start, link to system boiler and power, what can go wrong lol.

 

[Octopus]

i can't understand how any of this internet control can save energy /money. thermostats and timers do the same job at far less outlay.

I installed a Salus IT 500 when we refurbished our house over 4 years ago ....

The benefits of such a system to me is that on each day there are 6 timed points where the heating can be set - so we run our heating on the basis that during the week nobody is at home. The misses is a midwife doing all sorts of unpredictable shifts - so she turns it up when it suits her.

If you go out for the day at the weekend you can set "eco" mode and this uses the lowest temperature in the settings you have until you revert to normal timer mode.

If you are out during the winter you can turn the heating up before you get home and hey presto when you get home the temperature is what you want...

I can also turn it down if the misses turns it up too much!

So in my opinion these are worth having but anyone buying them needs to understand that generally they are not an easy like for like swap.

PS the "holiday" mode allows you to set the date and time for the period to start and the same for the end .......

 

[Sooby2]

The sensible side of me is telling me don't mess with it in winter as if you screw up then there is no hot water or heating and you get cold ;o))

2 Valves, hot water tank stat, pump, controller for water, programable room start, link to system boiler and power, what can go wrong lol.

Well it was one 3-way valve, pump, tank thermostat. The Nest thermostat talks wirelessly to the hub, which we put in the airing cupboard where everything bar the boiler was. Just a matter of using one of the existing cables to link to the boiler.

And the gas installer is an ex-British gas installer, so if he can't get it right (and it's worked perfectly from the off) then I don't know who would.

 

[Squid]

Ah too good for BG I see..........