Hi
I’m getting quotes for a new boiler along with rad’s and trv’s. Is there a cost effective way I can make use of smartthings to control my heating?
I’m looking at a small Worchester Bosh combi boiler
Do i need a Nest or similar. Can I not control the boiler direct responding to smartthing sensors?
any help & suggestions would be much appreciated
Have a look at Honeywell evohome. it will soon be supported by smartthings and works great as well as saving money
If you have a double gang socket close to your boiler you could power it (the boiler) and the pump via 13 Amp plugs and 2 controllable sockets - one for boiler and the other for a pump. If you have a timer inside your house it will need to be switched on all of the time.
You can control directly, use timed events or even the temp sensor to trigger on/off events.
I use a similar set-up.
D
The Honeywell EVOHOME will be supported soon. The integration is complete and certified. We’re in final rounds of testing with Honeywell.
I did something similar a while ago… Maybe that gives you ideas.
Excellent idea - save the planet one water heater at a time:-)
I have my NEST controlled by ST - it takes away the ‘hassle’ of having separate devices for pumps and power, integrates the thermostat control, acts as another presence sensor (sort of) etc.
thanks Dec
interesting hack. I did something similar in my old flat when the timer broke on the boiler. put the boilers plug on one of those mechanical timer things. worked fine but i was concerned it may not be good for the boiler with the power being turned of and on every day
how do i separate the pump from the boiler power? sounds like a job for an engineer
Alec
For using On/Off timers on a boiler I’d be very careful of this. Most boilers need permanent lives to them, as they have pump overrun functions built in to ensure that once the boiler is turned off, that it continues to pump the hot water through the boiler until it cools down enough. You could do real damage to your boiler just by connecting up an on/off timer to it.
My control timer/switch used to switch the pump and boiler on/off; I’ve never noticed the boiler continue to pump after it’s been switched off. I’ve had this solution in place for a few years and the boiler’s been serviced without any problems being reported.
Separating the electricity supply will depend on your set-up. As stated above, my timer (which is now always on) used to control both boiler and pump. I disconnected the boiler lead and added a 13A fuse to it. I hooked the pump power supply (which also has an internal timer control switch) up to a separate 13A plug/socket. So as long as the control timer is on, I can control the pump and boiler via the app or an automated sequence. Hope all that makes sense - it’s a hack, but it works.
I like the idea of replacing the control switch (with a Nest controller) and moving back to my original configuration. ST compatibility may accelerate my plans. Thanks for the info Andy.
I would go and get a hold of the installation manual of your boiler and double check what it says. Mine specifically says that the boiler requires a permanent live and that the pump is wired via the boiler to receive it’s power and switch control.
Yours may be fine, but it would be remiss to not let other people know that this is not generally the way boilers are wired and that it may damage their boiler if they try this. Most boilers need pump-overrun to allow their heating interchanges to cool down and dissipate the heat held within the boiler itself.
thanks all. I will probably go down the Honeywell or Nest route but will investigate the hack option as a temporary fix as I probably won’t get round to getting the new boiler before next spring
Dec/Roy, I have a small combi boiler. there is a single timer that activates the pump for heating. hot water is on demand. so if the pump doesn’t need to overrun I’d just need to control the pump, leaving the boiler supply on
I’ll download the manual!
Alec, just be aware that heating electrics can be a bit of a black art. I have a friend who is a very good electrician. He works on large scale outdoor designs and knows his stuff. He stays away from boiler electrics. In fact, when I was re-wiring mine up I asked him over to just double check what I thought. When I opened the main junction box his first words were ‘See, that’s why I dont’ do heating electrics’.
Get the manual and double check everything. I found a permanent live in mine even once the mains were turned off…Turns out it was fed from the main house into the old heating timer, via a 10 way black wire, into the junction box, before it went to the isolator.
Checking the manual is good advice. I’d also consult a boiler installer to make sure you are not doing anything that would damage the boiler.
Having recently moved into a new house and knowing that we would go SmartThings, when we had the new boiler fitted I bought a Secure Z-wave 7 Day Programmable room Thermostat and Receiver set from here
Reason being when the boiler was fitted ST still hadnt given a UK release date and I wanted to be able to control the boiler the old way until I could automate it.
So far not connected it to anything else but as a old school controller, it seems accurate and definitely easy to control… how good its going to be as a z-wave thing… I dont know yet.
HI
Did you managed to choose the right controller?
As ST rolling out in UK is there any more news/options on boiler controls?
Will Wave work with ST?
I’ve got few other candidates. RCS Z-wave and GE CT30.Can anyone confirm if those controllers will work in UK please?
Regards
Not sure if anyone has mentioned this yet, but if you’ve not got a combi boiler, then you’re hot water is on a timer I’m afraid, unless someone can come up with a Smart programmer that can have the boiler turned to ‘On’ permanently and a smart feature for the hot water.
I’m going with a Nest. Due for installation next week along with the boiler, TRV’s etc. I will report back
I look forward to that. Cheers
Will evohome integrate directly with smartthings or will it be through the internet? As in does my honeywell evohomeneed to be connected to the internet?