Detached Victorian renovation, London.
Discussion
dxg said:
Would you guys recommend an Evohome system?
I'm working from home downstairs a lot of the time at the moment. Which would be fine, if it were not for the fact that the single-zone heating does a brilliant job of overheating the upstairs while underheating the downstairs...
Yes. Apart from the recent glitch it's been rock-solid for 3.5 years. Every plumber I speak to loves Honeywell kit and the eco-leaning bloke that installed it was utterly convinced it was the most efficient solution.I'm working from home downstairs a lot of the time at the moment. Which would be fine, if it were not for the fact that the single-zone heating does a brilliant job of overheating the upstairs while underheating the downstairs...
It maintains 6 zones of UFH extremely well and 5 x TRV zones with rads upstairs. Really easy to override any given setting on the app, too.
AC43 said:
dxg said:
Would you guys recommend an Evohome system?
I'm working from home downstairs a lot of the time at the moment. Which would be fine, if it were not for the fact that the single-zone heating does a brilliant job of overheating the upstairs while underheating the downstairs...
Yes. Apart from the recent glitch it's been rock-solid for 3.5 years. Every plumber I speak to loves Honeywell kit and the eco-leaning bloke that installed it was utterly convinced it was the most efficient solution.I'm working from home downstairs a lot of the time at the moment. Which would be fine, if it were not for the fact that the single-zone heating does a brilliant job of overheating the upstairs while underheating the downstairs...
It maintains 6 zones of UFH extremely well and 5 x TRV zones with rads upstairs. Really easy to override any given setting on the app, too.
I find the app just won’t work once a month for no reason. There is also this really annoying thing; room is set to be 21 and it reads 21, but you’re cold, so set it to 22. Instantly the dial will read 21.5. I have spoken with them and no help. Then it obviously only goes up a little.
AC43 said:
Harry Flashman said:
Never had to do this. System comms work fine in normal use. Big problem came when I accidentally reset the system. I posted the process to fix it on a separate thread it was awful.
Ouch,Harry Flashman said:
I keep a load of spare, normal Trv heads in the garage so if the system fails, I can just run the boiler and heat rooms!
LOL, good idea!FWIW I think this is the fella that failed. I'd seen it and didn't know what it did. Certainly didn't know it was battery powered. They were goosed as they'd been in for 3.5 years, best replace them annually. I knew about the ones in the TRV's but not this one.
https://www.plumb2u.com/PBSCProduct.asp?ItmID=3258...
Summer job. When you replaced, did you have to rebind, or does it have an internal battery backup? I have to say that that is a very poor piece of design. Hmmm.
Harry Flashman said:
AC43 said:
Harry Flashman said:
Never had to do this. System comms work fine in normal use. Big problem came when I accidentally reset the system. I posted the process to fix it on a separate thread it was awful.
Ouch,Harry Flashman said:
I keep a load of spare, normal Trv heads in the garage so if the system fails, I can just run the boiler and heat rooms!
LOL, good idea!FWIW I think this is the fella that failed. I'd seen it and didn't know what it did. Certainly didn't know it was battery powered. They were goosed as they'd been in for 3.5 years, best replace them annually. I knew about the ones in the TRV's but not this one.
https://www.plumb2u.com/PBSCProduct.asp?ItmID=3258...
Summer job. When you replaced, did you have to rebind, or does it have an internal battery backup? I have to say that that is a very poor piece of design. Hmmm.
I also learnt this little trick about winding the valve right back when replacing TRV batteries - apparently you need to do it to ensure they get reset correctly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L5ZWvRsoJ8
RoverP6B said:
Whatever was wrong with an old-fashioned rotary dial thermostat plus individual valves on each radiator just like everybody used to have?
In the five years we've been in our current house, I've had to change basically every old school rotary dial thermostat in our house, on some radiators twice. I've iteratively replaced them with digital controllers and the current rate of failure for those is zero. RoverP6B said:
Whatever was wrong with an old-fashioned rotary dial thermostat plus individual valves on each radiator just like everybody used to have? Sounds like some techno-whizzkid decided heating had to be smartened for its own sake rather than it actually improving anything.
Traditional TRV's don't have the ability to set a program that heats different rooms/zones in the house at different times of day.The ability to not heat rooms or parts of the house that are not being used without intervention results in significant energy savings.
Yep. Big house. Gas bills are massively reduced with the Evohome.
Also, voice command of individual room temps is both big and clever, in my book.
Replaced the batteries as advised above, heating is all fine, but I think the hot water isn't working. There will be some sort of solution on the Internet somewhere, hopefully just rebinding it all.
Also, voice command of individual room temps is both big and clever, in my book.
Replaced the batteries as advised above, heating is all fine, but I think the hot water isn't working. There will be some sort of solution on the Internet somewhere, hopefully just rebinding it all.
AC43 said:
Out of interest do you have your Evohome system serviced annually? I didn't until recently when the batteries started failing on on the controllers and the whole thing ended up as one giant comms fault.
Fella came out and asked when I'd changed the batteries and I said "never". He replaced them and reprogrammed the system.
No he's booked in annually to give it a once over along with the boiler and HW cylinder.
TBH it never even occurred to me.
He's also going to powerflush the whole thing in the summer - the water in the glass valve things is rank.
Evohome needs maintenance now again - who knew? :-)
If it weren't for this post a few days back, I would have had literally no idea what to do. What a coincidence, and what a helpful one! Fella came out and asked when I'd changed the batteries and I said "never". He replaced them and reprogrammed the system.
No he's booked in annually to give it a once over along with the boiler and HW cylinder.
TBH it never even occurred to me.
He's also going to powerflush the whole thing in the summer - the water in the glass valve things is rank.
Evohome needs maintenance now again - who knew? :-)
Thanks AC43, again!
Harry Flashman said:
Yep. Big house. Gas bills are massively reduced with the Evohome.
The ease of heating the odd room upstairs (eg my office) and/or one or more of the kids' rooms if they are studying at home is handy and saves ££'s.What's more useful is the way it learns to run the UFH heating downstairs really really efficiently. We're never cold but it saves a fortune.
It's sort of the heating equivalent of hypermiling. Makes me happy when I look at my smart meter and see just how little gas it's taking to maintain that thermal mass.
Harry Flashman said:
AC43 said:
Out of interest do you have your Evohome system serviced annually? I didn't until recently when the batteries started failing on on the controllers and the whole thing ended up as one giant comms fault.
Fella came out and asked when I'd changed the batteries and I said "never". He replaced them and reprogrammed the system.
No he's booked in annually to give it a once over along with the boiler and HW cylinder.
TBH it never even occurred to me.
He's also going to powerflush the whole thing in the summer - the water in the glass valve things is rank.
Evohome needs maintenance now again - who knew? :-)
If it weren't for this post a few days back, I would have had literally no idea what to do. What a coincidence, and what a helpful one! Fella came out and asked when I'd changed the batteries and I said "never". He replaced them and reprogrammed the system.
No he's booked in annually to give it a once over along with the boiler and HW cylinder.
TBH it never even occurred to me.
He's also going to powerflush the whole thing in the summer - the water in the glass valve things is rank.
Evohome needs maintenance now again - who knew? :-)
Thanks AC43, again!
Thanks!!
I returned home late last night, biblically drunk, to find a stone cold house and an angry wife.
Used the aircon in heating mode to resolve the situation, then passed out in a spare room in all my clothes.
I now have a warm house, cold water, a debilitating hangover, and an angry wife. Not sure if this is an improvement in any material way.
I returned home late last night, biblically drunk, to find a stone cold house and an angry wife.
Used the aircon in heating mode to resolve the situation, then passed out in a spare room in all my clothes.
I now have a warm house, cold water, a debilitating hangover, and an angry wife. Not sure if this is an improvement in any material way.
Edited by Harry Flashman on Friday 28th January 12:30
Harry Flashman said:
Thanks!!
I returned home late last night, biblically drunk, to find a stone cold house and an angry wife.
Used the aircon in heating mode to resolve the situation, then passed out in a spare room in all my clothes.
I now have a warm house, cold water, a debilitating hangover, and an angry wife. Not sure if this is an improvement in any material way.
Excellent Harry. Good to see having a young family hasn't stopped your old ways entirely.I returned home late last night, biblically drunk, to find a stone cold house and an angry wife.
Used the aircon in heating mode to resolve the situation, then passed out in a spare room in all my clothes.
I now have a warm house, cold water, a debilitating hangover, and an angry wife. Not sure if this is an improvement in any material way.
Edited by Harry Flashman on Friday 28th January 12:30
BTW, you'll have a switch for an immersion somewhere in all the gubbins. After a long search in the vicinity I found an unmarked switch. Bingo. Hot water. Well, warm anyway.......
Harry Flashman said:
I now have a warm house, cold water, a debilitating hangover, and an angry wife. Not sure if this is an improvement in any material way.
Just remember a simple ‘calm down’ in a soothing voice is all it takes to get women a whole lot more upset.Edited by Harry Flashman on Friday 28th January 12:30
Fermit said:
Harry Flashman said:
I now have a warm house, cold water, a debilitating hangover, and an angry wife. Not sure if this is an improvement in any material way.
Just remember a simple ‘calm down’ in a soothing voice is all it takes to get women a whole lot more upset.Edited by Harry Flashman on Friday 28th January 12:30
.RoverP6B said:
Whatever was wrong with an old-fashioned rotary dial thermostat plus individual valves on each radiator just like everybody used to have? Sounds like some techno-whizzkid decided heating had to be smartened for its own sake rather than it actually improving anything.
Our boiler that feeds the UFH has a simple on and off switch, my wife quickly mastered 50% of that operation and we live in marital bliss.Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff