I’d like to upgrade my current baseboard heaters with a more energy-efficient option that could also cool down during the hot summer months. My house used to have a central oil furnace and while most of the ducts have been removed, the ones that are hardest to install are still there and can be reused. I’ve also looked into wall-mounted units, and they’re not really feasible with the constraints of the house. Thus, I’d need to install a central heat pump.
Any good options I should look into in order to integrate into home assistant? I’d really like to avoid any cloud-based solutions, so either something I can control with ZigBee, or something that’s dumb enough that I can easily whip up a ESPHome device to control it.
Hi @emilecantin
I think that most of us with central heat pumps use a WiFi, ZWave or Zigbee-enabled smart thermostat to interface with Home Assistant. I happen to use Ecobee (WiFi), which is web-enabled, but others may be able to comment on suitability for local-only control with this brand. There is an Ecobee integration in Home Assistant. I think there are options from Honeywell and other companies also.
As I recall, the main consideration for installing advanced thermostats requires that the heat pump control board supplies a “C wire” (common wire) to ensure continuous power. Depending on home layout and existing wiring, it might be inconvenient to run this wire to your thermostat.
C-wire article
Some heat pump systems also have motorized dampers (for zone control) or supplemental heat, so some scenarios are more complex than others. So please check with your HVAC supplier about what your home requires.
Thanks for the details, I’ll shop for one that has a C-wire, then! Looks like it’s much simpler than wall units.