I’d like to control some individual ambiance heaters (I’m based in France) that all have a “Fil Pilote” in french (not sure name in english and if it exists abroad ! Basically, it’s a wire where you send the 220V sinusoidal wave modified to pilot the heater.
I have done few searches on Internet but didn’t find any easy way to interface it with HA. It looks to exist some Wifi box able to control that wire but have found nothing about some open API or something similar
Someone with experience of that ?
Thanks but unhappy it’s Zwave module and I don’t want that ! I found a Wifi module Heatzy but it’s pretty expensive (50 bucks per module) and it looks to be only API through cloud Still hoping to find something simple based on ESP for example or similar…
Making more investigations and with help of a guy on an other home automation forum, I found that very nice hack based on ESP to control the “Fil Pilote” https://www.jeedom.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=185&t=28819&start=140 I’m going to order PCB to build it and will share result here once done (I’ll use esphomelib for sure for the ESP part).
Hope it helps other people having to control such equipments
I have buirt the modules but didn’t get time to install them unhappy yet as I’m not at same place in this time Will post update when will get opportunity to install them but might be not before 2/3 months…
@DanChaltiel I have pretty much all heaters in my house on Qubino ZMNHJD1 modules. They are a bit pricey, but they’re excellent built quality and work perfectly.
I think I remember there used to be (or still are ?) some modules from DiO / Chacon on 433MHz for controlling the fil pilote. Back then I skipped on them, even if they were less expensive, they were unidirectional and as such unreliable. I didn’t want a heater to accidentally get stuck in comfort mode for weeks while I was away.
I’m not too keen on using anything DIY for this. While the ‘fil pilote’ is essentially just a control wire carrying only a few µA current, it still is a control bus that works with 230V signaling levels. If something goes wrong and burns your house down, your insurance is not going to be happy about it.
I also use a Shelly 1, without any diode. When the Shelly relay is closed the heater works in ‘Eco’ mode, when the relay is open it is in ‘comfort’ mode.
That’s fine for me.
@Shaad so your shelly works in dry contact (I’m not sure of the expression, I’m French) ? I read that it was not recommended for radiators with a pilot wire, for a question of radiator components lifetime.
Oh really ? I will have to check then ! Thanks.
It works as a dry contact indeed.
Aren’t we all french on this topic ? I thought ‘fil pilote’ was another french wonderfull idea that never got out of the borders… but I might be wrong.
Personally I would have done without the diode, but as I don’t know exactly how much its absence really damages the radiators, I prefer to use it. Especially for the price.
Besides the modes “comfort, comfort -2, etc…” do not really interest me. I just wish I could tell it to turn on or off via the “pilot wire”. The rest, I let HA control it.
I’ve read a few articles and could find anything about damaging the heater electronic without any diode.
Diode is commonly recommanded because it allow to use different order such as ‘off/on’ for instance.
For my personnal use, Eco and Comfort mode are perfect.
You’re mixing up two things here. You’re thinking of a relay cutting power to the radiator as a whole. That is indeed not a good idea and may damage it long term.
@Shaad is not doing this. He is just using the Shelly to send a command to the heater through the fil pilote. Keep in mind that there are 6 commands in total. Two of them require a microcontroller to generate, as they use precise signal timing. The other 4 can be generated using relays and diodes. Two basic commands can be generated without a diode.
Without diode, only a relay needed:
0V : Mode confort
230V: Mode eco
With a diode:
Negative half wave: Mode hors gel
Positive half wave: Turns off the heater
Of course all this is still mains voltage and hacked together flying circuits of relays and diodes operating at 230V are not a good idea. If your house burns down because of it, get ready to fight your insurance in court. See Taras post above (although that guy did something really stupid that was unrelated to the diode, but still).
When the Shelly 1PM switch in ON, your heater will be is ECO mode.
When the Shelly 1PM switch in OFF, your heater will be is CONFORT mode.
I would have prefered it in a reverse way to have to switch on the Shelly to activate Confort mode, but I’m ok with the current behaviour, it’s easy, works great, and has been 100% reliable so far for 2 or 3 months
If you want to use all 6 orders of Fil Pilote, Qubino has a nice Fil Pilote ZWave module.
They are worth 50€ on Amazon and you should buy one for each heater but it was exactly what I was looking for. Very easy to install on any heater using a screwdriver and a Wago connector (or a “domino” block).
Still hoping to find something simple based on ESP for example or similar…
