Hi everyone! I’m new to smart homes and planning to install Home Assistant on my Synology NAS. My goal is to control four radiator thermostats in three rooms. The heating system is centralized, so I can’t control the system itself. Despite reading many posts, I still have some questions:
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Thermostat Features: Do smart thermostats need specific features to leverage all of Home Assistant’s functionality, or can I buy simple models (as long as they support Zigbee, Homekit, etc.) since Home Assistant handles the intelligence?
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Temperature Control: Can I use thermostats primarily as temperature sensors and use Home Assistant for the logic and to regulate the radiators?
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Target Temperature Logic: If I set a target temperature in Home Assistant, how does it adjust the thermostat? For example, will it max out the thermostat (e.g., setting 5) until the target temperature is reached or use a lower setting to maintain comfort?
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Manual Overrides: If I set a target temperature in Home Assistant, will it override manual changes made on the thermostat itself?
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Recommended Thermostats: What thermostats would you recommend in the European market for Home Assistant? I’m flexible on standards (Zigbee, Homekit, etc.), prefer long battery life, and want to avoid bridges except for a Connect ZBT-1 already connected to the Synology. I am considering the SONOFF TRVZB but also Tado or Shelly. For Tado I am wondering whether the HA HomeKit integration works just as well as a connection using Zigbee.
Thanks a lot, looking forward to your insights!