New install of Heat Pump + Ecobee (Lite), very cold basement, need WiFi heater backup

Hardware
1

With a new install of the Heat Pump and the Ecobee (Lite) thermostat, the furnace (gas) is set as Aux, will only come on when the Heat Pump is overwhelmed. Now this thermostat has no access to another temperature sensor for the basement, meaning a 10F+ variance between floors is common. During the cold nights, the heat will come on, raising the temperature around 2F in the basement, but keeping the rest of the home in the desired temperature range (77F-78F, yes, 2 degrees, not the 5 Ecobee thinks is comfort).

With the furnace not coming on and warming the basement, there is no extra heat coming in while it operates, meaning in the very cold months, the basement will most likely drop another 15 to 20F easily. I need to proactively deal with this, as the humidity is landing in the basement from the home due to the temperature down there.

I do have a Midea Dehumidifier in the basement automated to keep it running through "awake hours", using an external thermostat (Aqara) for the humidity to monitor and that is working (thanks to the Midea Integration and the most recent work). It helps reduce the humidity, but obviously does nothing for the temperature.

I was looking for a reliable Home Assistant connectable (through WiFi, ethernet or Zigbee if needed) heater, that can be used to aide in the heating of the basement, as I'm certain that the Heat Pump will be unable to keep the basement in check with the rest of the home.

The home sees all 4 seasons, drastically so in some situations, like 80F+ in the day and 40-60F at night. When the Heat Pump comes on in heat, it is much slower than cooling, meaning the amount of air going into the basement at some point, will lose out to the sheer temperature difference. I've already seen this happen where the basement was 15F colder than the floor above. Right now the basement is 7.4F colder with 1% more humidity than the floor above, while the Dehumidifier has been going solid for over 6 hours.

I'm hoping there is such a thing for a heater, doesn't need to be big, as the area being warmed is 15' x 30' x 6.5' (WxLxH) in size. I saw some on Amazon, DREO, but if it was that small, it'd probably wind up working a lot harder.

So, who has any experience with a WiFi enabled Home Assistant compatible heater?

Thanks for sharing the information!

2

I would setup two zones, you may need two thermostats, each controlling a zone. If you are using radiant heat. Because heat raises you need two zones. One stat calling for more heat in the basement, the other calling for less heat. Hopefully you have separate main ducting or controllable inline duct dampeners to the rooms which would throttle the main floor room ducts and open fully the basement room(s) ducts. Plus you need to insulate the outer brick walls and the cement floor (usually carpet padding and carpet should be adequate).

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Sadly, no controllable ducting in the building, it isn't at that point, not sure it'll ever be. I'm just trying to boost the temperature enough so it isn't so cold, plus because of the heat pump, two zones won't work, because when the heat pump gets pushed aside for the furnace, then the basement will get massive heat difference, because the furnace will radiant heat the area, without ducting (as in it's uncontrollable). We have yet to see the cold months hit (thankfully), but I want to get prepared as much as possible when the event that the heat pump will not keep the whole home warm (basement included).

4

There is electric floor heating.

Also there are space heaters

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There are a tons of various type of “heaters” i.e WIFI controlled, atleast where i Live
So best would be to 1. Specify your location, so you get “local” suggestions not 230Volt if you only have 110Volt, etc.
Also specify i.e Watts ,Price range etc., specify a room in inns/feet give a hint , thou im not about to convert it to meter or centimeter, beside it’s kind of redundant, the surrounding temp etc. is

I know a basement is usually around 10degree Celsius, but that’s where i live, most likely colder in the far north, and warmer around equator

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I'm in Canada, so 110volts, watts under 2000, room size (I listed it in the original posting, 15' x 30' x 6.5' (WxLxH)).

The big issue is, the vents that put out any air are on the ceiling only, which makes for any warm air the Heat Pump puts into that basement, redundant in seconds. The furnace (gas), when on, radiates heat, but will only go on in extreme temperature drops, so the basement will be a LOT colder without any heat, since the Heat Pump's heat output is very minor. If I had to make a guess, it's about 15% of the furnace's output. Where I am, we get a variety of temperatures daily, can be hot in the morning today (it isn't) and tomorrow cold, as in below the 76F I have the temps minimum set at. Because the Heat Pump's heat output is so minimal, it was recommended to avoid letting the home cool beyond a few degrees (which oddly, Ecobee won't on it's own). As for price range, obviously not thousands, but I need to not be buying something that could lead to a fire.

7

Convection or oil-filled wall mounted Radiator “wifi”

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@boheme61 suggest something that radiates heat via convection, mounted low on a wall. Something like the old water heating system baseboard heat radiators. Then there are also the electric baseboard heaters too.

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/categories/appliances/heating-cooling-and-air-quality/heaters/baseboard-heaters.html

I would contact your local heating contractor and have a chat

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Yes something like that, thou here are some of our “options”

https://www.netonnet.se/art/hem-fritid/klimat-varme/element/panelelement

I have this in the Tuya integration

https://www.netonnet.se/art/hem-fritid/klimat-varme/element/andersson-gsh-3-4-wi-fi-750w/1025817.9407/

Upps, wrong, in Tuya-Local

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I honestly don't think I need a large unit for the space, mainly because if it slowly heats the environment, I'm alright with that. I have some switches, but I'm not sure I'd be happy with something that could cause a fire if it is turned off prematurely by cutting the power. I've seen a few that have the fan on for a few seconds afterwards to cool it off enough before the unit goes into idle mode. Why I don't want something that can't be controlled, plus a wall unit would be difficult as the wall that is there is a retaining fireproof wall and can't drill into it. There is a drywall gapped on it, but I'd rather not have to mount something, as I'd have to move stuff around to give it airflow space.

Side note, in North America, not sure I have access to those heaters, some do look neat though.

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Those i have have a floor-stand, with or without wheels, and a fix for wallmount if one want
There is thermostat, and you can control it manually, via app and via HA

If you are afraid of a “Spark” should cause an explosive fire, you have other “concerns” …not sure where you got the idea of a fan to cool down a thermostatic heater
The unit itself (if not oil-filled) will relative fast become cold, if turned of

Right, i don’t know either, as i have hard to understand your “needs”
You basically need something to keep the room above or around a certain Min temp, and if a ceiling fan can’t circulate what you have available at ceiling level, you need either built-in floor heat, or an unit 300-5/700 Watt

Here you go, keep searching :wink:
Ballu Convection Panel Space Heater for Large Room,1500W Electric Heater with Programmable Thermostat,WiFi App Control,Standing or Wall Mount,Smart Quiet Heater for Indoor Use,Works with Alexa,White : Amazon.ca: Home .

.And Ebay

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/362490511517

Look at it this way, with a good quality, and “lager” than “needed” , it never have to Run on Full power, and therefore never gets to hot … with a small one, it has to run full power, and therefore more prone to get really hot, and “fragile” or plain dangerously … Honestly im not sure how you are thinking, if you want it to keep the room above i.e 15 degree Celsius , buy one which can keep it on 30
If you car can run 80miles per hour, Don’t, because it wont last long, and the engine might just brake down, and cause a fire == no more car , if you run it around 40-50, it could last a lifetime

Also available near you
Smart Wi-Fi glass convection heater | SCF 4740WH | Sencor.com .

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Any other manufacturers that could be up here, that Ballu model has a good deal of complaints against it (melted cord, gets too hot to the touch and can burn you).

Also I know the wiring down there does up to 1000Watts, pretty sure it could go further, just not sure I really want to test it this way. I do like the idea of getting a bigger one, but think I'd prefer one with actual fan movement on it and a cooler outside.

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ok, sure something to seriously take into considering, and which limits your choices