Radiator valve that work

Hardware
1

Hi,

does anyone know what radiator valve can i use for my home. I have now eq-max but it is sh*t :slight_smile:
I want this things:

  • Measure temperature away from radiator (as max wall thermostat)
  • Work well with hassio

Thanx

2

Tado valves are probably best (and most expensive) choice. Their disadvantage is they are controlled via cloud. Home Assistant component exists, but it is using API on their cloud service which means no internet=no valve control.

3

I have been mulling over that question today and have ordered some kit to try.
I already know the temperature of the rooms I will be controlling as I have the Xiaomi Aqara gateway and Aqara temperature and humidty sensors installed.
Hive can turn my boiler on and off so I just need a dumb radiator valve that hass can switch on and off.
I ordered this radiator valve actuator:

£8!
I am going to try to bypass the on-board ‘smarts’ and get hass to control it by installing an ESP8266 ESP-01 flashed with Tasmota (looking at the picture I recon I can squeeze one inside the case). Hopefully I can get a 3v feed from the existing board in the actuator. This is my first DIY Tasmota device so I’ll let you know how I get on.
If it works it will give a fully wireless radiator controller, connected directly to WiFi and running MQTT for about a tenner!

1 Like
4

Lol! I just checked the EQ Max and it’s the same chassis as the one I ordered (maybe different insides). If it works, you can just reuse your existing ones by adding a £2.50 ESP-01.

5

I tried the Max as well, very poor quality and really didn’t work. I sent them back and switched to HomeMatic IP, way better quality and very quiet.

6

I have look at homatic ip and it have all that i need but for 3 valve and 2 wall thermostat it will cast 350€ :confused: it is not cheap

7

I am interested, if this will work.
I want to buy xiaomi bluetooth sensor, so maybe this will work with this also.
But in this way thermosat can only be fully open and fully closed? Not like at max cube, that have also partly open valve?

8

I have been using these for about three years, and am very happy with them

9

Hi @sota. I have to admit - the price looks too good to be true.
If my plan works, I will bypass all the ‘smarts’ of the Max (thermostat, timer etc) and just use its ability to switch the valve on and off.
What aspects of the Max didn’t work? If it’s the clever stuff then I’m not too worried but if it just can’t open and close the valve, then I’m fundamentally barking up the wrong tree.
Cheers,
Nick.

10

It’s over a year ago, so what I can remember is that the quality of the Max TRVs was pretty poor - flimsy construction and noisy in operation. The Max cube controller was way under-powered and tended to hang every few days.The whole system just felt unreliable, which is not what you want in a heating system! However, for a basic system it will probably work OK.
The HomeMatic IP system I have now does 95% of what I want. As we have several rooms with more than one radiator, keeping an even temperature in the room was a priority. The adaptive opening on each TRV solves that problem for us.

11

Hi, i am looking to change now ex max for homematic (even if this is same factory :confused: )

I have rooms like that:

And then i need getway?
what getway is correct?
https://www.homematic-ip.com/en/products/detail/smart-home-central-control-unit-ccu3.html
https://www.homematic-ip.com/en/products/detail/homematic-ip-access-point.html

Also can someone confirm that temperature is measured at wall thermostat if i you have it, and not at radiator valve?

12

@Blaz_Komat This can be confusing, so make a list of what you need before ordering. I had to send several things back, inclunding the IP Access Point, which is cloud only.

Firstly, if you have only one radiatior in a room, you can manage without a thermostat on the wall. I find that the temperature from the TRV is quite accurate, but it is convienent to have the thermostat at eye level to see and adjust the temperature.
If you have more than one TRV in a room, the thermostat can be used to control them all.
The parts you have listed are fine. The big decision is the gateway:

The CCU3 is the latest version of the HM controller, much faster than the old CCU2! This is a local controller, and it is configured with web interface. It’s a little difficult to find what you want on it but it works reliably. One important thing to know is the difference between rooms and groups. You can add your devices to a room (Kitchen, bedroom, etc.) to keep the layout tidy but it does not add any function.
You must put the devices such as TRV and thermostat into a group if you want the thermostat to control the TRV!! You then set times and temperature schedules with the group.

The IP access point is cloud only, and works with a phone app. I ordered this by mistake, but I don’t want cloud control so I sent it back.

Finally, the temperature is measured at both TRV and thermostat, but if you use a group then the group sets up everything for you.

13

I was under the impression that all Homematic IP products require cloud connection, is this not the case? You are saying that I can get CCU3 gateway and Homematic IP radiator theromstat valves and controll them locally via Home assistant without needing any Internet connection?

14

Correct! Although an internet connection would be useful for remote access to monitor the system.

1 Like
15

Hi @tbyt2000

Did you get the radiator valve to work with the ESP-01? Did it fit in the housing?

Thanks

1 Like
16

So did it work in the end for you?

17

Did you have any luck with this?

One concern I would have is power usage. I’ve read somewhere that Tasmota does not have any sleep function, so on a battery it will drain quickly, it’s not designed for that. Perhaps one of the other ESP firmware support this, which you compile beforehand, but I don’t know.

I am very interested in the outcome, as I too want to do this, and do not like the idea of Tado’s being cloud connected.

18

We’ve got a decent generic BLE driver in Tasmota now (on ESP32), and I have an EQ3 (BLE version) driver in the works. The basics all work, we’re just discussing fine details of how best to integrate with HA. The BLE driver also receives MI sensors - and these are auto discovered as devices by HA.
Initial tests on range kind of indicate you may need 2 or 3 ESP32 to cover a large house for EQ3 control.
(if interested, join tas discord…)

Simon

2 Likes