I have a bathroom with an already-installed electric radiant floor heater (like this one). Basically mains power goes to this controller-with-a-touchscreen that installs in a single-gang wall box. The controller has wires that (a) go to electric heating pads installed under the tile and (b) a wired temperature sensor also mortared under the tiles. The controller basically operates as a programmable thermostatic switch for the heating pads.
I’d like to replace the unit with one that is Home Assistant compatible (ideally based on a local protocol, preferably Z-wave but I’m open to something else if necessary, rather than needing to use some sketchy manufacturer’s app/portal and cloud-based integration). Does anyone have any recommendations?
(Sidenote: I also seem to have a calibration issue. The controller and temperature sensor seem to be mismatched, so the controller seems to interpret the temperature as off by a fixed amount. Given this I’m a little once-bitten-twice-shy and would be be much more excited about a unit that can be calibrated – i.e., allow me to apply a fixed offset and/or multiplier to the measured temperature.)
I saw a listing for this one from Heltun, but it does not seem to be available in a U.S. version…
It’s a core integration, it works, though yes, it is cloud tied. May as well set it up in the meantime. There’s no need to use any app from nVent to get it going.
While I’ll say I’m super annoyed they don’t offer a local API, it’s not a sketchy company/fly by night operation. The integration works pretty well.
Beyond that, the controller can display either the room air temperature (there’s a temp sensor in the box itself), or the floor temperature. It’s quite possible the mismatch you’re seeing is you’ve got a different one set to display versus what you’re expecting.
Thanks! Adding an update in case anyone finds this searching for a similar issue:
2 takeaways:
I mentioned that there was a mis-calibrated temperature sensor. It turned out to be something very different! When the floor was installed, they placed TWO temperature sensors — I guess intended as a primary and a backup. Smart engough, but it turns out that the installers connected BOTH temperature sensors to the NuHeat controller’s terminals in parallel. This means that the readings were significantly off (like wiring two resistors in parallel). The solution was simple: just disconnect one of the 2 sensors and all works!
I did end up installing the nuheat integration and… it has been fine. Credit where it’s due. I lose a little bit of my “cloud free” street cred, and somebody at that company’s IT department could see my heater schedule and tie it to my email address (required to activate the wifi features on the thermostat) and I guess could tell when I’m out of town… or potentially even turn my heater on/off remotely. So not ideal but still workable.