Thermostat Recommendations (UK)

Hardware
1

I would prefer something that can be controlled locally. For example zigbee or matter.

One hard requirement. Has to be wallmountable. I have to put it in the place the thermostat currently is and there is no where to set anything down on my landing.

I currently have a nest thermostat E (not local integrated through nest integration) downstairs but looking to add a thermostat upstairs. I am very willing to replace this thermostat as well if a good recommendation exists. Both thermostats only control boiler on/off and there is no zoning in my house. But ive added TRVs to all my radiators so ill be doing my zoning that way. The TRVs are all aqara zigbee trvs.

2

Regarding wall mounting - I bought some small perspex shelves on Amazon and have my Google Home display on one of them. It’s pretty unobstrusive and I think it might help you with that requirement.

FWIW I have Hive (Which is wall mounted :wink: ) and the cloud integration works currently but expected to stop working next summer, whence I shall probably migrate it to Z2M. I hear good things about Tado but from what I understand, it uses a proprietary wireless protocol and should Tado do something to break the integration, it wouldn’t offer the same options that Hive owner have (Due to them using zigbee)

BTW - loving your work on the mushroom thread dude.

3

Side note: Hive works well using Z2M, Give me a shout if you want any pointers when you decide to move across.

4

I would like to know more please. Didnt know hive was zigbee at all

5

Yes, it communicates to the hub via Zigbee. Chat about it tomorrow?

6

Its fine, feel free to just put your pointers here when you have time. I wont be buying and setting up anything for a little bit now anyway :slight_smile:

7

I use Anna from plugwise

https://www.plugwise.com/product/anna/?lang=en

The thermostat isn’t wireless, it’s expecting you to use the wire from an old wired thermostat to communicate to the bit that controls the boiler.

8

I didn’t think 2 thermostats with only 1 zone was recommended ? They’d surely compete with each other ? ie one is cold and calls for heat, the other is warmer and doesn’t ?

9

No, don’t do that.

10

So my plan is - and tell me if i am completely off base with this idea.

my boiler does not support any zoning for upstairs or downstairs, so i have Aqara TRVs on every radiator (except one as a precaution as i have read that the boiler should always have somewhere to flow, just in case).

I currently have 1 thermostat downstairs (Nest Thermostat E) that controls the boiler coming on and off, the thermostat upstairs is just the built in one, not a smart one, and it is permanently off.

the way i operate my thermostat currently is that it is always “on”, but set to 15c, and only when i want it to actually heat the house does it turn on. the TRVs listen out of the temperature set on the Thermostat and use that same temperature on them. (they use an external temp sensor to determine if they are up to that target, because we cant rely on the temp built in… right next the heat source).

So i wanted to replace the one upstairs with a smart one too and have the same way that my TRVs currently listen for the temp set, but change it so the upstairs listen to the upstairs Thermostat, and the downstairs listen to the downstairs thermostat.

the thermostat only needs to control the boiler being on or off, that is it. the TRVs do the rest. because my heating automation does this:

Trigger = A TRVs Heat Action went idle - check are all of the TRVs Idle? if yes. turn heat on Thermostat down to 15 (turning it off effectively).
If not do nothing.

Trigger = The thermostat is within 0.5c of the target - check are all of the TRVs Idle? if no. bump the target on the thermostat 1c (to ensure the boiler doenst turn off before all TRVs are at target).

All i want to do, is do the above, but for an upstairs and a downstairs zone. i am not so worried about one calling for heat and one not, because the radiators themselves are controlling the zoning, it wont get too hot downstairs if the upstairs is calling for heat, because all of the radiators downstairs will be closed.

11

I went the other way; I set all my (mainly dumb) TRV’s to achieve balanced temp throughout the house and essentially fixed them at those settings.

I control the house via the main thermostat & monitor the rooms with temp sensors for signs of drift (which hasn’t really happened).

I annually pseudo-calibrate the temp sensors in the autumn by placing them next to the thermostat, watching the readings and then offsetting any drift. I then re-check that the TRV balance is still good. That whole process takes a few days but needs very little of my time (as most of it is allowing the temp sensors to soak).

I only use smart-TRVs in rooms where I want a different setting at different times (eg: bedrooms ‘low’ during the day, and ‘balanced setting’ in the morning / evening).

12

So what i want to be clear about is - with my plan there wouldnt be any issue with having 2 seperate thermostats right? @brewston @jchh

13

I dont think I could confidently answer that sorry. I just had a thought in the back of my head regarding 2 thermostats so thought I’d mention it…

14

I’m also not sure.

In my mind you either need a thermostat or a smart-TRV. Surely, if a smart-TRV calls for heat then the boiler needs to provide it regardless of what the thermostat is saying, therefore isn’t the thermostat is redundant?

15

The TRV has no link to the boiler itself. it is just Zigbee. the Thermosstats will be doing the calling for heat and the TRV just follow the temp target set on the respective Thermostat. the only thing the TRVs control from the boiler is turning off, because with my automation i am not allowing the Thermostat to stop calling for heat until all TRVs are idle.

does that make sense? @brewston @jchh

16

Honestly, not sure. Save your current automations as a fall-back and try it.