This is my first post here and I hope to find some good advice from you (more experienced) guys and galls…
I’ve recently started building a HA environment after 13 years of ‘automation’ through a Z-wave Vera Plus en Hue Bridge.
Fisrt let me tell you a little about me…
I’m no developer, but a ‘I haven’t done it before, so I think I can do it’ kind of guy.
So recently, me and my new best friend ChatGPT have built a Homeserver, running Home Assistant OS and next to that a fully automated media server.
I also like to use my hands so in the last couple of years I’ve installed a complete Enphase PV system and replaced my entire electrical distribution box. (All by the book an certified now) Which I plan to fully integrate into HA in the future.
My last hands on project was a new fireplace, as you can see here… (Yes, I’m quite proud of myself for this one so I had to show it, sorry )
But now here’s my challenge… When the fireplace heats up our house (and spirits) some other rooms can get quite chilly since my Nest thinks it’s warm enough. (located in the livingroom, near the fireplace).
So I’m looking to install TRV’s in all the rooms to control the heat separatly in every room. Preferably without a lot of coding… since I’m not a coder.
What advice can you give me? I’m looking at the Danfoss Ally Zigbee TRV’s i.c.w. my current Nest (moved to a room without heating).
This way the TRV’s can open (when under set temperature) and let HA know they want heat, who then tells my Nest which turns on the central heating boiler. (And off again when no heat is needed).
Can you guys advice me on a few things:
The hardware, any experience integrating the danfoss Ally TRV’s in HA?
do’s an dont’s
possible problems I might run in to
Well that’s it for now… The misses is asking for some attention now.
Welcome to forum.
It pretty much depends on your house and habits, what’s best way.
If you have well insulated house and you are used to keep the house comfortable all day long, I wouldn’t even install TRVs. Especially if you have already traditional thermostatic valves.
Just move the Nest to better location and add some temp sensors for additional control.
Do you want different temperatures in each room? In that case not only will you need a temperature sensor to monitor it, but a valve to regulate the heat as well, room by room basis.
Do your costings closely - is it cheaper to control the entire house as one unit, or retrofit all the added infrastructure to individually control each (or some) rooms? How long will the payback period be?
You may want to slipstream on clues if you call for a few quotes from experienced tradespeople to upgrade your house.
My house is not insulated, so i have a similar problem - different temperatures across the rooms - and it’s hard to control them with only one “main” thermostat. So i installed Sonoff TRV’s on my radiators, and i use them with external temperature sensor (xiaomi BLE), installed way away from the radiator, to report actual temperature. I have sonoff’s connected to HA via ZHA (now i’m also testing Z2M, and it also works, but it’s more work to setup). Results are more than excellent (for me at least). Temperature is constant to appr. 0.5 degree (termp.is set to 23):
Note that drop below 22.8 is the result of lower night temperature in the stove, so radiator temperature actually doesn’t reach needed temp. to successfully heat up to 23 degrees.
Do your costings closely - is it cheaper to control the entire house as one unit, or retrofit all the added infrastructure to individually control each (or some) rooms? How long will the payback period be?
You may want to slipstream on clues if you call for a few quotes from experienced tradespeople to upgrade your house.
Thanks, but I’m not so much interested in cost as I am in comfort and fun setting it up.
It’s sound advice but I like to tinker around a bit with this.
To me it doesn’t sound so much…
Consider that they are noisy, need frequent battery changes, they have room temp sensor in wrong spot and so on…
That Danfoss has some “adaptive AI self learning” feature, that can be Really fun…
I guess this depends on trv type… ? My sonoffs are prety quite (i can’t hear them working even from close) , while batteries last (at least) one season. Of course, you must put in some decent batteries, not cheapest ones…
Well, i guess that battery longevity is also dependant on connection type… sonoffs are zigbee. Although i’ve searched for wifi types when i was looking i’m glad that i took zigbee. Lower consumption and, if i compare with some of my battery operated wifi devices, faster reactiom time. And, so far they are reliable, hopefully it will stay this way.
I bought my first one in EU, then i bought pack of 4 on banggood, together with shipping they were cheaper than 3 in EU, and all 5 are working perfectly (so far…)
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