Introduction.
(This is work in progress, but please give your feedback and I will update).I've often thought that there must be a more efficient method of controlling a home central heating system. I at one stage I did contemplate using an old PC to control a series of relays in order add additional zones to my system. This nearly came a reality with the introduction of the Raspberry PI computer, but due to one reason or another this never got off the ground.
Then one day when I was surfing the internet, I came across the Honeywell Evohome system see http://www.evohome.info/.
I took the plunge and invested in a system. However one of the issues I have found is the complete lack of any detailed information on the product, hence I have created this blog to share my experiences and frustrations with everyone.
IMPORTANT NOTE, I HAVE NO QUALIFICATION IN CENTRAL HEATING. EVERYTHING WRITTEN HERE HAS BEEN WRITTEN FROM AN AMATEUR POINT OF VIEW AND SHOULD NOT REPLACE PROFESSIONAL ADVICE.
My configuration.
I have a "Y Plan" central heating system, in other words I have a conventional gas powered boiler which supplies the radiators and heats the water indirectly in the storage cylinder.
I have 3 bedrooms, a dining room and living room, therefore I will need to control 5 zones.
I started by installing the "Evohome base kit" and then a couple of weeks later, I installed the "Evohome hot water kit". Since then, my 4 pack of HR92 radiator valves have arrived and I have fitted them as well.
My current set up is a follows:
1 x Colour control unit.
1 x BDR91 relay to control the heating demand.
1 x BDR91 relay to control the hot water demand.
1 x HR92 radiator valve in the living room.
2 x HR92 radiator valves in the main bedroom.
1 x HR92 radiator valve in the study.
The dining room has no valves at all (this is the room the old thermostat was in) and is controlled by the control units temperature sensor.
The spare bedroom has a standard TRV.
On back order I have 2 more HR92s to install in the dining room and the spare room.
Update: my 2 x back ordered HR92s have arrived and I have fitted them. See important note below in binding section.
Update: I have now added the mobile access unit, to allow internet connectivity.
Description of Evohome components.
Documentation.
The base pack includes a "User Guide" and "Installation Guide". I work in the IT / Telecommunications industry and I personally found the manuals a little lacking. For example no indication of what the icons mean in the user guide and no detailed description of each menu item in the installation guide.
It is also obvious that Honeywell are in the heating business and not the consumer electronics or IT industry. For example there is no information is given on how to perform firmware updates and nor is there any information on APIs etc. I am yet to find out if there is anyway to find out what software version you have.
Honeywell also prefer you to have the system installed via an authorised installer.
Touch screen control unit.
The unit is approx 14cm x 10cm and has an approx 11cm (diag) colour screen.
The screen is touch sensitive and clear. I did find the touch screen a little unresponsive at times. There is no on / off switch. The unit comes with a black and white set of interchangeable bezels and a wall mount kit is also available. I don't know if there is a way of resetting the unit, should it lock up. There is a factory reset menu option, but I note this does not reset the real time clock.
It has an internal rechargeable battery, which is charged via a table top charger.
On the right hand side (as you look at the unit is a mini USB socket. I tried plugging the unit in to my PC, but nothing happened!!!The screen is touch sensitive and clear. I did find the touch screen a little unresponsive at times. There is no on / off switch. The unit comes with a black and white set of interchangeable bezels and a wall mount kit is also available. I don't know if there is a way of resetting the unit, should it lock up. There is a factory reset menu option, but I note this does not reset the real time clock.
It has an internal rechargeable battery, which is charged via a table top charger.
On the rear is a removable cover, which reveals some contacts on the PCB, which presumably are used for programming in the factory?
BDR91 Wireless relay box
(Two shown here, mounted side by side, the left one is for the heating and the right one is for the hot water.)
Note: Honeywell recommend that the relays are mounted at least 25cm away from other devices (and each other), unlike my set up!
The BDR91 consist of a back plate with electrical screw terminals and a front plate with the electronics. The device is approx 8.5 x 8.5cm and has various mounting holes to replace thermostats and programmers.Note: Honeywell recommend that the relays are mounted at least 25cm away from other devices (and each other), unlike my set up!
In the top right and corner the is a push button and two LEDs, 1 x red and 1 x green.
The button is used to bind the device and also to manually operate the relay.
The electrical contacts consist of power N,L,L and a set of changover contacts A,B,C ("A" being common).
In my setup these devices are used to control the heating demand and hot water demand to the boiler.
Note the green LED on the left hand heating relay, showing that the relay is on and heat is demanded form the boiler. This is the only indication that you have that the boiler is on (there is no indication on the controller). Hence why I mounted n clear view.
Hot water kit.
The hot water kit consist of 2 parts a CS92 "Wireless Cylinder Thermostat" and BDR91 "Wireless relay box". The wireless cylinder thermostat, also comes with two sensors, a cylinder sensor and an immersion sensor.The thermostat is battery powered by 2 x AA batteries, which I know gives flexibility on where to mount the device, however, I personally found this a little annoying as my central heating junction box is next to my cylinder, so I would have liked to have seem a mains powered option.
Wireless Cylinder Thermostat, picture above
I used the heat sensor, which is strapped to the cylinder in the normal way (see picture to the right).
Pairing of the thermostat is completed using a button on the front of the unit.
Wireless Radiator Controllers (HR92).
These are the replacement for the existing TRVs and are essential for allowing the zoning of the Evohome system. They are powered by 2 x AA batteries and are a direct screw on replacement. They separate in to two halves and in an emergency eg, if the batteries are flat, you can remove the head and turn he valve manually. An LCD display is provided for information and programming. If you have a room like mine, with two radiators, you can use two of these together in one zone. IN this situation the control shows an average of the room temperature.
The valves can be programmed to show room temperature or programmed (set) temperature. There are also options for window opening and also an optional window sensor is available.
Installation.
Main control unit.
This is probably the easiest part of the installation, remove the plastic protective film, mount on it's stand and plug in.On first installation you are prompted to follow a wizard, see "Operation and description of menu functions below"
Note on my set up.
My old central heating programmer was mounted on the wall on the upstairs landing and my junction box is in the loft along with the hot water cylinder and pump.The Honeywell manual says to replace the room thermostat and hot water connections with the Evohome boiler relays (BDR91), so my first thought was to mount these next to the junction box in the loft.
However when I removed the old programmer with view of replacing it with a blanking plate, I realised that the BDR91 boiler relay is designed as a direct replacement, with the same mounting holes, although this is not documented in the manuals.
At the time I only had one BDR91 unit, which was to control the central heating, so mounted as a direct replacement for the programmer. I later added another BDR91, to control the hot water, see below. See note above re 25cm clearance.
Boiler relay (Central heating).
As mentioned above I made a direct physical replacement with the existing programmer. From an electrical point of view this was a little more complex. The first issue was that I had to think about the circuitry and the fact I was not following the Honeywell installation diagram.It was easy to pick up the live and neutral to power the BDR91 relay and also easy to loop the live over to the BDR91 relay contact "A". I then connected the "B" relay contact to old programmer wire, which was connected to terminal "4" in the loft junction box.
The last element to enable the central heating to work, was to remove the room thermostat connection and link "4" and "5" in the loft junction box.
I now add an issue with hot water, as I had no way to turn it on and off. So I compromised and provided a permanent live feed to terminal "6" of the junction box, as a temporary solution until the hot water kit turned up with the 2nd BDR91. So the cylinder stat was left to turn the hot water on and off. I DO NOT ADVISE DOING THIS.
This set up worked fine, albeit that the hot water was no longer timed.
Boiler relay (Hot water).
Having installed the central heating BDR91, once the hot water kit arrived, with the 2nd BDR91, I set about installing that. To make my life easier, I was going to install in the BDR91 in the loft as a replacement for the cylinder thermostat as per the instructions. However one of things I found useful with the central heating BDR91 was to be able to see the LED indicator* and also to be able to manually operate the boiler when I pushed the button on the front, something that would be inconvenient if it was mounted in the loft.*=There is no indication on the controller the the boiler is on.
Hot water sensor and transmitter.
This was a relatively easy setup, I cut a way a little more insulation from the cylinder and user the old thermostat strap to hold the new sensor in place. I mounted the wireless cylinder thermostat on a nearby wooden upright.Wireless Radiator Controllers (HR92).
These simply replace the exiting TRV head and are simple screw on replacement. They separate in to two parts. A note in the manual tells your to fully turn the base part fully anticlockwise before assembly, which I did. But I suspect this is not necessary, because one minute after you lock them in place, they perform a cycle routine.Binding
Once the physical installation is complete, then all device need to bond to the controller. Although the generic process is the same, each device is slightly different in operation to complete. It is a little like everything was made by a different team and then made to work with the controller.In a nutshell the device is put in to "bind" mode and then yu set the controller to find it. Sometimes I found this a little hit and miss process. There are also some peculiarities, for example you can pair the heating relay from within it's own menu and from within the hot water menu.
IMPORTANT: If your system (like mine) is a traditional Y plan, ie has a three way valve. You configure the heating relay in the hot water set up menu options ie Sundial valves / Stored Hot Water.
Once I had converted all my TRVs to HR92s, I had also configured "Boiler demand" and this really confuses the unit, boiler demand, should NOT be configured.
Operation and description of menu functions.
Conclusion / Pros
The system is quite a sophisticated and flexible heating control system and is has enough variety of components to suit most homes. Although there was a previous black and white version, I still see this as a "leading edge" idea and I am sure we'll see many competitor products come to market, we already have Google's Nest and British Gas has Hive. Although nether have control down to a room by room basis, like Evohome.
Because the radiator valves are controlled via a motor. The amount the vlave is open can be precisely controlled.
Cons
It's always easy to criticise a product and don't get me wrong, I DO like the Evohome. However it does have some negatives:- Documentation: I don't know if authorised installers receive more information, but I would like to see a more detailed manual made available.
- Software: A couple of times, after I have amended my system, strange things have happened and I have had to do a factory reset.
- Economy: The product is advertised as an energy saving device. I was a little surprised that there is not much in the way of prediction in the software. For example, two rooms can be set to 21 degrees. I have watched the system turn on for one room, turn off and then 5 mins later turn on for the second room. Which can't be efficient. I would like to see other rooms get topped up by 1 degree of the set temperature, if the heating is on (and have this as programmable). On the same basis, if the heating is on and the hot water is lower lower than the mid range target, then why not also heat the hot water, making use of the boiler whilst it is on?
Bugs
- If you manually adjust a radiator valve temperature setting, the new setting is not reflected on the control unit.
FAQ
I would like to express my thanks to Richard of http://www.overallmaintenance.co.uk/ for supplying some of the answers to my FAQsCan the base kit be used on it's own, whilst I wait for my other components to arrive?
Yes, the controller has an inbuilt thermostat, so you can control your exiting heating valve. If you don;t purchase the hot water kit, you will need to have your hot water controlled separately. You could run Evohome like this permanently, but then it just becomes a very expensive wireless thermostat.
Why does the control unit bleep every so often?
This is the low battery warning, which comes on after about an hour.
Is there a way to "hard" reset the controller?
No that anyone is aware.
No that anyone is aware.
Unanswered questions
Can the controller's firmware be upgraded?Most probably, but is via approved maintainer / installer.
Great post I'm looking to build up my Evo system over the next couple of months. One question, if I want to control hot water from my Evo I need the Hot Water kit? I already have a spare BRD91 box which I would need to wire in and then just buy the Wireless Cyclinder thermo?
ReplyDeleteYes that is correct. You need the CS92.
ReplyDeleteTwo annoyances:-
ReplyDelete1) If off its base for over an hour (I think) it starts beeping once a minute until you put it back on its base, even though it's got plenty of battery left.
2) The website indicates that Comfort Connect is compatible with IE, Firefox and Safari, which is rubbish. Comfort Connect is a smartphone app, the mobile gateway will NOT allow control through a web browser (although the US version apparently does).
Great Review! I agree that an excellent product is let down by sparse and inconsistent technical information.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I'm an enthusiastic amateur and I'm a long time user of Honeywell wireless products. I installed a DT92 wireless room stat many years ago. Then, 3 years ago I installed the original monochrome evohome system. Yesterday I installed the colour controller as an upgrade, and also the Mobile access kit.
On 4 or 5 occasions I've helped other local folk (and plumbers/electricians too!) with configuring evohome.
I think the single thing that most often confuses folk is how the wireless rad stats work. They are '2 devices in 1' - a temperature sensor to send data TO the controller and an actuator that opens or closes the valve under wireless control FROM the evohome controller. If a zone has only one rad and rad valve, its quite straightforward: the sensor in the valve sends temperature info to the controller, and the controller then sends open and close commands to the valve based on the received temperature data and the schedule for that zone. So, both the sensor and the valve must be bound to the controller for that zone.
For zones with two or more radiators, there must be ONLY 1 sensor bound to the controller for the zone, but ALL the valve actuators must be simultaneously (not consecutively) bound to the evohome controller for that zone. Most commonly the sensor will be one of the radiator valve sensors - but it need not be. For example, in our lounge zone there are 2 rads but the controller is also in the lounge, so we use its temperature sensor to control both valve actuators. In our hall and landing there are 3 rads, but I am using the original DT92 wireless stat as he sensor for the hall & landing zone.
I do have several queries that maybe some of your more experienced readers might be able to help with:
I have a HB85 outside temperature sensor. Its reading was displayed on the home screen of my original monochrome evohome controller. I would love it if the controller used the outside temperature data as an input to its optimisation function - but it doesn't. But having a convenient display of outside temperature is useful to me - I'm a keen gardener! With my shiny new colour and internet enabled controller, the HB85 reading is displayed on the top left of the screen when NOT on line. The literature says that when online, the controller picks up online temperature information for my chosen location and displays it on the screen. So what am I seeing now: HB85 temperature, or online temperature?
Also, does anyone have more info or advice on the more obscure controller settings like optimisation, window, hot water differential, hot water overrun, and suitable settings for cycle rate and min on time (I can't get info for my particular boiler),
I am too looking at the evohome product and appreciate your review. I also came across this little add-on that seems like it opens this product up even more. I believe this is the "if this then that" which means its kind of like programming some cleverness (where the standard controller lacks). so you can set it to come on when your travelling home or go off when you leave the house or increase temp if snowing etc...
ReplyDeletehttps://ifttt.com/honeywell_evohome
Hi guys,
ReplyDeletedoes anybody know whether two wireless relays can be bound to one controller? One would be controlled by radiator valves (one pipework zone upstairs) and the other one would be controlled by the internal sensor of the controller for separate pipework downstairs?
Thanks for your comments
Martin
Hi Martin,
ReplyDeleteThe wireless relays are connected to the boiler to fire it up when there is demand. Are you trying to operate two separate boilers over two zones? From looking at the settings you can only have 1 wireless relay paired with 1 controller. If you only have 1 boiler then the system is pretty flexible to do what you require.
Could you give some more information on what you would like to do?
Michael.
Hi Micheal, thanks for your input. I have evohome installed (controller, relay, 2x radiator controllers, mobile access kit) controlling two bedrooms on 1st floor. The original heating in the house is as follows:
DeleteTwo zones with two separate pumps - one for each floor. The radiator valves upstairs control the relay box which switches on the boiler along with pump for 1st floor pipework. I'm looking to get the ground floor hooked up as well but not via radiator controllers as both living room and kitchen downstairs are prette small and have the door open most of the time so I would just use the downstairs zone as it is by switching the pump for downstairs via the second relay. Hope that makes sense now.
Thanks again
Martin
Martin,
DeleteSo if your controller is downstairs, you could use that as the temperature sensor for downstairs and therefore all you would need to buy is the relay for zone valve.
Martin,
ReplyDeleteIf I understand you correctly the answer is yes.
You can configure an additional zone and have the relay control the zone valve.
However be aware you will also need a temperature sensor for that zone (which can be the evo home unit, although in your case I believe this will be somewhere else in your home).
Ian
Hi Ian,
Deletethank you for your reply. I think you do understand me correctly but just in case you would need some clarification in my question I'm gona copy/paste my response/more detailed explanation to Michael:
'I have evohome installed (controller, relay, 2x radiator controllers, mobile access kit) controlling two bedrooms on 1st floor. The original heating in the house is as follows:
Two zones with two separate pumps - one for each floor. The radiator valves upstairs control the relay box which switches on the boiler along with pump for 1st floor pipework. I'm looking to get the ground floor hooked up as well but not via radiator controllers as both living room and kitchen downstairs are prette small and have the door open most of the time so I would just use the downstairs zone as it is by switching the pump for downstairs via the second relay. Hope that makes sense now.'
I was thinking that if using of the second relay was possible, I would use the internal sensor of the controller unit to control tge relay downstairs. So the controller obviously would need to be located downstairs.
Thanks again
Martin
A good and sincere like Post you were posting ... i actually like and appreciate you & offers recommendation you to stay posting
ReplyDeleteinnekt | panasonic cctv
Hi Ian,
ReplyDeleteThanks for this blog, it's helped me out quite a lot.
I have just purchased the Evohome kit and, like you, I am an IT bod who likes to play. My original system is run using a previous Honeywell system so I thought it would be quite straight forward to install, and, for the most part, it has been.
The lack of information is frustrating but it is supposed to be just a guide for the installer. I found the Honeywell training site for installers and registered (http://youlearn.honeywelluk.com). It does go into the instal process a little deeper and explains things like how the manual override on a TRV doesn't show up on the controller as you mentioned in your blog.
To my question. I have set the system up and connected to the original BDR91. My setup is a lot simpler than yours as I have a combo boiler. There appears to be a massive delay with the relay switching off. If I manually set the temp on a TRV, the relay switches on or off instantly. If I raise the temp via the controller, after the TRV has updated, usually 4 minutes, the relay switches on. Now, when I decrease the temp or switch the heating off, the relay can take over 30 minutes to switch off.
Is it normal for the system to take so long to switch the relay off when using the controller?
Thanks,
Anthony
Hi Anthony - I'm observing the same behaviour with the relays as you. I have an S plan arrangement with one valve for heat and one for water (no direct boiler demand relay). If I use the controller to switch off the heating ("Heating Off" quick action) the green light on the heating valve relay stays on, so my heating valve is still open and demanding heat from the boiler I assume. It does quickly set all the TRVs to 5C, so this should result in the TRVs closing, but the heating circuit still flowing, which I'm not sure is what I'd expect (the valve should close and boiler stops). It had me and my installer puzzled when commissioning the install, and he left me to work out the reason as he was confident his wiring was correct.
DeletePerhaps the controller is trying to be clever and using some of the undocumented advanced parameters (cycles, overrun etc) to leave the valve open for some reason.
did you ever find out why the boiler was running on for so long?
Deletemine does the same
Yes, mine does as well! Even the 'Heating off' quick action doesn't have any effect' Also, the CH relay override button doesn't often work (usually the green Led goes off briefly, before coming on again!) Did anyone figure out why this is happening & how to resolve it please?
DeleteYes, mine does as well! Even the 'Heating off' quick action doesn't have any effect' Also, the CH relay override button doesn't often work (usually the green Led goes off briefly, before coming on again!) Did anyone figure out why this is happening & how to resolve it please?
DeleteHi guys. Just bought the latest controller with built in wifi connection ( no need for the gateway device) and HW kit plus a single HR92 so I can test the connectivity before investing in multiple HR92's. The intention was to initially simply replace my existing CH controller running an SPlan system. It's currently on a test bench but I'm finding that despite following the guided configuration, it really doesn't like being in that mode I.e. with the BDR 91 not being a boiler relay (first option in the guided configuration and essential, according to the supplier, to run an SPlan system). I'm getting regular comms errors logged by the controller. The binding process is also (pardon the pun) a bit of a bind. However, if I reconfigure it a a full blown zonal system (BDR as a boiler relay, clue in the name?) It works well. There is a delay in the boiler running on after heating demand stops but that's simply due ( according to my supplier) to the fact that, as a battery device, the HR92 only communicates with the controller every few minutes to preserve battery life. Looks like I've just got to bite the bullet and buy lots more HR92's
ReplyDeleteHi. I have 2 questions!
ReplyDeleteQuestion 1 - Is the Evohome installed on the basis that your heating is on all the time and that you then control each thermostat individually or do people still use a timer?
Question 2 - I run a 4 bed B&B with my cottage attached to it, so, at the moment, I have 1 boiler with 2 separate Salus Wireless thermostats and 2 valves so that each end of the house can be controlled separately all wired into a timer in the kitchen. I was wondering whether 1 Honeywell controller can operate both ends of the house? 1 controller, 2 wireless relays attached to the boiler and 16 TVRs?
I do hope this all makes sense and that some of you may be able to help me.
Many Thanks
David
David,
DeleteRE Question 1, The EvoHome controller becomes the timer. You set the time and temperature for each zone.
RE Question 2, I'm not an expert and your setup probably needs some consultancy from an EvoHome professional. But one thing the spec sheet says, is that the system is limited to 12 zones (effectively rooms) so it may not be big enough for your requirement! The spec sheet is here: https://www.dhsspares.co.uk/userfiles/Product_Manuals/Evohome_specification_sheet.pdf
Hi Ian,
DeleteThat's my interpretation of the info I've read, thank you. I'd better save my pennies and effectively get 2 systems, 1 for each end of the house! I've looked on Honeywell for installers but there are none within 50 miles of my location in Dorset. Would you happen to know anywhere else i can find one?
I don't but hopefully someone will see your post.
DeleteI suspect a single system would your needs. I have 16 rads (with TRV's) and underfloor heating, you can assign more than 1 TRV to a zone and then indicate whether it is a single room or separate rooms. This will then use the TRV's as a single virtual TRV (i.e. the first one bound will monitor the temperature, call for heat and instruct all the TRV's to open when it is cold) or in the case of separate rooms, each TRV will use the zone settings and independently control the radiator and call for heat to achieve the target.
DeleteHi. I also live in Dorset and had my evohome system installed by P.Elford Ltd in Dorchester. S Plan system. Have been experiencing numerous problems since installation, mainly COMMS type errors. CH, Hw Relays and Hw cylinder temperature transmitted now moved further from each other and other devices (eg motorised valves, consumer box & wiring centre etc). Relay reset/cleared and re-bound. Only problem now is CH relay (and boiler) often doesn't turn off and programmed time (should do so within 3-4 minutes apparently). Even activatinh the 'Heating off' quick action has no effect. Even pushing the CH relay override button doesn't often work (the green Led goes off briefly then comes on again!!) Anyone got any ideas on why this is happening please? Thanks. Mike
DeleteSorry for some typos above....trying to type on small mobile screen / keypad!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteIn reply to Q2, I'm sure I read somewhere (over a year ago, whem I was first looking at an evohome system) that you can link two evohome systems to increase the total number of zones possible. I would suggest you check this with Honeywell or a recognised installer though.
DeleteIn reply to Q2, I'm sure I read somewhere (over a year ago, whem I was first looking at an evohome system) that you can link two evohome systems to increase the total number of zones possible. I would suggest you check this with Honeywell or a recognised installer though.
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI've (2 weeks ago) installed 4 HR92s and the latest evohome controller. The controller is bound to a relay for boiler control, which was used previously by a Honeywell CM927. I have configured the zones and schedules I need, but currently the system seems to be turning on the heating every 10 minutes (for about a minute) whatever the required temperature is. So even if I have the required temp at 16C and the room is 24C it still regularly turns on the heating.
Any ideas as to why this is happening?
Thanks,
Richard
It was a while ago when I installed mine, but I seem to remember that out of the box, the relay binding is incorrect. Also given you had previous config, it might be worth resetting the controller and going through the set up from scratch using the wizard.
DeleteMartin,
ReplyDeleteIt is a while since I set my system up, but the default configuration is not for a traditional "Y" plan,so you end up with an additional boiler relay configured that you don't need, but I would imagine the installer has experience and configured correctly.
I would imagine the comms fault is that the controller can't talk to the BDR91, have you tried configuring with the control closer to the BDR91?
Hi, Has anybody had the following problem please. When setting schedules for the different zones, the boxes for the time periods disappear. Otherwise everything works fine.
ReplyDeleteNot noticed that one. Does it happen often?
DeleteHi, I have had a plumber installed the evohome system, with wireless controller and 4 radiator valves in 4 rooms creating 4 zones. All bound with the controller. The issue is that although I have set a target temp for each zone, the actual temp remains below the target and doesn't ever get to the target. For eg the target is set to 21C , however the controller shows the room temp as 16C and it doesn't change. The radiators remain cold, which means that the boiler isn't working to heat it up. The system is installed for last 2 days and all of us are getting really cold in the night, because of this, as the temp is not rising. What could be the problem?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteDo you see a green light on the boiler relay? (white box connected to the boiler) Does the boiler sound like its running? Do you have hot water? I assume you have a combi boiler.
DeleteIf yes to all that then it could be that the individual zones haven't been paired correctly. Do all radiators with the new vales remain cold? Do they make a noise (the motor in the valve) if you set the heating as "off" and then after few mins back to normal? If you do hear a noise then it could be the other side of the radiator is off. If you don't hear a noise then it could be batteries or again bad pairing.
also you haven't had any power cuts have you? If there is a red light on the boiler relay, press the button on the relay to reset it (should go green).
All from memory so I apologise if my advice is not 100% accurate.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThis works:
ReplyDeleteYou should be able to check the firmware version by doing a quick tap on 'settings' on the evohome main screen followed by a long tap (arround 20s) on 'device settings'. The system should then display an info screen with the device id and application software version followed by a date etc.
Found here:
https://www.domoticz.com/wiki/Evohome
Regards,
Damjan
I have 4 evohome hr91 radiator valves on main rooms but would like to run the additional radiators downstairs off the evohome without evohome radiator valves. How do I do this?
ReplyDeleteSearching for good information
ReplyDeleteboiler installation kettering
I created a zone for the main controller using its internal thermosat. This controls all none HR91 radiators on its thermosat and their TRV.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteHello, thanks for the blog, it is great! I was thinking about the position of display, how did you turn it? Usually it comes with the text inverted... I'm really interesting on it because I want to do the same kind of installation...
ReplyDeleteRegards
My display was always that way round. I do not know how to change it.
DeleteYes, it is possible to have the other version with the display upside down (only the letters of course), but you need to buy the Spanish version (for instance). Once you buy the valve, you can not turn the display.
DeleteHi, I've installed my relay and it switches boiler on and off no probs.issue is have is a low high pitched sound coming from relay.any ideas if this means its faulty? Chess, paul
ReplyDeleteHi, I've installed my relay and it switches boiler on and off no probs.issue is have is a low high pitched sound coming from relay.any ideas if this means its faulty? Chess, paul
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem. Everything works fine but I hear a low high pitched sound coming from BDR91.
DeleteGood morning,
ReplyDeleteI'm looking to install EvoHome alongside my existing system, if possible.
At the moment I have a system with 4 zones, controlled by motorised valves remotely using 4 Delta Dore 600 TH remote room thermostats to communicate with the boiler relay.
I want to keep 3 zones as they are, and the in 4th zone install EvoHome motorised TRVs on each radiator (3) in order to have a better control. The motorised zone valve for that zone can be set to open manually and disconnected from the thermostat.
Questions:
1) Would the EvoHome system be able to communicate with the Delta Dore relay already installed for the gas combi boiler and motorised valves?
2) If not, would I need to install a BDR91 for each of the 3 motorised valves plus 1 for the boiler ?
Hope the issues are clear and look forward to a response.
Perhaps someone could resume exactly what EvoHome components I need to buy in order to run the system as described above.
Thanks in advance
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ReplyDeleteOn the touch screen control unit, long press "settings" to enter hidden "System Configuration" menu and select the tick. Then select "Zone Settings" from "Installation menu". Select "edit zone" and then select the zone (radiator) you wish to lock. Go to 2nd page and select "Application settings" then select "local override" and on the next screen click "disabled" finally click the tick to confirm.
ReplyDeleteHi i dont beleive my question has been asked before and i cant seem to find any info on the net, today i purchased the evo v3, with hw kit and zone valves, so thats fine for the standard heating and hw control, however i have recently linked in my stove boiler using a heatstore linking indirectly to my boilers/ch piped circut, what i've currrntly got is a wired tank stat on this heat store which depending o temp either switches on the boiler or a secondary pump to pick up heat from the store. So what i would like to do is to be able to control this tankstat tem via the evohome i presume only way would be using a second hw kit but i cant seem to identify if it can paird two of these and most of all be displayable/controllable, any idears?
ReplyDeleteHi, have evohome installed with a Y Plan Valve, got a strange but annoying problem, the H/W is fine with its BDR91 but the heating acts up, from scratch it is fine, when the temp is set to higher it fires up, however when the temp is satisfied the signal is sent and the LED on the BDR turns off but the boiler stays on (presumably because the white wire is still live).
ReplyDeleteHas anyone with a Y Plan come across this?
Thanks,
Anthony
I have this very problem, did you work it out?
DeleteHi, Nice information. Really a good blog post.
ReplyDeleteAutomotive Heater Core Supplier Australia
Hi, great post, very informative.
ReplyDeleteI have also just bought the EvoHome system along with the hot water kit. I have a Santon Premier Plus PP250B Unvented Indirect cylinder, I have scoured the internet and other than people saying it can be done I can find no where actually explaining how the insertion sensor can be installed in this cylinder. The cylinder is very similar to the MegaFlo (it's actually made by the same company). Can anyone point me to detailed installation instructions or provide them please? I would be so greatful!
Sorry for hijacking your blog Ian, but you seem to get alot of EvoHome traffic.
Thanks
Elliot
Can anyone tell me if the Evohome controller allows for one-touch 'boosting' of heating (either in one or multiple zones) and hot water for a defined period, e.g. 30mins, 1 hour, etc.?
ReplyDeleteNo, not as you describe. There is a "quick action" button, which allows "Economy", "Away", "Day Off", "Heating Off" and "Custom" To adjust hot water or room settings takes a few clicks
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of changing to an evohome myself - I have a 4 zone system, but having read this very well crafted blog I am reluctant to take the plunge. Apart from the overall complexity, it seems I might need a steady supply of batteries for all the components which will keep Duracell in profit for decades to come. I am also concerned that (if I save a tiny bit of gas through better control) it will cost me (and the earth) more in batteries. It also seems to "all eggs in one basket" if that evohome controller malfunctions..... no heating, no hot water etc. I will stick to 3 programmable room stats and a programmable tank stat and TRV's thank you.
ReplyDeleteGraham / Kathy, I had similar reservations before I installed my system. However in reality I only change the frequently used valves batteries about once a year. Also in an emergency you can press the button on the BDR91 to operate the relay, although I have never had to do this in anger, so I am not sure how long they stay on for in this fallback situation.
DeletePS, I also forgot to say, that in my modest sized house, immediately after installation, I saved £10 / month, which easily covers the cost of batteries.
DeleteThar article helped me decide which kind of thermostat I need the most. Thanks for sharing the article.
ReplyDeleteHeating and Air Conditioning Burlington
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ReplyDeleteHello, I have found that my HR92s are not reaching temperatures that I set, for example, I find that I set the lounge to 21c sometimes more (for short periods) and the temperature barely reaches 18/19. Right now, I have used the iphone app to test this and have put two of the rooms at high temperatures (25 and 26c). For the last two hours the rooms have remained at a maximum of 18c. Both rooms are capable of reaching warm temperatures using other heating means, so it's not about the rooms. Is the problem with the HR92s or is there something with the boiler? My Baxi boiler has a dial for hot water and dial for heating, so should this be set to maximum in order to allow the heating to reach the higher temperatures?
ReplyDeleteHi, Quick question, is a VERY basic install possible using only the app and RFG100 Mobile Access Kit to programme two BDR91s? The aim is to start with a setup that would be a direct replacement for a Drayton LP522 programmer.
ReplyDeleteApologies for the late reply, I did not see your post. You will need the Control Unit and BDR91s as well.
DeleteThanks for sharing about heating system. Really appreciate your thoughts on this.
ReplyDeleteHeating and Air Conditioning North York
Hi and thanks for a very useful post but I am looking for some advice. I am just about to upgrade my S-Plan system. My hot water and heating zone valves are in the airing cupboard next to the hot water tank along with the pump. The boiler is at the other end of the house along with the current timer. The current timer is hard wired to the local boiler and also hard wired via a long cable to the current hot water zone valve, the heating zone valve and pump in the airing cupboard. I would like to mount the controller on the wall next to the airing cupboard. Ignoring radiators for the moment, does this mean I need a BDR91 for the heating valve, a BDR91 for the remote boiler, a BDR91 for the pump and a Hot Water kit (including a fourth BDR91) for the hot water?
ReplyDeleteYou need 2 x BDR91's one for the Heating and One for the Hot Water (and a hot water kit), these will control each valve. The output of each valve (normally the orange wire) will fire up the boiler using the existing wiring. (I hope that makes sense)
DeleteThanks for the information
ReplyDeleteHeating and Air Conditioning Toronto
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ReplyDeleteDear Ian, thanks for the information shared here. I have a very basic question: I'd like to do the zoning as described, but not in every room/radiator. I've been told that I need to install a radiator controller (HR92) in each radiator or the system won't work. Is this correct? I have 6 rooms (4 bedrooms, living room, bathroom) with one radiator in each, plus a radiator by the entrance of the house. My plan is to have one radiator controller in each room except living room (can this be regulated via the wi-fi controller?) and not include a controller at the entrance of the house. Thanks for any advice you can provide!
ReplyDeleteJamie, yes your proposed solution would work. The living room temperature would be controlled by the Touch Screen Control unit (you would have to keep it in the living room) and the entrance hall radiator would just come on whenever the boiler is fired up, but you could put a standard TRV on it.
DeleteThanks Ian, much appreciated. It looks like the 'salesman' was more interested in selling than having a happy customer. What else is new?
DeleteVery much appreciated!
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ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI have had one of these wonderful Evohome setups since before Christmas. The Controller communication with the hot water tank sensor keeps dropping out. Is there a fault log and, if so, how do I access it? Thank you. John.
I installed my hot water kit and had no end of confusion... you need to unset boiler demand and voila! Thank You!!!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Guys,
ReplyDeleteI have a system with 4 zones (3 rooms, 1 radiator in each one - HR92 and DT92). The 4th zone is the living room (floor heating here) - controlled via VC4613 valve & BDR. The boiler is an Immergas Zeus maior 24 (controlled via 2nd BDR).
I started to use the system at Jan/2017, so actually I have only 4-5 months experience with it. However, 1-2 weeks were enough to see that I'll have serious conceptual problems with the system. I reported it to local representative of Honeywell but no answer to date. I'm really curious whether have you ever experienced the same/do you have any solutions and/or what do you think about it.
First and foremost: I'm using optimalization with 3 cycle per hour. Hard to bring myself but I can accpept that the system turn on 3-4 times in every hour even if the heating demand is not obvious (I'm logging the exact temperature continuously via python script, so I really know what is going on in my house...). Let's see an example: required temperatures are 20/20/20/21 degrees in zones and the real temeratures are higher than 21.5 everywhere in the house - and actually no decreasing because of great insulation. WHY DOES IT HEAT if all the temperatures are far higher when compared to the desired ones? 2nd) I can see that the boiler is turned on (as I said, 3-4x hourly) but all the radiator valves are fully closed (valve position = 0). I checked these several times obsessively. I can conclude only that the heating was activated by the living room zone (floor heating) but the valve is not activated via the BDR when boiler is turned on (only after 1-2 mins). That is: the boiler is turned on, burning starts immediately and because all the valves are closed, the burning stops after the water temperature reached the 60°C (15-20secs). Meanwhile the water pumps is trying to work and suffers... because the boiler is totally closed. 40-50 secs after the burning started the valve on the VC4613 is activated via it's own BDR and opens the valve. The water temperature starts to decrease and if reached 40-45°C, the boiler starts to burn again. So, there are mins when the water pump of the boiler is working (can't really), burning is stopped. After 80-90 secs the burning started again, the boiler is turned off by it's own BDR module (because minimal working time is configured to 4 mins in Evohome).
I asked Honeywell whether can this behaviour ruin my boiler since it seems and actually sounds really bad (I mean when the pump is working and all the valves are closed). They should simply make a fix and upgrade the devices. If the boiler is activated (by any zones), the valves -of the zone(s) which demands heat- should be opened first. First open valve(s), after that starts the boiler. Simple. This way the boiler will not choking continuously and ruin in the close future. I have no answer to date but we are the point when the boiler is really crashed ... the 3way motoric valves gave up and water is flowing everywhere. I can conclude that this obviously stupid behavior of a "smart" system (~1000 EUR including all the devices I buyed) destroyed my boiler (~1300 EUR). Before you advise me to setup everything again... I made several times to date. Honeywell's responsiveness is quite weak, so Guys what do you think? I'm at the point now that buying an expensive control system was not the best decision I've made in my life...
Thanks!
Ok, I've found... this is really a conceptual issue and well documented: (http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?4436-EvoHome-do-I-need-to-leave-a-single-radiator-in-my-house-without-HR92-or-TRV/page3) but all the Honeywell's geek says that everything is working as expected. Unbeliveable.
ReplyDeleteI have a system which is divided into 4 circuits.
ReplyDeleteThe bedroom circuit has an electrovalve which I have left open manually. All the radiators on this circuit except the bathroom have HR92 valves
Now I want to replace the thermostat controls for the other 3 electrovalves with the EvoHome controller. Do I need a BDR91 + Thermostat for each of the remaining 3 zones ?
No, you have to buy only an Evotouch (no BDRs) and configure (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBAh7QaOqnM). However, it is possible -depends on the location of the radiators, convection...- that you will have to buy DTS (to measure the real temp in the rooms) for each and every HR92 because if it is too close to the radiator, it can be completely inaccurate (+-2-3°C inconsistencies randomly) and you can use the HR92 only as actuator.
ReplyDeleteSorry... for Electrovalve read ZONE valve.
DeleteI have 3 ZONE valves that need to be opened and closed depending on the temperature in each zone. What will be connected to each ZONE valve to make it work, a BDR ?
And a DTS to activate the BDR ?
I'm not sure I understand you correctly. You wrote that you want to replace of the controls for the 3 HR92. You need only the Evohome Evotouch to control these HR92 valve actuators: (http://kingfisher.scene7.com/is/image/Kingfisher/5025121382212_01c)
DeleteYou don't have BDR91 at all for the HR92 devices. Evotouch connect directly to these and controls the valve position (with RF). You have 1 BDR only if you want to start/stop your boiler via Evohome system.
I have 4 zones controlled by zone valves.
DeleteOne zone has the zone valve permanently open manually and the radiators in that zone have HR92 radiator valves controlled by Evohome
Now I want to control the OTHER 3 zones, each of which has a zone valve. These zones will NOT have HR92s on the radiators, I just want to control the zone valves.
... it depends on the zone valves which you use and the expected work. If these are electronic motoric valve (something like this: https://www.oeg.net/media/articles/default/generated/1000_1000/512300365.jpg?ts=1389884750) then if you want to open/close all 3 valves together, you'll need only 1 BRD, but if you plan to open and colse all independently, you'll need 3 BDRs. Furthermore, if these zones means physically different rooms (separated) and you want to contol temperature individually in rooms you will have to buy DTS or other temperature measurement device(s).
DeleteThanks for posting valuable information which is useful for us.
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