how smart has your home gone?

I had my oil boiler replaced earlier this year and got my plumber to install Hive too, which is proving to be a little temperamental on the mobile App. I have a connected oil tank too, which tells me when I need to fill it.

I have 6 x Arlo 4K cameras around my front and back areas and I do like these. I live off the beaten track so am not likely to suffer from significant crime, but I like the ability to check out the place when I am away.....which is not a lot in our current climate.

And that is it really outside of TV's and a Plex server but not really connected as such.
 
NeilF said:
Anyone using a voice assistant with a Broadlink RM Pro?

It's stopped working in the last few hours? Using the RM Pro directly all is working, but firing off Echo Routines fails to fire them off on the RM Pro?

Hopefully a network glitch/problem with Broadlink!?
Click to expand...
Ten points to Broadlink support! Had two emails from them already in response to my email to them from just last night, and they've talking me through resolving the issue.

For anyone else, disconnect the "ihc for EU" skill in the Alexa app, then reconnect it (with your account again). That sorted me out!
 
ikra said:
I've just finished installing a smart thermostat I think I'm going to move to security next
Click to expand...
I have Ring and Blink cameras.

Ring are pretty good and very good value for money. Blink are only adequate for nice to have footage imho. ie: Covering areas where you might want to check back on the footage later...
 
wondering if it possible to heat specific rooms at certain times.

ie. warm 2 bedrooms at 6am for x time or to x temp.
keep 1 room at x temp throughout the day.
9pm warm bedrooms
heat whole house on command.

can this be achieved with smart thermostat and smart valves or is this not possible?

i also have 2 thermostats, 1 for bottom floor and 1 for 2nd and 3rd floors. do i need 2 smart thermostats also?

thanks.
 
utajoker said:
wondering if it possible to heat specific rooms at certain times.

ie. warm 2 bedrooms at 6am for x time or to x temp.
keep 1 room at x temp throughout the day.
9pm warm bedrooms
heat whole house on command.

can this be achieved with smart thermostat and smart valves or is this not possible?

i also have 2 thermostats, 1 for bottom floor and 1 for 2nd and 3rd floors. do i need 2 smart thermostats also?

thanks.
Click to expand...

You might need something a bit smarter to automate it all, but yes I don't see why that isn't possible.
 
utajoker said:
wondering if it possible to heat specific rooms at certain times.

ie. warm 2 bedrooms at 6am for x time or to x temp.
keep 1 room at x temp throughout the day.
9pm warm bedrooms
heat whole house on command.

can this be achieved with smart thermostat and smart valves or is this not possible?

i also have 2 thermostats, 1 for bottom floor and 1 for 2nd and 3rd floors. do i need 2 smart thermostats also?

thanks.
Click to expand...


you can do all of that with Tado with just the scheduling/setpoint for each smart TRV in each zone, it then has in the app the 'Boost Heating' function that will do all rooms.
 
A quick question.

What are the pros/cons of having a smart thermostat vs smart TRVs (assuming I'm not going mad and getting them all), especially from an energy efficiency point of view?

As far as I can see from a very basic level:

Smart thermostat:
  • Fires up the boiler at set times/detected temperatures (however, generally detected using one sensor where the thermostat itself is).
  • Allows remote access to boiler.
  • Heats up whole house. Lots more space to heat, but better to maintain rather than cycling up and down?
Smart TRVs
  • Boiler needs to be 'always on'
  • TRVs will then open up and close radiators as needed. If all are closed, boiler system only needs to heat a small capacity of water.
  • Can also be set to turn on at times/temperatures/remotely.
  • Heats up individual rooms/zones. Will need to make sure rooms are isolated from each other.
 
Bought a Hive TRV to try one out, I haven't really got the hang of it.

I've put it in my office that I use only at the weekend. Set the schedule to something simple, 10c all week and 20c on weekend 7am to 6pm. Result is as follows:

Week days it reports around 12c
Weekend it reports 14c

I've "calibrated" it twice, but hasn't improved. The heating is on sufficiently at the weekend to heat up other rooms including this room with the previous "dumb" TRV.

I've played around with it for a while now and it might just be this TRV, but it's a bit ****. I might just go back to the standard TRV and set to 1 or 2 during the week and bump it to 3 on weekends.
 
Last edited:
chef-borjan said:
A quick question.

What are the pros/cons of having a smart thermostat vs smart TRVs (assuming I'm not going mad and getting them all), especially from an energy efficiency point of view?

As far as I can see from a very basic level:

Smart thermostat:
  • Fires up the boiler at set times/detected temperatures (however, generally detected using one sensor where the thermostat itself is).
  • Allows remote access to boiler.
  • Heats up whole house. Lots more space to heat, but better to maintain rather than cycling up and down?
Smart TRVs
  • Boiler needs to be 'always on'
  • TRVs will then open up and close radiators as needed. If all are closed, boiler system only needs to heat a small capacity of water.
  • Can also be set to turn on at times/temperatures/remotely.
  • Heats up individual rooms/zones. Will need to make sure rooms are isolated from each other.
Click to expand...


The trv bit is slightly wrong.

The boiler is only on if one or more trvs are calling for heat.
Assuming you have the smart boiler control unit to match.


The rest is correct
 
chef-borjan said:
A quick question.

What are the pros/cons of having a smart thermostat vs smart TRVs (assuming I'm not going mad and getting them all), especially from an energy efficiency point of view?

As far as I can see from a very basic level:

Smart thermostat:
  • Fires up the boiler at set times/detected temperatures (however, generally detected using one sensor where the thermostat itself is).
  • Allows remote access to boiler.
  • Heats up whole house. Lots more space to heat, but better to maintain rather than cycling up and down?
Smart TRVs
  • Boiler needs to be 'always on'
  • TRVs will then open up and close radiators as needed. If all are closed, boiler system only needs to heat a small capacity of water.
  • Can also be set to turn on at times/temperatures/remotely.
  • Heats up individual rooms/zones. Will need to make sure rooms are isolated from each other.
Click to expand...

Smart TRVs basically give you the flexibility of heating individual rooms / adjusting the temperatures, just as you would with a manual TRV but without needing to touch it.

In theory you could have smart TRVs without smart heating, the same as you could have smart heating without smart TRVs.
 
413x said:
The trv bit is slightly wrong.

The boiler is only on if one or more trvs are calling for heat.
Assuming you have the smart boiler control unit to match.


The rest is correct
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I do not believe I have a 'smart' boiler controller unit to match with the TRVs. I was going for 'either/or' in terms of a smart thermostat or smart TRV.

But it's looking like its going to be more hassle to install the thermostat. I had one just arrive from Amazon and was looking to wire it up, but my boiler doesn't have any external thermostat wiring in place, and to get to the electronics is going to require a call out from a technician to open up and close a seal in a safe manner. This is a rented property and there will be extra costs and hassle.)

So I'm back to thinking the TRV's are a simpler solution.

My quest was to really only heat the house as is required. A smart thermostat would have applied whole house heating only when we are home (geofencing or other forms of remote control), but with that out of the window the TRVs have to do the job. Problem is that yes, the boiler will have to be active (at least throughout the day) to allow the TRVs to apply gradual control.

What I am unsure of is the energy requirements to keep the boiler system 'idle' in this setup. Let's say everyone is out, and all the TRVs are shut. We do have to leave a dumb radiator open it sounds like (and this will be the bathroom). So we are going to just have toasty bathroom all the damn time (and if the door isn't closed then the boiler will not equilibrate with and ever shut off).

Bahhh... sounding like more hassle than its worth. I might just rely on the old fashioned timer and get up to close the odd manual TRV in a room we aren't using.
 
chef-borjan said:
Unfortunately, I do not believe I have a 'smart' boiler controller unit to match with the TRVs. I was going for 'either/or' in terms of a smart thermostat or smart TRV.

But it's looking like its going to be more hassle to install the thermostat. I had one just arrive from Amazon and was looking to wire it up, but my boiler doesn't have any external thermostat wiring in place, and to get to the electronics is going to require a call out from a technician to open up and close a seal in a safe manner. This is a rented property and there will be extra costs and hassle.)

So I'm back to thinking the TRV's are a simpler solution.

My quest was to really only heat the house as is required. A smart thermostat would have applied whole house heating only when we are home (geofencing or other forms of remote control), but with that out of the window the TRVs have to do the job. Problem is that yes, the boiler will have to be active (at least throughout the day) to allow the TRVs to apply gradual control.

What I am unsure of is the energy requirements to keep the boiler system 'idle' in this setup. Let's say everyone is out, and all the TRVs are shut. We do have to leave a dumb radiator open it sounds like (and this will be the bathroom). So we are going to just have toasty bathroom all the damn time (and if the door isn't closed then the boiler will not equilibrate with and ever shut off).

Bahhh... sounding like more hassle than its worth. I might just rely on the old fashioned timer and get up to close the odd manual TRV in a room we aren't using.
Click to expand...

Ah if it's a rental probably not wise to do it.

I had to change my thermostat and boiler control unit to get mine in. Definitely something you can't do in a rental.
 
So, a couple of questions if people can help? Moving into a new house soon and trying to understand some options

1. Any recommendations for zigbee dimmer switches? There's a ball of spotlights in pretty much every room so I don't fancy dropping multiple hundreds on Hue GU10 bulbs
2. Smart thermostats/TRVs - 2 rooms have electric underfloor heating, gas combi boiler and 5 or 6 radiators throughout the house - any suggestions for a system that can be integrated for all of them?
 
I got a black friday deal on this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/eufy-Flood...1638446965&sprefix=eufy+camera,aps,194&sr=8-7

Which meant it was only 80EUR, which seemed good. Apparently I can connect it to my google home stuff, which would be nice.

I currently have google wifi throughout the house, kids rooms all have chromecasts and home minis. I would like to try and make the place a bit more "smart" and have been looking at replacing downstairs light switches with smart switches like: https://www.amazon.fr/Interrupteur-...mart+switches&qid=1638443987&s=hi&sr=1-6&th=1

Anyone used anything like these?
 
I need smart light switches. Because smart light bulbs are totally dependent on a dumb switch being left in the on position. And in an everyday, family household, that is never going to happen.
 
Echo dot in the sitting room
A speaker and an echo link in the bathroom
Hive on the boiler

That's it for us really, wired in some LEDs to the kitchen that could do smart things but pulled them out as I didnt like them lol
 
Another question. I'm getting into the idea of Home Assistant and running a variety of smart devices.

The basics will be sensors, switches, plugs, lights etc.

Are there any general recommendations for us here in the UK regarding recommended brands for security? I am somewhat wary of jumping into a technical world I only just about understand and exposing my home to unintended security risks (maybe hackers getting control of passwords or spoofing banking credentials or whatever).

I am also going to install pi-hole or Adguard to try and defend against this, but yes, looking for recommended brands that ideally do no 'phone home' and can act completely locally.
 
Having being installing HA for over 20 years, my advice is keep your HA and your security on separate platforms. My Ajax (Alarm) can talk to Homeseer (Home Automation Platform) providing armed status etc, but Homeseer cant control Ajax. My Kidde / Firex smoke detectors talk to my Ajax hub (using a relay base and Ajax MultiTransmitter), which talks to Homeseer (Using an Ajax Relay and Fibaro Smart Implant). So if my smoke detectors go off, my Ajax alarm will trigger which in turn will trigger Homeseer to turn on all of my house lights (to provide escape lighting).
 
Rather than start a new thread for a light bulb...

My place is not smart, and i don't want a Alexa etc.
I would like a light that comes on at a set time in the morning. I know you can get bulbs that do this but then the light switch doesn't work, does that apply to them all?

The light alarm clocks are a rip off. Much cheaper to get a lamp with a mains socket timer.

Given we've had radio alarms for decades, why does this still seem like new tech.

Any ideas?
 
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