Hi all,
I'd like to get a room zoned smart thermostat system such as Honeywell Evohome or Heat Genius because we've got about 11 radiators/towel rails in different rooms which we certainly don't use all of the time, and my fiancee and I would like to be able to control the schedule and temperature per room. We have a wireless room stat and timer at the moment so very much "on" or "off" and there is no obvious useful place to put it, so something which monitors temperatures and controls the rads in each room and calls for heat "sensibly" should be more comfortable and more efficient.
I've also got 5 rooms with electric UFH floor stats/timers and one cloakroom with an electric towel rail which maybe in time I'd like to slave to a room stat, but not urgently - at present neither Evohome and Heat Genius support this "officially" and using a zone controller to switch an electric load means the boiler will be triggered un-necessarily. However for the moment I'd like to decide between Evohome and Heat Genius as they both have mobile / internet control, per rad sensors/TRVs, etc. Cost wise it seems swings and roundabouts for an initial basic install.
My thoughts:
- Heat Genius is a UK home grown small start-up kind of thing who could get acquired or go under and leave me with a "dodo" system - Honeywell are, well, "we invented the thermostat" Honeywell so I don't imagine they will be disappearing although that doesn't mean they will keep Evohome supported & the servers running indefinitely
- Honeywell seem to have already "moved on" from Evohome a little as new things like Lyric seem simpler (more Nest-like) and leave behind the per-room sensor/TRV kind of approach, whereas Heat Genius are actively investing and developing and adding things as we speak
- Heat Genius has some nice touches like linked rooms, so you can say eg this corridor or bathroom should be warmed whenever this bedroom is
- the current incarnation of Evohome is a couple of years old and just says we don't support electric heating (you can abuse a zone valve to switch an electric load current permitting, but it means it calls for boiler heating with no need - the "fix" is a 2nd Evohome which isn't connected to the boiler - Heat Genius say they are actively working on it
- Heat Genius has support for way more zones (may be relevant if I added any of the electric rooms) whereas Evohome has just 12, but this is sufficient for my rads
- Heat Genius seems to use Horstmann stats/switches and Danfoss smart TRVs and adds their own config/firmware/controller box - they all use Z-wave wireless which has less range so you need (or rather - are given) smart plugs which are repeaters for the mesh network - to make it all work - whereas Evohome uses a different frequency, no repeaters, and has better range and maybe rumoured to be better battery life
- Evohome has a controller unit with a screen and the wifi/internet bit is optional bonus - that means the entire sysyem is usable/configurable/etc without reliance on extra network stuff - for visitors/house-sitters/etc this will be better than giving them a tablet/app/login/etc - Heat Genius is "headless" and all control is via app or web
- Heat Genius are responsive on Twitter but seem to be slow at replying to e-mail
- Honeywell are unresponsive via Twitter and don't seem to invite any e-mails at all, but they have installers/resellers like The Evohome Store who are very helpful at explaining the system features/config/limitations/etc
- any contractors/plumbers/etc I get in are more likely to be familar with the Honeywell system than Heat Genius, I suppose
- Heat Genius have optional room sensors which detect occupancy and temperature and can tune the room programme based on actual occupancy over time - seems quite appealing for at least a few key rooms - Evohome doesn't have this as it's a feature of different products like the Honeywell Lyric
I guess I am leaning towards Heat Genius because of the room sensors but I wondered if anyone (eg installers?) had experience with both and had a clear opinion to help me decide one way or the other...
Cheers,
Rob
I'd like to get a room zoned smart thermostat system such as Honeywell Evohome or Heat Genius because we've got about 11 radiators/towel rails in different rooms which we certainly don't use all of the time, and my fiancee and I would like to be able to control the schedule and temperature per room. We have a wireless room stat and timer at the moment so very much "on" or "off" and there is no obvious useful place to put it, so something which monitors temperatures and controls the rads in each room and calls for heat "sensibly" should be more comfortable and more efficient.
I've also got 5 rooms with electric UFH floor stats/timers and one cloakroom with an electric towel rail which maybe in time I'd like to slave to a room stat, but not urgently - at present neither Evohome and Heat Genius support this "officially" and using a zone controller to switch an electric load means the boiler will be triggered un-necessarily. However for the moment I'd like to decide between Evohome and Heat Genius as they both have mobile / internet control, per rad sensors/TRVs, etc. Cost wise it seems swings and roundabouts for an initial basic install.
My thoughts:
- Heat Genius is a UK home grown small start-up kind of thing who could get acquired or go under and leave me with a "dodo" system - Honeywell are, well, "we invented the thermostat" Honeywell so I don't imagine they will be disappearing although that doesn't mean they will keep Evohome supported & the servers running indefinitely
- Honeywell seem to have already "moved on" from Evohome a little as new things like Lyric seem simpler (more Nest-like) and leave behind the per-room sensor/TRV kind of approach, whereas Heat Genius are actively investing and developing and adding things as we speak
- Heat Genius has some nice touches like linked rooms, so you can say eg this corridor or bathroom should be warmed whenever this bedroom is
- the current incarnation of Evohome is a couple of years old and just says we don't support electric heating (you can abuse a zone valve to switch an electric load current permitting, but it means it calls for boiler heating with no need - the "fix" is a 2nd Evohome which isn't connected to the boiler - Heat Genius say they are actively working on it
- Heat Genius has support for way more zones (may be relevant if I added any of the electric rooms) whereas Evohome has just 12, but this is sufficient for my rads
- Heat Genius seems to use Horstmann stats/switches and Danfoss smart TRVs and adds their own config/firmware/controller box - they all use Z-wave wireless which has less range so you need (or rather - are given) smart plugs which are repeaters for the mesh network - to make it all work - whereas Evohome uses a different frequency, no repeaters, and has better range and maybe rumoured to be better battery life
- Evohome has a controller unit with a screen and the wifi/internet bit is optional bonus - that means the entire sysyem is usable/configurable/etc without reliance on extra network stuff - for visitors/house-sitters/etc this will be better than giving them a tablet/app/login/etc - Heat Genius is "headless" and all control is via app or web
- Heat Genius are responsive on Twitter but seem to be slow at replying to e-mail
- Honeywell are unresponsive via Twitter and don't seem to invite any e-mails at all, but they have installers/resellers like The Evohome Store who are very helpful at explaining the system features/config/limitations/etc
- any contractors/plumbers/etc I get in are more likely to be familar with the Honeywell system than Heat Genius, I suppose
- Heat Genius have optional room sensors which detect occupancy and temperature and can tune the room programme based on actual occupancy over time - seems quite appealing for at least a few key rooms - Evohome doesn't have this as it's a feature of different products like the Honeywell Lyric
I guess I am leaning towards Heat Genius because of the room sensors but I wondered if anyone (eg installers?) had experience with both and had a clear opinion to help me decide one way or the other...
Cheers,
Rob