Wireless Thermostat Help

Harden Long · 3 Feb 2009

Hello and I hope you can give me some advice

We had a new boiler and unvented water system installed last year.Our house is a 1920's built detached job with thick walls.
Since installation we have had problems controlling the temp-we use a Danfoss Wireless thermostat. The plumber changed the first one in case it was faulty but increasingly it seems to be the case that it is the reception
The only way the unit will respond is if we leave it in the kitchen (the boiler is next door in utility room) and that is hopeless as the kitchen is fairly warm so the boiler switches off when the kitchen temp is reached, leaving the rest of the house very cold. Ideally we would want the thermostat in the hall or living room

I am kind of wishing we had it hard wired but the cost and disruption now would be a real hassle

Are there "better" wireless thermostats around with stronger ranges or can Homeplugs be used to "boost" the signal or can you get a thermostat plus additional receivers??

Thanks for any and all help
Cheers

EliteHeat · 3 Feb 2009

Why not relocate the receiver to somewhere more convenient and in range? obviously the wiring will need to be extended but so what.

Diyisfun · 3 Feb 2009

My boiler is in the loft with the receiver, t/stat on ground floor..No problems.
You say he changed the t/stat maybe its the receiver thats at fault.

Im not a plumber

Harden Long · 3 Feb 2009

But that's what I'm confused about Elite, everyone I speak to tells me that wireless is fantastic and that I shouldn't need to get it hard wired

And it will be a blooming upheaval to run wires from the boiler out to the hall ?

Harden Long · 3 Feb 2009

Sorry fellas, I am being totally thick

When I say thermostat am I actually meaning the receiver???

What I mean by thermostat is the wee box with a dial on the front and a small digital screen above the dial showing the temperature

Where/what is the receiver?

Apologies for my thickness

D_Hailsham · 3 Feb 2009

1. How close is the receiver to the boiler?

2. How far is it, in a straight line from controller to receiver?

3. How many walls and how thick between controller and receiver?

Harden Long · 3 Feb 2009

Apologies Mr Hailsham-I am not sure how to answer this

AFAIK all I have is that wee box referred to in my post above
something like this:

http://www.danfoss.com/Products/Cat...3-1913-4CAF-A8BC-AC8245A4DC64_MNU2514752.html

I _THINK_ the receiver is in a wee cupboard adjacent to the boiler
so

1. Probably a metre away through athin brick wall (1 or 2 bricks thick at most)
2. In the kitchen the distance away is about 3 metres away, with a solid brick wall in between and if it was in our hall it would be about 10 to 12 metres way in a straight line through 4 walls

3. 4 WALLS - 1st wall 3 feet thick and the others about 8 to 10 inches thick

THANK YOU !

D_Hailsham · 3 Feb 2009

Harden Long said:
AFAIK all I have is that wee box referred to in my post above something like this

That's what I call the controller or transmitter.

I _THINK_ the receiver is in a wee cupboard adjacent to the boiler
so
1. Probably a metre away through a thin brick wall (1 or 2 bricks thick at most)

That's OK. The important thing is that the receiver must not be too close to the boiler.

"Leave at least 30cm distance from any metal objects including wall boxes and at least 1 metre from any other electrical equipment
e.g. radio, TV, PC etc.

Do not mount onto metal wall boxes"

In the kitchen the distance away is about 3 metres away, with a solid brick wall in between and if it was in our hall it would be about 10 to 12 metres way in a straight line through 4 walls

3. 4 WALLS - 1st wall 3 feet thick and the others about 8 to 10 inches thick

It's the thick walls which are causing the problem. They attenuate the signal from the transmitter so much that the receiver is unable to detect it. The only solution is to move the receiver or transmitter.

Rather than have the controller in the hall, could it be put in a room nearer the kitchen? With a wireless one you can at least experiment! If you have a TRV on any rads, you will need to remove the head if you put the controller in that room. Choose a room which tends to be colder.

bengasman · 3 Feb 2009

you could try to move the reciever, the part attached to your boiler a bit and put it horizontally, and dito for the transmitter; changing the polarisation could help bridging the vertical distance.
the rf signal on these tends to get higher and higher in frequency so a quarter wavelength could be as little as 10 cm.

D_Hailsham · 4 Feb 2009

bengasman said:
you could try to move the receiver, the part attached to your boiler a bit and put it horizontally, and ditto for the transmitter; changing the polarisation could help bridging the vertical distance.

What vertical distance? The boiler and controller are on the same floor. I doubt if the aerials are directional.

the rf signal on these tends to get higher and higher in frequency so a quarter wavelength could be as little as 10 cm.

The Danfoss runs at approx 430MHz, wavelength 0.7 metres.

bengasman · 4 Feb 2009

think i mixed up two posts

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Wireless Thermostat Help

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