- Joined
- 27 Jan 2008
- Messages
- 28,833
- Reaction score
- 3,522
- Location
- Llanfair Caereinion, Nr Welshpool
- Country
I thought OK let me read it, maybe they have something I could use.
- 2 year battery life, well about average, depends on what batteries are used.
- Fine temperature control in 0.5°C steps well that's normal for all the electronic TRVs I have.
- Comparison between Aqara W600 and Danfoss RAS-C2 rather pointless, one is electronic the other pure mechanical, it is like comparing a push-bike and a motorbike.
- Aqara W600 Display well I have some which can be read from the top, and other from the side, and in general better read from top, but I do have one with no display other than a tricolour lamp, so it is better than some.
- You also get six adapters in the box, this does vary make to make, some you need to send for free adapters.
- Aqara claims noise levels of under 30 dB, well I do sometimes hear the units adjusting, but never found it a problem.
- The valve runs on AA batteries and includes a battery indicator on the display, well all mine run on a pair of AA batteries, all show battery level on the smart phone display, some also on the unit its self.
- Once fitted, the W600 performs an automatic calibration this is a problem with my old Energenie TRV heads, but the rest automatic calibrate, only the mechanical TRV heads seem to lack this function.
- Zigbee well this can produce a problem, Wiser uses Zigbee, but it does not seem to link with other zigbee devices, it uses its own hub.
- Heating schedules, well they all have that.
- Open window detection, most have that.
- Frost protection, well that is only valid if the TRV head can fire the boiler, so really only my Drayton Wiser has that. I have not seen how the Aqara radiator TRV connects to boiler yet, my Kasa and Energenie can with the correct hub/wall thermostat. But it needs the whole package to do that.
- Child lock Oh dear, seen that with my cooker, and grand children setting it to stop wife using cooker, not sure if that is a good feature, but some of mine do allow you to select app use only, and don't allow local setting.
- It’s worth noting that the W600 controls only the radiator valve itself – it doesn’t switch the boiler on or off. So a bit useless, however my eQ-3 are the same, and at £15 each when I got them in 2019, they are cheaper, but only bluetooth connection to an app, so one needs to be close to set them with an app.
- Link says currently unavailable, other places seem to list them at £50 each, so not cheap, actually more expensive to Drayton Wiser, which claims a lot more compared with Aqara so really can't see the point, the Aqara hub shows at £130, darn expensive.
So a comparison with Drayton Wiser and Aqara is a non-starter.
There are basically three types of electronic TRV heads.
1 - Self contained, does not link to a hub, like eQ-3 and Terrier i30.
2 - Will connect to internet, so can be controlled by the likes of Nest Mini's and Alexa plus of course one's phone.
3 - Connects normally through a hub, to the boiler, so it can actually fire the boiler.
Aqara comes under group 2. TP-Link Kasa TRV costs £30 as a kit with the hub £45 so Aqara seems overpriced, google shows me electriQ Smart Modern LCD TRV Thermostatic Radiator Valves Tuya Zigbee Version White £15, which asks the question of why go for type 1, and it does seem the Terrier i30 has been discontinued.
The whole question of electronic TRV heads does seem complex, since seeing Honeywell EvoHome, it seems Honeywell evohome was originally introduced to the market in 2014 as a flagship multi-room smart heating and zoning system. It evolved from Honeywell’s earlier Hometronic systems, which were first released in 1996. It seems in those 12 years, we have seen many more systems, the British Gas Hive being one, which has over the years improved, it did stop accepting a demand for heat if main thermostat was at 22°C and did not work with OpenTherm but since that there have been new models introduced, what I considered better quality Drayton Wiser has also been improved, and will also have Tado system. (Tapo is TP-Link as is Kasa careful not to get Tapo and Tado mixed up).
So the Aqara Radiator Thermostat W600 Review, is no more than an advert, it does not compare like to like. It would be nice to see electronic TRV heads compared, but I only have 4 types in use, the big question is if the hub is combined with the wall thermostat, if it is, then you need hard-wiring to the wall thermostat, if they are independent you don't. If your home has the hard-wiring then the combined hub and thermostat reduces cost.
The other consideration is wall thermostat to TRV linking, with the Kasa you can link to a wall sensor, so with a radiator against a cold outside wall you can control it using the rooms air temperature rather than a sensor affected by cold from wall or heat from radiator, the latter important when the TRV is mounted high on the radiator.
How do I know? Well I got it wrong, I fitted Energenie being told it would connect to Nest, well Nest was taken over by Google, and the interconnection stopped working, plus it worked the wrong way around, the wall thermostat told the TRV what to do, instead of the TRV telling a hub what to do. The eQ-3 was a cheap upgrade, at £15 each before Brexit, and they do work very well, but not linked, the Kasa was got when the carpet fitters broke one of my Energenie heads, I had not realised with the Kasa the Wall thermostat which links to them needed hard-wiring, so I got Drayton Wiser TRV for wife's bedroom as that's the coldest room in the house when heating not running. And also added a wall thermostat in living room, as the hall where the Nest thermostat is mounted (can't easily move as hard-wired) cools slower than the living room. At last, it is working well, just wish I had fitted Wiser to start with.
I have 10 electronic TRV heads, and 4 mechanical, the latter in a flat under the main house, rarely used in winter, the main house and flat have their own pumps and motorised valves, but run from the same boiler. So I can turn flat to defrost only setting when not in use.
It seems likely if I do start to use the flat, I will fit Drayton Wiser, but I keep my eyes open for a cheaper system.
I hope people will add to this thread and say how their electronic TRV heads have preformed. I can't really understand why people still use mechanical TRV heads. OK they don't need batteries, but heating rooms when not in use must cost a lot more.
- 2 year battery life, well about average, depends on what batteries are used.
- Fine temperature control in 0.5°C steps well that's normal for all the electronic TRVs I have.
- Comparison between Aqara W600 and Danfoss RAS-C2 rather pointless, one is electronic the other pure mechanical, it is like comparing a push-bike and a motorbike.
- Aqara W600 Display well I have some which can be read from the top, and other from the side, and in general better read from top, but I do have one with no display other than a tricolour lamp, so it is better than some.
- You also get six adapters in the box, this does vary make to make, some you need to send for free adapters.
- Aqara claims noise levels of under 30 dB, well I do sometimes hear the units adjusting, but never found it a problem.
- The valve runs on AA batteries and includes a battery indicator on the display, well all mine run on a pair of AA batteries, all show battery level on the smart phone display, some also on the unit its self.
- Once fitted, the W600 performs an automatic calibration this is a problem with my old Energenie TRV heads, but the rest automatic calibrate, only the mechanical TRV heads seem to lack this function.
- Zigbee well this can produce a problem, Wiser uses Zigbee, but it does not seem to link with other zigbee devices, it uses its own hub.
- Heating schedules, well they all have that.
- Open window detection, most have that.
- Frost protection, well that is only valid if the TRV head can fire the boiler, so really only my Drayton Wiser has that. I have not seen how the Aqara radiator TRV connects to boiler yet, my Kasa and Energenie can with the correct hub/wall thermostat. But it needs the whole package to do that.
- Child lock Oh dear, seen that with my cooker, and grand children setting it to stop wife using cooker, not sure if that is a good feature, but some of mine do allow you to select app use only, and don't allow local setting.
- It’s worth noting that the W600 controls only the radiator valve itself – it doesn’t switch the boiler on or off. So a bit useless, however my eQ-3 are the same, and at £15 each when I got them in 2019, they are cheaper, but only bluetooth connection to an app, so one needs to be close to set them with an app.
- Link says currently unavailable, other places seem to list them at £50 each, so not cheap, actually more expensive to Drayton Wiser, which claims a lot more compared with Aqara so really can't see the point, the Aqara hub shows at £130, darn expensive.
So a comparison with Drayton Wiser and Aqara is a non-starter.
There are basically three types of electronic TRV heads.
1 - Self contained, does not link to a hub, like eQ-3 and Terrier i30.
2 - Will connect to internet, so can be controlled by the likes of Nest Mini's and Alexa plus of course one's phone.
3 - Connects normally through a hub, to the boiler, so it can actually fire the boiler.
Aqara comes under group 2. TP-Link Kasa TRV costs £30 as a kit with the hub £45 so Aqara seems overpriced, google shows me electriQ Smart Modern LCD TRV Thermostatic Radiator Valves Tuya Zigbee Version White £15, which asks the question of why go for type 1, and it does seem the Terrier i30 has been discontinued.
The whole question of electronic TRV heads does seem complex, since seeing Honeywell EvoHome, it seems Honeywell evohome was originally introduced to the market in 2014 as a flagship multi-room smart heating and zoning system. It evolved from Honeywell’s earlier Hometronic systems, which were first released in 1996. It seems in those 12 years, we have seen many more systems, the British Gas Hive being one, which has over the years improved, it did stop accepting a demand for heat if main thermostat was at 22°C and did not work with OpenTherm but since that there have been new models introduced, what I considered better quality Drayton Wiser has also been improved, and will also have Tado system. (Tapo is TP-Link as is Kasa careful not to get Tapo and Tado mixed up).
So the Aqara Radiator Thermostat W600 Review, is no more than an advert, it does not compare like to like. It would be nice to see electronic TRV heads compared, but I only have 4 types in use, the big question is if the hub is combined with the wall thermostat, if it is, then you need hard-wiring to the wall thermostat, if they are independent you don't. If your home has the hard-wiring then the combined hub and thermostat reduces cost.
The other consideration is wall thermostat to TRV linking, with the Kasa you can link to a wall sensor, so with a radiator against a cold outside wall you can control it using the rooms air temperature rather than a sensor affected by cold from wall or heat from radiator, the latter important when the TRV is mounted high on the radiator.
How do I know? Well I got it wrong, I fitted Energenie being told it would connect to Nest, well Nest was taken over by Google, and the interconnection stopped working, plus it worked the wrong way around, the wall thermostat told the TRV what to do, instead of the TRV telling a hub what to do. The eQ-3 was a cheap upgrade, at £15 each before Brexit, and they do work very well, but not linked, the Kasa was got when the carpet fitters broke one of my Energenie heads, I had not realised with the Kasa the Wall thermostat which links to them needed hard-wiring, so I got Drayton Wiser TRV for wife's bedroom as that's the coldest room in the house when heating not running. And also added a wall thermostat in living room, as the hall where the Nest thermostat is mounted (can't easily move as hard-wired) cools slower than the living room. At last, it is working well, just wish I had fitted Wiser to start with.
I have 10 electronic TRV heads, and 4 mechanical, the latter in a flat under the main house, rarely used in winter, the main house and flat have their own pumps and motorised valves, but run from the same boiler. So I can turn flat to defrost only setting when not in use.
It seems likely if I do start to use the flat, I will fit Drayton Wiser, but I keep my eyes open for a cheaper system.
I hope people will add to this thread and say how their electronic TRV heads have preformed. I can't really understand why people still use mechanical TRV heads. OK they don't need batteries, but heating rooms when not in use must cost a lot more.
