Horstmann RF Programmable HSFS1 thermostat

[ericmark]

I have a problem in there seems to be nothing to say if the two parts are out of range or simply waiting for the next hand shake.

So I have switched off boiler to do some maintenance. When I switch it back on there is a red lamp lit on the receiver to say it is powered up, after some time I will get a green light to say central heating should be running.

On the transmitter there is a revolving wheel to say heat is required. But nothing to say hand shake has been done.

So I have tried switching to de-frost only, then back to normal, but still no green light on the receiver. Now with the Honeywell Y6630D Wireless room thermostat used for the bed room the thermostat flashes a red LED as it hand shakes so you know the heating should be running, if not then move the RF sender. With the Honeywell Y6630D Wireless room thermostat it is screwed to the wall anyway so I know it will work from that point.

But with the Horstmann RF Programmable HSFS1 thermostat it is free standing and doubles as a clock so it may not be in the exact point it was before when it worked. What I need is a time, if I know it takes 5 minutes between each hand shake then if central heating not running after 5 minutes I know there is a fault, does not really matter if 5 minutes or 15 minutes as long as one knows the maximum time it can take.

Has any one else had this problem if so how do they deal with it? Every time I return it is all working A1, but want to see it is working before I leave the house.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Surely there's no need to wait for any time? Just whack the temperature setting up on the sender until you know damn well that it should be calling for heat. It may even tell you that it is transmitting an ON signal - my Drayton Digistat does.

The other things mine does include:

Failing to send a strong enough signal l o o o n n n g g g before it flags a need for new batteries batteries.

Failing to send anything which the receiver recognises. Or of course that could be a problem with the receiver. But the symptoms sound similar - basically no comms (my receiver has a red light which if constantly on means it's not receiving anything). IHNI how long it waits before deciding that - it must expect some sort of regular reassurance messages, as it could genuinely be several hours between ONs.

I have to fix the problem by going through the "learning" procedure you'd do if you'd had to replace either transmitter or receiver.


119 out of 908 now....

 

[Simon35]

I have a problem in there seems to be nothing to say if the two parts are out of range or simply waiting for the next hand shake.

So I have switched off boiler to do some maintenance. When I switch it back on there is a red lamp lit on the receiver to say it is powered up, after some time I will get a green light to say central heating should be running.

On the transmitter there is a revolving wheel to say heat is required. But nothing to say hand shake has been done.

So I have tried switching to de-frost only, then back to normal, but still no green light on the receiver. Now with the Honeywell Y6630D Wireless room thermostat used for the bed room the thermostat flashes a red LED as it hand shakes so you know the heating should be running, if not then move the RF sender. With the Honeywell Y6630D Wireless room thermostat it is screwed to the wall anyway so I know it will work from that point.

But with the Horstmann RF Programmable HSFS1 thermostat it is free standing and doubles as a clock so it may not be in the exact point it was before when it worked. What I need is a time, if I know it takes 5 minutes between each hand shake then if central heating not running after 5 minutes I know there is a fault, does not really matter if 5 minutes or 15 minutes as long as one knows the maximum time it can take.

Has any one else had this problem if so how do they deal with it? Every time I return it is all working A1, but want to see it is working before I leave the house.

Hi Eric, I have the same stat. Occasionally it doesn't switch the boiler on, and also on occasion fails to switch it off. It seems unrelated to the state of the batteries. I get it back on track by standing under the receiver with the transmitter and reducing the setpoint below ambient if it should be on, until the wheel dissappears. Then i whack the setpoint back up until the wheel returns and i can hear the receiver contact change and green light comes on. Vice versa if the heating is stuck on.
Not sure if that's of any value to you...

 

[ericmark]

It helps to know it happens to others. Not that I can do much, but if you know it's a known problem then one stops chasing ones tail looking for an installation fault when the fault is a design fault.

 

[Simon35]

Eric, just by way of an update, I'll be ditching the Horstmann stat and fitting a Center brand one this weekend, £51 version. It operates at 868 MHz, rather than 433 as per the Horstmann. I think, although I may be talking nonsense, that this gives better propagation through walls etc.

The other feature is that if the receiver loses comms with the transmitter for a period, it shuts the boiler off, rather than the Horstmann way, which just leaves it in in its current state. Which can leave you with a very warm house and a large gas bill....

Will let you know if it's an improvement.

I did consider a Salus internet accessible version, but couldn't really imagine bothering to adjust the heating remotely.

 

[ericmark]

I have decided it is down to location. Moving so only one wall between two units seems to have cured the problem.

if it were my house I am sure I would find the problem. But not living in the house only visiting when it goes wrong far harder to work out what is going on.

 

[Simon35]

I have decided it is down to location. Moving so only one wall between two units seems to have cured the problem.

if it were my house I am sure I would find the problem. But not living in the house only visiting when it goes wrong far harder to work out what is going on.

New stat seems better. You can do a comms test to check it works, and the receiver indicates if its not received anything from the transmitter after an hour. There's a few walls and a floor between the two parts but still functions well.

Happy for £51.