HouseHeat system

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  • ajs6000
    Automated Home Lurker
    • Nov 2012
    • 1

    I've been using the boiler connect (FHT 8W) for about 4 months and the relay has failed. Conrad are replacing the unit, but I'm keen to find out if any other FHT 8W users have had any units fail? I had the original room thermostat wired in parallel with the boiler connect, so I have reverted to this while the unit is replaced.

    Comment

    • Jasper Warwick
      Automated Home Lurker
      • Nov 2008
      • 5

      Originally posted by ajs6000 View Post
      I've been using the boiler connect (FHT 8W) for about 4 months and the relay has failed. Conrad are replacing the unit, but I'm keen to find out if any other FHT 8W users have had any units fail? I had the original room thermostat wired in parallel with the boiler connect, so I have reverted to this while the unit is replaced.
      Mine is working OK.

      Jasper.

      Comment

      • fredd500
        Automated Home Jr Member
        • Jun 2009
        • 29

        Originally posted by ajs6000 View Post
        I've been using the boiler connect (FHT 8W) for about 4 months and the relay has failed. Conrad are replacing the unit, but I'm keen to find out if any other FHT 8W users have had any units fail? I had the original room thermostat wired in parallel with the boiler connect, so I have reverted to this while the unit is replaced.
        Mine's fine too.
        Chris

        Automating my home in a family friendly way - My blog: http://www.cpmills.com/

        Comment

        • jolly1
          Automated Home Jr Member
          • Feb 2011
          • 23

          Hi
          Have just installed a a thermostat and valve actuator from www.housetechsolutions.co.uk the non pro set. I have read thro the 22 pages of the thread, gave me me lots to think on. MY question is the houstechsoloutions compatible with the Conrad FS20 kit.

          I have looked at the FHT 8W and the http://www.housetechsolutions.co.uk/...&products_id=8 boiler control and they appear to be the same unit, except the conrad is 89,95 Euros roughly £73 the housetechsoloutions £189 if they are the same and compatible then would buy the Conrad.

          Ultimately would look to add the FSH1300.

          My current HA is Homevison and Girder5, ideally would like to do something like if alarm is on and no one home drop th set points for all the heating valves.
          Girder5 and HomeVison already link up with the alarm.

          Thanks for the help so far

          Comment

          • Fon
            Automated Home Jr Member
            • Dec 2012
            • 23

            Hi,

            Iv been reading this thread and others for a long while, tested the conrads out in one room, was very happy and have done the whole house including the boiler connect.

            I got a lot of info from you lot, so thought id give some back.

            The units are far cheaper at conrad than anywhere else, but you can still save even more by buying from ebay. You wont find them anywhere apart from ebay.de though. And some people wont post to the uk (worth asking before you bid.)

            If you plan to communicate with the boiler connect, or your pc, your going to need to make sure which ones you buy, as there are cheaper versions that wont connect.

            Heres a link I found to try and help you work out if you have the right model.



            Apparently there are also several variants of the b model with different firmwares, but I havent got that far in my investigations.

            If you need another radiator adapter from conrad there 8 quid, and crap. It will work, but its a bodge, and overtime I imagine it will fail.

            Instead I opted for new TRV'S (I had wickes own brand which dont fit) and I replaced them with these.



            They fit fine, and are only a pound more than the adapter. The old TRV's are now on every radiator that didnt have one anyway.

            I installed the boiler connect. It requires a live and neutral, and a switch lead. Funny enough it also requires another live. This is the one that is sent down the switch for boiler activation. The manual insists that you cannot jump the live to the box with the live to the switch. However it would appear this is only because they want the switch live to be fused at 8amp.

            So I did jump it, but I put an in line fuse between the two. (theres enough room inside the box to do it.)

            So basicly if you look at your existing thermostat and it has three wires, (big ones, like a mains plug) your installation should be very straight forward.

            The hard part was trying to get the thermostats talking to the boiler connect. My mistake was I was going into the "cent" menu on the thermostat instead of the "code" menu. Basicly if the thermostat is already paired to the actuator, you just need to go into code and keep pressing prog. The boiler connect unit needs to be in learning mode whilst you do this.

            So now its up and running. It works as expected but you are going to have to experiment with the position of the thermostat, so dont go nailing it to the wall yet.

            positioning seems to be very important. I found initially that one rad was turning the boiler on constantly. But by moving the thermostat, the room is the same temperature but the rad is no longer calling for heat.

            Also on this subject How are people managing the % open the valve must be to call for heat?

            I tried 20%, but found the boiler was on a lot, so had to change another rad to 30% (again this isnt actually effecting the temperature of the room more the boiler efficiency)

            Has anyone experimented with turning the water pump down to a slower speed?

            It seems now that less rads are on I could probably slow the pump down and save 30 watts.

            Iv also read that if your boiler dosent have a bypass you should leave one rad, (maybe a tow rail) on fully open. I havent done this, and havent heard any problems from the motor yet, but I do still have a lot of air in the system from having to drain it, so ill have to wait and see.

            All in all (im only on day 2) it seems to be effective. Im going to need to monitor the gas usage and see if we are really saving, If not its all going back on ebay.

            What are peoples thoughts on computer based monitoring? With the unit being £150 its not a cheap option, and I doubt id get any payback from it?

            Fon

            Comment

            • msjl
              Automated Home Lurker
              • Jan 2013
              • 2

              I am right in the middle of installing a house full of Conrad/HouseHeat thermostats, radiator actuators and an FHT 8W Boiler Connect. It all looks very promising, except for one thing... My FHT 8W only seems to be able to 'hear' other devices that are within about 1m of it! I don't think I am doing anything wrong, but happy to hear others' points of view.

              I have successfully had a thermostat communicating with a radiator actuator at opposite ends of the house, so do not think the problem is due to any other interference or particularly thick walls. I can also get everything to work when I set up an artificial test with a thermostat, actuator and FHT 8W all within a few feet of each other, so I think I have got the basic principles of operation. That does however need me to temporarily wire a mains plug onto the FHT 8W and leave the switched connections without any load, but I do not think that should adversley affect it.

              I suspect that my FHT 8W might be a bit deaf, possibly due to some fault with its aerial, but I can't really explore that any further without invalidating the warranty.

              PS. I have emailed Conrad technical support in Germany, and am awaiting a reply. I am expecting them to probbably suggest replacing the unit, but thought I would air my experience on here while I wait, just in case someone has a bright idea. Gues I am just impatient

              Mark

              Comment

              • Fon
                Automated Home Jr Member
                • Dec 2012
                • 23

                Mine communicate fine at a far distance.

                I do recall that after the units were paired, there was a period of time (up to 5 mins) where the the FHT8W would flash the number that had just been paired as if it had lost reception.

                I think I sped up the process by going into the cent menu, and cycling through na, off and then on, but it may have just been coincidental that I was doing it whilst they were finalising the pairing process.

                I also recall seeing a wire on the front bottom of the unit that wasn't connected to anything, and I believe this to be the antenna.

                Is it that the thermostats are not switching the FHT8W on, or are the numbers on the FHT8W actually flashing to show no signal?

                HTH

                Fon

                Comment

                • msjl
                  Automated Home Lurker
                  • Jan 2013
                  • 2

                  Thanks Fon, that reassures me. I suspect that I have a fault on mine. As you say, the aerial is a wire suspended along the bottom edge of the PCB. It appears OK, but perhaps has a poor joint with the board, or is slightly the wrong length. I do not want to fiddle too much with it as it is only a few days only and so I am sure they will fix it under warranty.

                  The thermostat is successfully switching the actuator on the radiator, but I had to place them within a few feet of the FHT 8W to do the initial pairing. If I then move them further apart again (ie. another room), then the FHT 8W eventually, after several minutes, starts to flash the " symbol under the appropriate memory position to show that it has lost communication.

                  Comment

                  • Fon
                    Automated Home Jr Member
                    • Dec 2012
                    • 23

                    Sounds knackered then mate,

                    Fon

                    Comment

                    • MrLizard
                      Automated Home Lurker
                      • Jan 2013
                      • 1

                      Originally posted by autolog View Post
                      I have investigated this a bit further with a neighbour and he has pointed out that the kickspace heater has an integral heat sensor that won't switch the fan on until the water gets hot (43 C) - therefore the flow switch is not needed. So it makes this solution even easier - thanks again for the suggestion
                      Hi,

                      I was curious as to how your kickspace heater solution is working out? Also, what model do you have?
                      I'm thinking of doing something similar myself.

                      Has anyone else done something similar?

                      Comment

                      • autolog
                        Automated Home Jr Member
                        • Dec 2009
                        • 24

                        Originally posted by MrLizard View Post
                        I was curious as to how your kickspace heater solution is working out? Also, what model do you have?
                        It is a "Myson Kickspace 600" and is working very well. It is controlled using a FHT80B Stat and actuator on a TRV. It works in conjunction with the boiler connect component.

                        Comment

                        • vetinry
                          Automated Home Lurker
                          • Aug 2011
                          • 8

                          Evening everyone. I'm trying to finalise my decision on heating controllers for our renovation project.
                          I'm pretty much set on the FS20 system and was planning to purchase from Conrad.
                          However, because I'm still a little bit confused about exactly which components I need, I asked Conrad for some advice and they have recommended me the Homematic system. I didn't think this system would communicate with a boiler controller which is one of my requirements.

                          Basically I am looking for improved control for 2 of our 3 heating zones. The UFH zone is fine and I don't think needs any improvement. This leaves an upstairs and downstairs zone.
                          Upstairs there are 3 rooms and I would like to put actuators and thermostats into each room with the ability for a central controller and boiler control. I'm making an assumption that the boiler controlllers can be used to actually control a zone valve, which itself switches the boiler.

                          Downstairs there are 10 rooms and I am going to need about 12 actuators and 8 thermostats. I would like a second controller and boiler controller.

                          From what I've read, I need the actuators and thermostats to work bi directionally and I would ideally like the thermostats to show actual temp rather than target temp.

                          Unfortunately, despite reading pretty much all of the product info for the various FS20 heating controllers on the Conrad site, I can't be sure which I need.

                          So, I asked them the question and that's when they recommended Homematic to me.

                          I would massively appreciate any advice, and ideally the specific parts that I need.

                          Best wishes

                          Steve

                          Comment

                          • Guymartin
                            Automated Home Lurker
                            • Mar 2013
                            • 1

                            Hi Guys

                            I've been reading this thread with some interest! I have been looking at upgrading my central heating control as it currently has a mind of its own and is very expensive. I only moved in 6 months ago and there appears to be 2 settings...on and off!

                            I quite like the look of the Housetech stuff which as far as I can tell is the same as the stuff that Conrad sells but Conrad sells for cheaper! I've been on the Conrad website this morning and I quite like the look of the Conrad MAX! heating stuff. Looks to be the same as the Househeat 2 rad controls. There also appears to be a very neat cube to control all of the stuff by PC. Has anyone got experience of these MAX! controls in particular?

                            I would also like this to connect to the boiler - but I can't see if there is a boiler connect module with this particular range. Does anyone know whether the FHT 8W boiler relay can be used with the MAX! range?

                            Sorry for the questions! I would appreciate any advice/feedback!

                            Cheers

                            Guy

                            Comment

                            • heatingitaly
                              Automated Home Lurker
                              • Jan 2013
                              • 8

                              As a specialist in designing heating systems with heatbanks it might be useful if I rocked the boat here a bit. The point of heatbanks is that they enable multiple heat input sources to be integrated. So for example inputs might be gas, wood stove, solar, ASHP etc. Outputs would be rads, floors, hot water for showers etc. Most of the posts here assume a need to activate a gas boiler whenever thermostats call for heating and if gas is all you have then that's perfectly appropriate. However with multiple sources the stats don't call the boiler at all; some other source might have already stored some energy in the tank and could be still supplying. So what is done is that the gas boiler is allowed to come on at suitable times and it checks the tank thermostat and only runs to top up to the set temp, if at all. The heating thermostats in rooms then just activate the circulation pump, for rads or floors, and the gas boiler only comes on if the timer allows and the tank thermostat allows. For example: A gravity connected wood stove is heating the tank and every now and then a programmable room thermostat runs the underfloor heating pump for half an hour to take some heat out of the tank... so a cheap/green energy source has been used and the gas never came on at all.

                              Comment

                              • andy_p
                                Automated Home Jr Member
                                • Jan 2009
                                • 13

                                Originally posted by Guymartin View Post
                                I quite like the look of the Housetech stuff which as far as I can tell is the same as the stuff that Conrad sells but Conrad sells for cheaper! I've been on the Conrad website this morning and I quite like the look of the Conrad MAX! heating stuff. Looks to be the same as the Househeat 2 rad controls. There also appears to be a very neat cube to control all of the stuff by PC. Has anyone got experience of these MAX! controls in particular?

                                I would also like this to connect to the boiler - but I can't see if there is a boiler connect module with this particular range. Does anyone know whether the FHT 8W boiler relay can be used with the MAX! range?
                                The Terrier i-temp range from Pegler Yorkshire looks suspiciously similar to the Conrad Max stuff too.

                                I'm still (4 years later) looking for a range of individual radiator controls that I can integrate into my own system (which already does central boiler control via X10). All the systems I've found so far are very proprietary and locked in, and don't allow for external software control. Leaving a pc logged in to run their proprietary software so it can listen for keystrokes just doesn't cut it. Has anyone come across a range that offers e.g. a decent API or zwave interface with remote setpoint control (not just set-back) and doesn't cost silly money? I keep coming back to the danfoss range, at least they publish their zwave protocol, but they're £50 a pop.

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