Reply With QuoteMine is working OK.Originally Posted by ajs6000
Jasper.
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.
Mine's fine too.
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
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.
http://fhz4linux.info/tiki-index.php...tic%20Controls
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.
http://www.screwfix.com/p/drayton-rt...m-angled/25900
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
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
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
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.
Sounds knackered then mate,
Fon
Hi,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
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?
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