As a new feature, I'd like to see a Quick-Action added that is the reverse of the Eco Option that turns up all zones temperatures by some programmable amount, maybe 1 or 2°C as default, it's not always about turning off or saving energy, sometimes additional comfort levels are required. There is space left on the screen to do this.
What would you like to see in evohome? (have your say)
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Originally posted by g6ejd View PostAs a new feature, I'd like to see a Quick-Action added that is the reverse of the Eco Option that turns up all zones temperatures by some programmable amount, maybe 1 or 2°C as default, it's not always about turning off or saving energy, sometimes additional comfort levels are required. There is space left on the screen to do this.
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1. Geo-fencing to control all zones or specific zones based on location.
2. Weather integration by zone. So that it could be possible to configure zones so that they turn on earlier than scheduled if it is particularly cold outside and turn off sooner than scheduled if the outside temp is warmer than a certain temp.
3. Quicker method of turning zones on to a pre-defined target temp and then cancelling that override.
4. Ability to use the controller while it's disconnected from the mains power for more than 20 seconds!
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Originally posted by freddyq View Post1. Geo-fencing to control all zones or specific zones based on location.
2. Weather integration by zone. So that it could be possible to configure zones so that they turn on earlier than scheduled if it is particularly cold outside and turn off sooner than scheduled if the outside temp is warmer than a certain temp.
3. Quicker method of turning zones on to a pre-defined target temp and then cancelling that override.
4. Ability to use the controller while it's disconnected from the mains power for more than 20 seconds!
Item 4. I have had the controller off its power supply for over 3 hours without any issues. I suspect that you have a battery charging issue. See threads on this.
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Originally posted by freddyq View Post2. Weather integration by zone. So that it could be possible to configure zones so that they turn on earlier than scheduled if it is particularly cold outside and turn off sooner than scheduled if the outside temp is warmer than a certain temp.
So who cares if it knows what the temperature outside is, as long as it meets the targets you set. Trying to map outside temperatures to needed inside temperatures is a tricky business anyway as every room and every building has different heat loss characteristics, which is why weather compensation can only do so much - every room would have to have the correct "slope" configured for it to do anything useful.
3. Quicker method of turning zones on to a pre-defined target temp and then cancelling that override.
4. Ability to use the controller while it's disconnected from the mains power for more than 20 seconds!
The hardware design is what it is, it's a relatively old processor running Windows CE, a largish touch screen and has multiple radios all running from two AA NiMH batteries. You can't work miracles from that and I'm surprised they manage 6 hours from it. (3 before it starts complaining, 6 before it dies) Only a complete hardware redesign would make any significant change.
However say the battery life were doubled or quadrupled - what purpose would that serve ? At the end of the day it is the central control unit of your entire heating system, not some remote control, and it must remain powered or your heating stops working... so whether it runs out in 6 hours or 12 hours or 24 hours makes no real difference - leave it lost behind the sofa and your heating will stop working eventually.
It really is a mains operated device that is able to be temporarily removed from its dock to make the binding and programming process easier (take it with you around the house as you bind devices) but other than that it's meant to stay on the dock. If it was just a remote touch screen interface and the real brains of the system was a box in the boiler closet that was permanently powered then I would agree with you.Last edited by DBMandrake; 29 November 2016, 10:09 AM.
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Honeywell End of Term Report [Status update on fixes/upgrades/improvements]
I know that this forum is brilliantly served by its various members, in particular the following [in no particular order]: DBMandrake, paulockenden, Hengus and many others who unstintingly contribute in helping members resolve issues and questions. I'm sure everyone appreciates the time those contributing members put in on this forum.
However, it would be really helpful if Honeywell (or perhaps the members who work for or have connections with Honeywell [Rameses, Top Brake or others] could indicate in summary what changes are in progress or have been scheduled for implementation in respect of the many suggestions for improvements and rectifications to the Evohome system.
Otherwise, it seems to me, many of the really useful suggestions and ideas being proffered are falling on deaf ears.
So I ask Honeywell (or respected representatives on this site) to let us know what changes are scheduled in the pipeline (so to speak).Last edited by killa47; 15 December 2016, 01:59 PM.
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Originally posted by killa47 View PostHoneywell End of Term Report [Status update on fixes/upgrades/improvements]
I know that this forum is brilliantly served by its various members, in particular the following [in no particular order]: DBMandrake, paulockenden, Hengus and many others who unstintingly contribute in helping members resolve issues and questions. I'm sure everyone appreciates the time those contributing members put in on this forum.
However, it would be really helpful if Honeywell (or perhaps the members who work for or have connections with Honeywell [Rameses, Top Brake or others] could indicate in summary what changes are in progress or have been scheduled for implementation in respect of the many suggestions for improvements and rectifications to the Evohome system.
Otherwise, it seems to me, many of the really useful suggestions and ideas being proffered are falling on deaf ears.
So I ask Honeywell (or respected representatives on this site) to let us know what changes are scheduled in the pipeline (so to speak).
I can say that there is a development roadmap, and that more partner integrations are to come. The evohome/T6/Single Zone product you have today, will/could be a different experience to what you have in the future. We feel honoured that many have taken to implementing our products into their connected home - hence I am keen you all know the above.getconnected.honeywell.com | I work for Honeywell. Any posts I make are purely to help if I can. Any personal views expressed are my own
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Originally posted by Rameses View PostI am sorry but this would not be possible. We will always try to drive value to our customers. The feedback you have given may benefit this product or future products, but we cannot disclose publicly our roadmap for many reasons. Nothing said in this forum has fallen on deaf ears, recognizing it as a valuable and a 'to be cherished' form of engagement. The Honeywell posters interact of our own accord and will continue to do so and help where possible, because we love it just as much as you.
I can say that there is a development roadmap, and that more partner integrations are to come. The evohome/T6/Single Zone product you have today, will/could be a different experience to what you have in the future. We feel honoured that many have taken to implementing our products into their connected home - hence I am keen you all know the above.
Shouldn't there be a formal feedback system for Evohome users. Otherwise how do we get to know that improvement/bug notifications will make it back to Honeywell?
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Originally posted by killa47 View PostThank you for your comprehensive response. Could I just ask - when posters suggest specific improvements or report bugs - Is there a formal mechanism in place for Honeywell to be passed this information? Something along the lines of a bug/enhancement feedback system. I ask this because both you and Top Brake contribute on a personal basis (if I am understand correctly) for which I and other members, I'm sure, are most grateful.
Shouldn't there be a formal feedback system for Evohome users. Otherwise how do we get to know that improvement/bug notifications will make it back to Honeywell?
We monitor this forum and pickup on things. But I believe you are right - there should be a 'locker' to submit observations etc. Let me pass back. Standbygetconnected.honeywell.com | I work for Honeywell. Any posts I make are purely to help if I can. Any personal views expressed are my own
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I am a new Evohome user and getting to grips with the system. I am rapidly becoming a fan and I am finding the functionality excellent. This forum is brilliant and I can see some really constructive suggestions are being made. With apologies for being a newbie I would like to add my own suggestions for future enhancements of the Evohome system that could make it even more appealing and competitive. My own list includes:
* A web interface. The "MyTotalConnectComfort" site is virtually useless and has no functionality. It would be great to be able to program the schedules for my home on a large PC screen in the comfort of my study, rather than having to squint at the Evohome screen or my phone.
* Add the BDR91 relay status onto the Evohome display. The only way to tell whether a zone is active is to go and look at the BDR91 relay to see if the green light is on. There are times when the Evohome system is being clever and giving short bursts of heat to a zone as it is near its setpoint, so it is not obvious from knowing the current zone temperature and the set point whether the zone is in active heating . It would be nice to be able to see this from the Evohome controller or from my phone, without having to camp in my boiler room to watch the green lights on the relay boxes.
* Add the DHW to the idle screen, just as if it were another zone. I have to touch the Evohome controller every time I pass it to take it out of idle mode to see the temperature of my hot water, whereas I can see the zone temperatures in the idle mode.
* Enable the Evohome controller to auto-reconnect to a WiFi router, just as mobile phones do. I have a large house over three floors with separate WiFi access points on each floor. I have two wall mounts for the Evohome controller, one on the ground floor and one on the top floor. I have to manually reconnect the controller to the appropriate WiFi access point each time I move the controller, and key in the access code each time. Can the controller please remember a few access points and codes and simply connect to the one with the strongest signal?
* In the same vein, offer slave Evohome controllers, so that I could have one controller resident in each of my docking stations. One controller would have to remain the master, but the slave controller could look and feel like the master and operate by WiFi using the same functionality as the app.
* Enable 'Backup & Restore' functionality, ideally with a download in a CSV or other format that could be used for editing on a PC. I have spent some time creating the schedules for each of the floors in my house, and the hot water. I created a spreadsheet to plan out each day and each half hour and that spreadsheet is now my master copy of my schedule. If I want to change the schedule, say for a summer season, it would be good not to have manually to rekey the winter schedule back in again. A 'Restore' function could enable me to upload the saved winter schedule. (This would be another good piece of functionality on a revamped website, enabling this to be done from a PC through MyTotalConnectComfort.)
I'm sure I will find other niggles that could improve the functionality but I repeat that I am a happy customer and generally regard the Evohome system as a good purchase with which I am happy. Well done and thanks Honeywell.
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Originally posted by Edinburgh2000 View Post* A web interface. The "MyTotalConnectComfort" site is virtually useless and has no functionality. It would be great to be able to program the schedules for my home on a large PC screen in the comfort of my study, rather than having to squint at the Evohome screen or my phone.
* Add the BDR91 relay status onto the Evohome display. The only way to tell whether a zone is active is to go and look at the BDR91 relay to see if the green light is on. There are times when the Evohome system is being clever and giving short bursts of heat to a zone as it is near its setpoint, so it is not obvious from knowing the current zone temperature and the set point whether the zone is in active heating . It would be nice to be able to see this from the Evohome controller or from my phone, without having to camp in my boiler room to watch the green lights on the relay boxes.
* Add the DHW to the idle screen, just as if it were another zone. I have to touch the Evohome controller every time I pass it to take it out of idle mode to see the temperature of my hot water, whereas I can see the zone temperatures in the idle mode.
* Enable the Evohome controller to auto-reconnect to a WiFi router, just as mobile phones do. I have a large house over three floors with separate WiFi access points on each floor. I have two wall mounts for the Evohome controller, one on the ground floor and one on the top floor. I have to manually reconnect the controller to the appropriate WiFi access point each time I move the controller, and key in the access code each time. Can the controller please remember a few access points and codes and simply connect to the one with the strongest signal?
You're better off configuring the same SSID and passphrase on all your different routers, (they can and should be on different channels though) that way all devices including the Evohome will automatically find the nearest AP broadcasting your house wide SSID and connect to it. When the same SSID is available from multiple routers it will also give smoother roaming on devices as they move around the house than you will get when you have multiple different SSID's bring broadcast and saved on the client devices.
This is because a client connected to one SSID will try to "hang on" to it until the signal is too weak to maintain a connection, even though another SSID may be much stronger. However when the SSID's are the same, when the signal starts getting a bit weak it will actively search for other AP's broadcasting the same SSID before the connection to the first one is lost and switch as soon as the alternative has a stronger signal and in a much more seamless way.
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Some great ideas in here that I agree with.
Given that as standard Evohome doesn't monitor whether you're in or out etc like Hive et all (which I'm ok with), it would be nice have an easy option for turning the heating off or at least down for a set number of hours and then having it continue with the schedule. Something like:
'Leave the house' > How long for? > User inputs 4hrs > System reduces temps in all configured zones to minimum temp
Unlike the full blown 'off option', this would at least mean heating would continue in preparation for your arrival (if you were accurate with your time away).
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Many thanks for that helpful reply DBM. You are absolutely correct in interpreting my home network setup. At the risk of dragging this thread wildly off-topic, I should explain that, for historic reasons, I have a different SSID for every access point (and for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands). I do recognise the problem you describe of my phone clinging onto a ground floor access point SSID when I go up to the top floor and I have to prod the phone to connect to a second floor SSID. So, now that my children are grown up and I have no excuse for trying to be smart about access to the network (or monitoring it), I shall take your advice and reconfigure all APs to the same SSID. If you have a good URL link that you could share to help me with setting the channels to avoid conflicts that would be much appreciated. **End of off-topic chat!** Back to Evohome.....
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Originally posted by Tempted View Postit would be nice have an easy option for turning the heating off or at least down for a set number of hours and then having it continue with the schedule.
P.
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Originally posted by Edinburgh2000 View PostMany thanks for that helpful reply DBM. You are absolutely correct in interpreting my home network setup. At the risk of dragging this thread wildly off-topic, I should explain that, for historic reasons, I have a different SSID for every access point (and for the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands). I do recognise the problem you describe of my phone clinging onto a ground floor access point SSID when I go up to the top floor and I have to prod the phone to connect to a second floor SSID. So, now that my children are grown up and I have no excuse for trying to be smart about access to the network (or monitoring it), I shall take your advice and reconfigure all APs to the same SSID. If you have a good URL link that you could share to help me with setting the channels to avoid conflicts that would be much appreciated. **End of off-topic chat!** Back to Evohome.....
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