What would you like to see in evohome? (have your say)

[roydonaldson]

IFTTT support for Geofencing supports a single device for control of your EvoHome.

So, if I get in the car to go to work in the morning and IFTTT is set to geofence my EvoHome to Economy mode, I'll shortly be getting a phone call from my wife asking why I've turned the heating off on her while she's still in the house (and her mobile phone is too). IFTTT is not intelligent enough to do AND statements in any of it's control of events.

Geofencing for EvoHome control is required to work across a number of devices and sync their status. I believe Tado can do this already today.

[SteveP]

Geofencing for EvoHome control is required to work across a number of devices and sync their status. I believe Tado can do this already today.

Thanks Roy - that was why I was asking the question as straight forward geofencing is supported by IFTTT. However, as you say you have to manage channels carefully. So I have a IFTTT recipe that when I leave the home it sets my office to a low temp and when I return it raises it automatically as my mobile has IFTTT running on it and the recipe detects where my phone is. That recipe doesn't affect anyone else. I do have a recipe for the whole house that if the temp outside gets above 20c it sets the whole system to economy mode.
As an IT consultant myself, one of the main issues with delivering a solution is not having the correct requirements. So what the requirement is a more sophisticated recipe such as IF "I leave the house" AND "my wife leaves the house" etc THEN "turn the heating off. IT is the multiple conditions test that is required and as you say IFTTT (as good as it is) doesn't support that.
I don't know if anyone reading this has not come across IFTTT but if not then we could start a thread explaining how it works as even with the single condition tests it still can be very helpful. I also have an android wear watch and they have also added some limited condition test to android wear. I have one on my watch that by just tapping the icon on the watch increases the heating in my lounge by 2C. So based on another thread where Richard is suggesting that the schedule sets the heating temp to a slightly lower than required temp as it is easier to turn it up than remove the excess, using the IFTTT on my watch I can easily be in the room, feel like I need a tad more heat, and just tap my watch to make the change :-) such fun

[HenGus]

As a senior citizen, I have spent a lot of time trying to understand the technical nuances of Evohome. Now I read that people want IFTTT, geofencing, APIs, smart watch control etc. On another thread, there is a suggestion that children can turn their parents ON and OFF remotely!

Might I suggest that Honeywell offers to provide offer a free knowledgeable 5 year old to all purchasers of Evohome who are over the age of 65.

[The EVOHOME Shop]

Might I suggest that Honeywell offers to provide offer a free knowledgeable 5 year old to all purchasers of Evohome who are over the age of 65.

Honeywell won't provide this... I do have a 2.5 year old that adjusts our evohome system that I can give to customers on a 'loan' basis of course!

So based on another thread where Richard is suggesting that the schedule sets the heating temp to a slightly lower than required temp as it is easier to turn it up than remove the excess, using the IFTTT on my watch I can easily be in the room, feel like I need a tad more heat, and just tap my watch to make the change :-) such fun

I'm impressed! It just takes a little thought to make your evohome system work better and more efficiently for you!

[Mavis]

As an IT consultant myself, one of the main issues with delivering a solution is not having the correct requirements. So what the requirement is a more sophisticated recipe such as IF "I leave the house" AND "my wife leaves the house" etc THEN "turn the heating off. IT is the multiple conditions test that is required and as you say IFTTT (as good as it is) doesn't support that.

Using the Life360 app gets round this (last person in the house then turn heating off) and supports android and ios but it's main function is a tracking app so there are the problems surrounding that - ie adult son does not want to be tracked. So although I set it up, it does not work for me.

I also have an android wear watch and they have also added some limited condition test to android wear. I have one on my watch that by just tapping the icon on the watch increases the heating in my lounge by 2C. So based on another thread where Richard is suggesting that the schedule sets the heating temp to a slightly lower than required temp as it is easier to turn it up than remove the excess, using the IFTTT on my watch I can easily be in the room, feel like I need a tad more heat, and just tap my watch to make the change :-) such fun

After reading this did anyone else immediately Google smart watches (compatible with ios)

[Wally©]

Soon... Apple will release its apple watch in March...Pebble can allready access evohome...

[G4RHL]

Just wait until we are wearing Apple watches! On that point I had understood Honeywell were engaging with Apple with respect to Apple's Homekit. Does anyone have any further info on this?

[The EVOHOME Shop]

Does anyone have any further info on this?

There is no information and Honeywell are keeping their hand close to their chest on this one!

[davidaj]

1) Outdoor temp/humidity display either from internet forecast or bound sensor, and use of this info to optimise start/stop more accurately. Although I read in other posts that the outdoor temperature doesn't matter (fuzzy logic etc), since the rate of heat transfer increases for a larger differential between indoor and outdoor temp, on a cold morning it will take longer to heat the room, and evohome will not be able to know this until it starts to heat the room, by which point it is too late. A "feels like" calculation would be ideal, since an actual temperature can feel different based on humidity or other factors. With standard thermostatic valves you tend to turn them up in winter, and down in spring/autumn.

2) Hot water optimisation - I believe this is just an on/off switch currently. I would like it to allow me to say "At 7am I want the water to be 50C", not "At 7am turn the hot water on".

3) Presence detection, to allow auto-economy mode (or other chosen action) if nobody is home. I know IFTTT can help somewhat, but as others have mentioned it's not sophisticated enough to cover multi-member households. If Honeywell could add something specifically for this to the evohome channel, which can check location of all users of the phone app registered for the address perhaps. So we'd end up with some "If" checks being based on evohome, as well as the "Then" actions, e.g. If all evohome users are out, set evohome to economy. This could be a useful mechanism for other enhancements, rather than firmware updates to the controller.

4) When a zone with multiple radiators is configured as a single room, allow any rad valve to override the entire zone, not just itself, and this be displayed back on the controller (maybe "OVR" is displayed in a similar way that "OPT" is displayed for optimsation). For rooms in which there are several radiators I would want the adjustment on any valve to affect all others, not just the single valve.

As a more open request, perhaps an "Expert" or "Advanced" mode which would open up more configuration and analysis options, such as additional custom schedules, seasonal modes (see point 1), charts showing temps per zone/room/valve over time, boiler/water relay on/off indication. This could be in the controller, the phone app or the total comfort website.

Thanks,
Dave

[G4RHL]

Dave, number 4, excellent idea. I have 2 radiators in one room and one is not so easy to get at. It would be great if a manual of the accessible one automatically changed the other.