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

[MrBoy]

[QUOTE=imanning;39297]

1. Geo-fencing. Ability to have EvoHome app on multiple phones detect everyone has left the house and set it to Economy mode. Then detect people are returning and turn Economy mode off. Similar to functionality in Tado.

Have a look at IFTTT. (Google it). This allows you to establish geo-fencing and other similar user cases.

Sure but now you're relying on 2 3rd-party servers. And IFTTT is totally opaque (as far as I know) how it works. If they can do this with your Evo data, why can't you?

[DIY2]

Although charting and a lot of other feature people have posted here would be great - I would just like the following 2 things to make it useable:
1. Quieter HR92s- yes Im one of those that cant use evohome in bedrooms.
2. The ability to limit the DHW and Heating temperatures - could simply be a max % demand limit for heating EASY FIX. This would solve problems seen with some boilers using the honeywell eveohome opentherm controller.

Not too much to ask - thought I was buyng a system that was better than this.

[Don10]

They do. All the product teams review the feedback. Honeywell has a good plan to maintain leadership in the Home Comfort markets, but don't reveal plans or products until they are ready. And by ready, we mean worthwhile, not just for the sake of change, along with pushing to ensure it upholds (and exceeds) security and performance expectations.

How is the good plan for maintaining leadership in the Home Comfort market coming along? Honeywell seems to have been a non-player recently with Evohome at least (no new products for years and last firmware update late 2017). I have two projects on the go currently and am not confident enough in Evohome’s future to invest further in it for one. For the other more greenfield and simpler project Wiser seems a better choice as it is more modern, seemingly actively maintained and marginally cheaper.

Any reasons for staying with Honeywell?

[BuxtonJim]

The more I read this board the more I'm reminded how unique each of our situations is. I'm a late adopter around 12 months ago. Thanks to the posters here I invested with my eyes relatively wide open and I'm incredibly grateful to all of you!
My own house is a tall end of terrace Victorian setup where passive TRVs were simply not working in our interests. Maybe I should also confess that I was too lazy to be up & down 4 floors enough to monitor. Evo has worked brilliantly for us in this regard.

On my (albeit limited) analysis it's saved reasonable cash. Gas usage is definitely down but he big benefits have been comfort and convenience. Back to the thread though, I really need remote connectivity that is robust. I have a solid and fast fibre connection that is rarely flakes. Everyone rightly has different and specific needs but my single priority is reliable and regular connection. I know enough about the hardware limitations of the system to expect little more than I bought into. I will say that the app is proving way more stable for me recently.

[DIY2]

Like others I have noisy HR92s that I cant have in the bedrooms so I have done a quick hack that so far has solved the problem for me without any problems, so thought I would share it.

The bad news is you need a soldering iron (but it’s an easy job).

However do this at your own risk –and it will definitely invalidate any HR92 warranty.

The design flaw is that the motors/gears turn unnecessarily fast and generate the noise. I have purchased alternatives from China and might give them a go at some point but in the meantime put in a hack that works for me.

To slow the motors and reduce the noise I reduced the voltage to them - crudely using 2x 1N4001 diodes. (Zeners would be slightly better but I had these already and they worked fine). Note I have not done any voltage or current measurements to refine the diode selection – might do at some point.

NOTE: in slowing the motors, the motor power will decrease, so if you have hard to operate valve pins this might not work –ie not enough power to operate them and the HR92 will show error E2. If this happens you could try different diodes with less voltage drop than the 1N4001, but less voltage drop equals faster motor equals more noise.

This took me 15mins but may take up to half an hour of faffing first time. Lots of text for completeness but it’s a pretty easy DIY job.

You will need:
1. Soldering iron
2. 2x Diodes -I used 1N4001 (12pk on ebay for £1)
3. Insulation sleeve – again cheap on ebay
4. Small jewellers type of screwdriver

Steps:
1. Remove HR92 Cap and batteries
2. Remove plastic insert by removing the screw and using the small (jewellers) screwdriver bend the 3 retaining tabs GENTLY IN TURN while exerting slight lifting pressure on the insert (fingers in the battery compartment). Be careful not to over bend them or they will break, bend just enough so that they release in turn as you lift the insert gently. This sounds difficult but is actually easy if you take your time and be gentle.

You will now see the motor.

3. Unsolder the Red motor wire (doesn’t actually matter which one). Note the wire insulation is cheap stuff so melts easily, so don’t be too crude – you can re insulate with a sleeve if you melt it a bit.
4. Take the two diodes and twist their legs to attach them in parallel together pointing in different directions, ie with the stripe on them at different ends – see picture (if you don’t you will get an E2 error from the HR92 as motor will only turn in 1 direction)
5. Solder one end of the diode legs to the Red wire and the other to the motor. Use an insulation sleeve to avoid the diode legs shorting to the motor metal cover (and to cover any melted insulation on the Red wire). I don’t recommend using insulation tape – but hey it’s your HR92. Note: Its important to mount the diodes neatly – flat to the back of the motor and in a place that the plastic insert wont foul when you put it back on – I suggest place in the picture.
6. Refit plastic insert – you may need to bend out one of the tabs again gently. Don’t force it down –if it doesn’t seat right its probably fouling on the diodes, so don’t force it and re-mount the diodes.
7. Refit the insert screw, add the batteries and cap.
Your ready to try it.
Note if you do this to a spare HR92 and want to fit it to an existing zone –then follow the unbind procedure otherwise you will get a Comms fault on your controller – I just deleted the zone and added it again and hit bind on the modified HR92 to be sure.


HR92 mod2.jpg

[MrBoy]

I don't know I'd want to try it, but that's a great write up.
Have you considered doing a video on it?

[Stevedh]

why diodes and not a resitor?

[mtmcgavock]

The noise really never bothers us. Out of interest is yours an open vent or sealed system? @DIY2

[filbert]

Thanks for that - will definitely try it when we get to the hearing season. Must have some old diodes hanging around.

Would also like to know why diodes and not a resistor..

[DorrisMancer]

why diodes and not a resitor?

Because a forward conducting silicon diode will drop about 700mV whereas the voltage drop across a resistor is subject to Ohm's law and will vary with current (and resistance, of course)