Evohome is Noisy - please help me

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • top brake
    Automated Home Legend
    • Feb 2015
    • 837

    Originally posted by oshingler View Post
    I'm normally a silent forum member, but thought I'd share my Evohome noise reducing experiment with you. Advance warning - this is probably over-engineered!

    I've concluded that most of the noise I was experiencing was due to the HR92UK motor noise being amplified through the radiator. I crudely proved that by attaching the head to a new unplumbed valve, set the CYCL to start and touched it against the pipe on the radiator, with an immediate noticible increase in volume.
    After a lot of searching, I discovered the Drayton ETF2, which is a 2m capillary extension for a TRV head. I've fitted the extension to the valve body, and the remote end to the HR92UK. There's a lot of bodging involved to get that final link to work because the pin in the extension is not as fixed or stable as it should be in my opinion. I used two small washers and a small nut to build up the height around the pin in the remote end of the extension, and then I pressed a metal coin from a steel back box and used that to create a large flat area for the HR92UK pin to push down on. Finally, I bodged an angled bracket and fixed it to the wall, using some foam and screw caps to dampen the vibrations against the wall too. The result... it's at least half as quiet (by using the scientific method of 'how much does it annoy me now?'). It's not silent of course, and you still hear it in operation, but I now consider it to be acceptable. It's not the prettiest of results, but it is only a proof of concept. In theory, you can get a 6m extension instead and hide your HR92UK in a more sound proofed location.

    And some photos:
    [ATTACH=CONFIG]934[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]935[/ATTACH]
    [ATTACH=CONFIG]936[/ATTACH]
    What's the metal box for mate?
    I work for Resideo, posts are personal and my own views.

    Comment

    • oshingler
      Automated Home Jr Member
      • Jul 2016
      • 17

      That was just to show what I meant by steel back box. I used a metal disk that I popped out from one of those back boxes in order to give the HR92 a large surface area to push against. Without that, the pin in the extension and the pin in the HR92 would keep misaligning.

      Comment

      • top brake
        Automated Home Legend
        • Feb 2015
        • 837

        Originally posted by oshingler View Post
        That was just to show what I meant by steel back box. I used a metal disk that I popped out from one of those back boxes in order to give the HR92 a large surface area to push against. Without that, the pin in the extension and the pin in the HR92 would keep misaligning.
        Not recommended to mount wireless devices on metal boxes as it will massively reduce signal range
        I work for Resideo, posts are personal and my own views.

        Comment

        • oshingler
          Automated Home Jr Member
          • Jul 2016
          • 17

          Yup, but it's not mounted on a metal box, the metal box hasn't been used for anything other than popping out a small round metal disc about the same size as a 10p coin (only thinner) - I was just showing that image to help explain where the metal disk I used inside came from.

          Comment

          • G4RHL
            Automated Home Legend
            • Jan 2015
            • 1580

            What about a piece of timber wedged between the bottom of the radiator and the wall to reduce vibration and resonance. I found simply holding the feeder pipe produced some sound reduction although I don't find the HR92s noisy. As most of the noise comes from the radiator working as an amplifier then something to deaden such may work.

            Comment

            • Sentry1
              Automated Home Jr Member
              • Oct 2016
              • 43

              So. Having sent the HR92 back to the evohome shop for testing and waited and waited..... it would appear my wife and I had our wires crossed. It hadn't been sent at all!

              Now it is finally winging it's way there.

              I'm almost 100% certain that nothing will be found wrong with it and that they really are that noisy (although I would dearly love to hear that the 10 HR92s I have are an anomaly and that usually they are far quieter). Since my last post I have removed half the HR92s and put back standard TRVs because the sound is so intrusive. Every time I heard it (even over the sound of the TV) it would annoy me that it wasn't quieter.

              Anyway, let's see what happens. Fingers crossed.

              Comment

              • basiluk
                Automated Home Sr Member
                • Oct 2008
                • 89

                I would strongly recommend that you replace the radiator values with Honeywell ones. Do one £15 plus 15 mins time of a plumber and I think you will soon reasise that not all radiator valves are alike!

                Comment

                • Rameses
                  Industry Expert
                  • Nov 2014
                  • 446

                  Originally posted by Sentry1 View Post
                  So. Having sent the HR92 back to the evohome shop for testing and waited and waited..... it would appear my wife and I had our wires crossed. It hadn't been sent at all!

                  Now it is finally winging it's way there.

                  I'm almost 100% certain that nothing will be found wrong with it and that they really are that noisy (although I would dearly love to hear that the 10 HR92s I have are an anomaly and that usually they are far quieter). Since my last post I have removed half the HR92s and put back standard TRVs because the sound is so intrusive. Every time I heard it (even over the sound of the TV) it would annoy me that it wasn't quieter.

                  Anyway, let's see what happens. Fingers crossed.
                  I just want to remind you. Every time you move the valves/reset them/change the environment, they have to perform a learning process again. It takes about 7-10 days for them to be 'optimal' and only achieve the increments they need to achieve. Before then they will likely be more 'active' than normal.
                  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

                  Comment

                  • Sentry1
                    Automated Home Jr Member
                    • Oct 2016
                    • 43

                    Thanks @basiluk and @rameses.

                    I have tried Honeywell valves and it made no difference, which was a real shame as I was hoping for a big improvement.

                    Additionally, I've had Evohome for enough time for it to do the learning and any reduction in the number of adjustments is obviously welcome. However this has no bearing on the fact that I find the noise intrusive and that it wakes up the kids (well, it did until I removed the evohome TRVs from their rooms and the landing).

                    I was at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week and there is a huge emphasis on 5g and the smart home from many big tech names out there, so it may well be that:

                    a) Honeywell feel the pressure and invest in upping their game
                    b) a startup comes along and provides all the functionality at half the cost

                    Anyway - I still haven't admitted defeat with Evohome quite yet. Let's see what The Evohome Shop say.

                    Comment

                    • basiluk
                      Automated Home Sr Member
                      • Oct 2008
                      • 89

                      Wow, I am surprised that HWell valves still cause issues. Fancy filiming them up close with soudn and posting to youube?

                      Comment

                      • paulockenden
                        Automated Home Legend
                        • Apr 2015
                        • 1719

                        I don't understand the comment about Honeywell upping their game. As others in this thread have pointed out the HR92 is one of the quietest motorised radiator valves on the market. The competition are mostly FAR louder. Even newer entrants to the market.

                        I suspect a lot of time and effort went into making these valves as (relatively) quiet as they are.

                        Comment

                        • G4RHL
                          Automated Home Legend
                          • Jan 2015
                          • 1580

                          Originally posted by paulockenden View Post
                          I don't understand the comment about Honeywell upping their game. As others in this thread have pointed out the HR92 is one of the quietest motorised radiator valves on the market. The competition are mostly FAR louder. Even newer entrants to the market.

                          I suspect a lot of time and effort went into making these valves as (relatively) quiet as they are.
                          I concur. If you want a noisy one try LightwaveRF's. Left alone, the HR92 is relatively quiet and unobtrusive. The boiler can be heard more coming on etc. than the HR92s. Yes in the complete quietness of say early morning the HR92 in the bedroom is obvious, but then I would expect it to be. Besides it is telling me the time when it operates! The noise of the system getting up to speed with radiator noise is more obvious and that is not an HR92 issue. There are a lot more noisy things operating around the average domestic home than an HR92. Then there are cars going passed although luckily I live in a culdesac. The birds in the morning and during the day are noisier than the HR92s and I am sure we would not want to lose that natural sound. However, I know I could quieten my HR92s more if I felt the need by putting say a piece of wood between the radiator and the wall to absorb the resonance of the radiator.

                          Comment

                          • HenGus
                            Automated Home Legend
                            • May 2014
                            • 1001

                            I have the two BDRs on a partition wall between the airing cupboard and my main bedroom. I find the clicking at night re-assuring as I know that the controller has turned off the heating. I also hear the HW click on at 7am in the morning. Most mornings, I can hear the bedroom HR92s whirr: a quick glance of the clock tells me how cold it got in the previous night (in a general sort of way).

                            Comment

                            • Rameses
                              Industry Expert
                              • Nov 2014
                              • 446

                              Ok. Had some tests done in one of our proofing chambers. Short story. We are measuring around 36db (ish). Nearest competition is at 46db. I am not saying what/who, or commenting on the process. I had this done for my own peace of mind as I was reading this thread and I wanted to back up what I and many other customers already thought. These are not formal or published figures.

                              Mounting and how much the pipes are seated (plus the radiator itself) are all variables, but overall results were that we are around 10-13db above normal ambiance (21db, so somewhere between a whisper and normal conversation)
                              We are improving our products all the time, eager to find ways to improve. But with the current design we are confident that the system should provide a comfortable integration into the home whilst bringing all the benefits connected heating and smart zoning can bring.
                              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

                              Comment

                              • Sentry1
                                Automated Home Jr Member
                                • Oct 2016
                                • 43

                                Hi Rameses,

                                Great that you guys are running those tests - just knowing that you take this element of your product seriously is good news. Thanks for letting me know. I am tempted to get a LightwaveRF one just to find out how crazy noisy they are.

                                Can you please confirm something for me - do all the batches of HR92s use all the same components? I find it very hard to believe that the issue with noise that I am dealing with is not being experienced by other people. These things were waking up the kids so I moved them out of their rooms (thus essentially losing the primary benefit that drove my purchase in the first place). The remaining ones still turn heads...in the middle of the day....when there are loads of other household noises going on. I can only think that I've got a loud batch of motors or something similar.

                                I have removed them from the radiators and they are still noisy (not resonance). I have tried new valves and they are still noisy.

                                As I mentioned before, I have sent one off to The Evohome Shop who are going to let me know their thoughts. As soon as I hear more I will post here.

                                Thanks,
                                Sentry1

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X