Evohome is Noisy - please help me

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • paulockenden
    Automated Home Legend
    • Apr 2015
    • 1719

    #76
    Does your mum have carpets and you have hard floors? Things like that will make the biggest difference.

    Comment

    • Arrghh!
      Automated Home Sr Member
      • Dec 2015
      • 73

      #77
      The environment between the two houses and the size and types of rad are very similar.

      If you could hear the HR92s working in both houses, you would agree there is something else going on. TBH, I can understand why some people are unhappy now I have heard the difference between 'quiet' and 'noisy' actuators/valves!
      Last edited by Arrghh!; 8 December 2016, 07:36 PM.

      Comment

      • fulltopuk
        Automated Home Lurker
        • Oct 2004
        • 2

        #78
        Also, are they both pressurised or unpressurised?

        Comment

        • DBMandrake
          Automated Home Legend
          • Sep 2014
          • 2361

          #79
          Originally posted by paulockenden View Post
          Does your mum have carpets and you have hard floors? Things like that will make the biggest difference.
          I agree - the room acoustics would probably be the biggest factor from one installation to another. The HR92 in a couple of our rooms seem quite noisy - bathroom and hallway. Both have hard floors and the bathroom of course has hard walls and no soft furniture in it...so the sound tends to reverberate around the room.

          On the other hand in the living room that is carpeted and has sofas, the noise is audible if the room is quiet but barely noticeable, and if the TV is on at all we never hear it. If a room sounds acoustically "live" when people are holding a conversation an HR92 in that room will probably sound noisy. If the room is well damped and "quiet" during a conversation an HR92 is likely to be quiet too.

          Comment

          • Arrghh!
            Automated Home Sr Member
            • Dec 2015
            • 73

            #80
            Originally posted by fulltopuk View Post
            Also, are they both pressurised or unpressurised?
            My system is unpressurised, my mum's is pressurised.

            Hoping to have enough time to carry out some testing tomorrow on mine.

            Comment

            • Sentry1
              Automated Home Jr Member
              • Oct 2016
              • 43

              #81
              Originally posted by Arrghh! View Post
              So, the plot thickens....

              I was at my mother's house today where I also have an Evohome system installed. I tested two of her HR92s and they were considerably quieter than the ones in my house.

              This is a good thing, potentially, as I now should be able to swap some components between systems which may help to work out what's happening.

              First of all, is there a difference in the HR92s? Visually, I would say not.

              The ID number under the LCD display is

              "HR92UK" - same for all of them
              "1.01" - same for all of them
              The numbers which differ are then formatted "XXXX X STX" but there's no real pattern between the ones in each house other then mine are "161X X ST2" and in my mother's house they are "153X X ST3", so make of that what you will.

              Possibly more relevant are the valves. In my house, I have valves with no obvious manufacturer's markings on them, but they don't need adapters to take the HR92s. In my mother's house, the valves are TPK 43 (Travis Perkins) valves with plastic adapters to allow the HR92s to be fitted.

              I'm not saying the valves are making the difference (testing required first!) but it's one thing to consider.
              This is the most hopeful info on this situation yet. Please do let us all know how you get on. All my HR92s state "ST2" ......I was very specific to ask the vendor whether I was getting absolutely the latest hardware, so I will be taking it up with them if there turns out to be a difference. In any case I will approach Honeywell about this as well.

              It would be a very useful thing if everyone with HR92s in use in their home could post here whether they consider them noisy AND which "model" they are (plus, if possible, the make of the valve and whether they required adopters).

              Looking forward to aarrghh!'s findings later!

              Comment

              • paulockenden
                Automated Home Legend
                • Apr 2015
                • 1719

                #82
                Not excessively noisy, ST2.

                P.

                Comment

                • Arrghh!
                  Automated Home Sr Member
                  • Dec 2015
                  • 73

                  #83
                  I should say that the ST2s were purchased about 9 months after the ST3s, so I wouldn't assume '3' means they are newer than '2' or indeed that there's any major difference other than being made in a different batch.

                  Almost ready to start testing here...

                  Comment

                  • Sentry1
                    Automated Home Jr Member
                    • Oct 2016
                    • 43

                    #84
                    Originally posted by Arrghh! View Post
                    I should say that the ST2s were purchased about 9 months after the ST3s, so I wouldn't assume '3' means they are newer than '2' or indeed that there's any major difference other than being made in a different batch.

                    Almost ready to start testing here...
                    There could be loads of unshifted stock of ST2s meaning the timing of the purchase could be irrelevant.

                    However you're right- until we hear from Honeywell we should make no assumptions.

                    Comment

                    • Arrghh!
                      Automated Home Sr Member
                      • Dec 2015
                      • 73

                      #85
                      Initial findings from the tests I tried today are...

                      1. When an HR92 is not attached to the valve body, it is very quiet. The issue is not the HR92 on it's own. Other factors influence the level of noise generated when installed on a rad.
                      2. I took four HR92s from around the house and tried them all on the same rad. There was a slight difference between them, but not much. I used the noisiest one for the rest of my tests.
                      3. I tried new lithium batteries in place of the 9 month old alkalines in there already. No difference in motor noise, although I could hear a high frequency whine when the LCD backlight was on only with the lithiums!
                      4. I put some carpet on the wall behind where the HR92 was installed to see if that reduced the overall noise level at all. Hardly any difference.
                      5. I changed the unbranded valve body over to a Valencia valve body. Hardly any difference in noise level.
                      6. I stuck sound-deadening foam rubber around the HR92 body. Not pretty, but it significantly reduced the noise level. It was the biggest improvement I made today.

                      I recorded all the noise meter readings I took and can put some numbers to the above once I've gone through the footage, but my conclusions so far are that probably the age and batch number of HR92 is not going to make any difference.

                      I don't think the Valancia valve bodies will guarantee quieter operation either. In fact, I wonder whether the fact that the valves at my mum's house use plastic adapters between the metal body and the HR92 is dampening some of the resonance?

                      I also think that the design and styles of radiator will make a difference. On a double radiator, there are more thin metal elements which can act as loudspeakers and amplify the noise.

                      In my opinion, the answer to this problem (if it is a real problem to you) is still to find a way to dampen down the vibrations transmitted from the body of the HR92 into the valve/pipes/radiator and it's own thin plastic body. When the motor is under load and attached to a valve, it behaves in the same way as the vibrate function on your phone. If it's in your hand, you struggle to hear it but put it on a table and it becomes pretty loud.

                      Not much of a result as such, but maybe it's eliminated some possible fixes?

                      Comment

                      • Sentry1
                        Automated Home Jr Member
                        • Oct 2016
                        • 43

                        #86
                        Originally posted by Arrghh! View Post
                        Initial findings from the tests I tried today are...

                        1. When an HR92 is not attached to the valve body, it is very quiet. The issue is not the HR92 on it's own. Other factors influence the level of noise generated when installed on a rad.
                        2. I took four HR92s from around the house and tried them all on the same rad. There was a slight difference between them, but not much. I used the noisiest one for the rest of my tests.
                        3. I tried new lithium batteries in place of the 9 month old alkalines in there already. No difference in motor noise, although I could hear a high frequency whine when the LCD backlight was on only with the lithiums!
                        4. I put some carpet on the wall behind where the HR92 was installed to see if that reduced the overall noise level at all. Hardly any difference.
                        5. I changed the unbranded valve body over to a Valencia valve body. Hardly any difference in noise level.
                        6. I stuck sound-deadening foam rubber around the HR92 body. Not pretty, but it significantly reduced the noise level. It was the biggest improvement I made today.

                        I recorded all the noise meter readings I took and can put some numbers to the above once I've gone through the footage, but my conclusions so far are that probably the age and batch number of HR92 is not going to make any difference.

                        I don't think the Valancia valve bodies will guarantee quieter operation either. In fact, I wonder whether the fact that the valves at my mum's house use plastic adapters between the metal body and the HR92 is dampening some of the resonance?

                        I also think that the design and styles of radiator will make a difference. On a double radiator, there are more thin metal elements which can act as loudspeakers and amplify the noise.

                        In my opinion, the answer to this problem (if it is a real problem to you) is still to find a way to dampen down the vibrations transmitted from the body of the HR92 into the valve/pipes/radiator and it's own thin plastic body. When the motor is under load and attached to a valve, it behaves in the same way as the vibrate function on your phone. If it's in your hand, you struggle to hear it but put it on a table and it becomes pretty loud.

                        Not much of a result as such, but maybe it's eliminated some possible fixes?
                        Oh dear. Not a positive result. Thank you so much for going to the trouble of finding all this stuff out, though. I'm very appreciative of the time you spent. I know it wasn't specifically to try to sort out my issue but it has been really useful.

                        Hello Honeywell? Would you care to chip in with some help here? If not, all that remains is for me to find the boxes from the basement and start packing it all up ready to send back.

                        Actually, one further task, I am going to take one of my Evohome TRVs into some merchants and try out some valves to see if I can reduce how noisy they are. I know that will not include any resonance however it should indicate if there are any changes at all.

                        The very final task one way or the other, will be to write a decent, detailed review and put it on the usual channels to ensure people spend their cash wisely and with all knowledge. You lot have really helped with the source material for that :-)

                        I'll keep posting my progress here as always.

                        Comment

                        • Sentry1
                          Automated Home Jr Member
                          • Oct 2016
                          • 43

                          #87
                          One further question for you "Argghh!" - did you end up using an HR92 from your mum's house? Was an ST3 in the mix here?

                          Thanks

                          Comment

                          • The EVOHOME Shop
                            Site Sponsor
                            • Dec 2014
                            • 483

                            #88
                            How 'noisey' are we talking here? Did you buy these from us?

                            Comment

                            • sandyman
                              Automated Home Sr Member
                              • Mar 2016
                              • 85

                              #89
                              hi
                              just a couple of points - don't think I am having a go, I live in a very quiet house , and I am a noise obsessive as well. ( I ended up spending twice as much as I'd planned on appliances when recently re-doing the kitchen, as I had to go all the way to liebherr before I was happy with the quietness of my tall fridge and freezer ).

                              I think your expectation may be unrealistic - these are motorized valves. so there has to be moving parts that make noise. pre evo, we might get woken by the rads/pipes clanking as they warmed up . now, its 10 seconds of whirr, then the same clanks. you get used to it. doesn't take long before you sleep through it.

                              one other thing - have you consider just putting your setpoint lower over night? 15 or so? (with the kids being supplied with appropriate weight duvets / pyjamas for a 15 degrees room?) in that case the system is less likely to run (caveat , if you house has bad heat loss?) and so there won't be any valve movement until your morning startup. thats what I do. I also don't use optimum start. so I know exactly when the noise is going to be. once thing that others have commented on about evo, it needs per-room optimum start.

                              cheers

                              Comment

                              • HenGus
                                Automated Home Legend
                                • May 2014
                                • 1001

                                #90
                                Originally posted by sandyman View Post
                                hi

                                I think your expectation may be unrealistic - these are motorized valves. so there has to be moving parts that make noise.
                                I concur. These things do whirr. If muting the sound was an aim, then they would be mounted on rubber rather than metal. We also try not to have Evohome operating overnight: not least, because I can hear the BDR click ON/OFF and the pump coming on in addition to the HR92s cycling.

                                Comment

                                Working...
                                X