Is EvoHome controller a thermostat?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • dmsims
    Automated Home Lurker
    • Nov 2015
    • 8

    #16
    In this configuration (during setup) why does it ask you to press the bind button?

    Comment

    • Ian_W
      Automated Home Jr Member
      • Dec 2017
      • 13

      #17
      Originally posted by Ian_W View Post
      Something else to watch out for is that when the controller decides to charge its batteries, its measured temperature can increase by a few degrees C for several hours. This has caught me out when using the controller as the room's temperature sensor. Maybe there is a way to convince it to charge the batteries at a given time when this mis-reading won't be a problem, but I haven't found it yet.
      This happened again in my system starting late yesterday evening. As of this morning the Evohome controller is still showing the battery charge indicator and is measuring about 2C higher than another thermometer in the same location (within a couple of inches). Normally Evohome agrees with this thermometer to within 0.5C, taking account of the rounding and bias towards the setpoint.

      The Evohome controller has been sitting in its cradle for a long time - probably several weeks. If I take the controller out of the cradle now, the battery shows full, and after several minutes the measured temperature drops. If I then put it back in the cradle, all is well for some tens of minutes but then the indicated temperature starts increasing again and levels out at about 2C higher than actual temperature. Incidentally the actual room temperature is now about 2C higher than the setpoint, as the room is no longer supposed to being heated.

      Last time this happened, I lost patience and had to re-boot the controller to get it out of this state. I don't know how long it's going to try to charge what appears to be an already fully-charged battery, and am not inclined just to wait and see when it sorts itself out which might result in the room not being heated properly later today when it needs to be.

      Does anyone else see this behaviour, and/or can anyone suggest tips to avoid it, please? For example, if it could be pre-empted by manually cycling the batteries every so often that would be inconvenient, but at least better than what's happening now.

      Comment

      • paulockenden
        Automated Home Legend
        • Apr 2015
        • 1719

        #18
        I've not measured it scientifically, but in the room where I use the controller as a thermostat if it feels a bit chillier than it should I usually find the controller feels warm.

        P.

        Comment

        • DBMandrake
          Automated Home Legend
          • Sep 2014
          • 2361

          #19
          Originally posted by paulockenden View Post
          I've not measured it scientifically, but in the room where I use the controller as a thermostat if it feels a bit chillier than it should I usually find the controller feels warm.
          I seem to have the opposite problem - my controller won't charge the batteries until they are nearly flat!

          It gets left on the wall mount all the time and I never see a charging icon. A few days ago when I was measuring the proportional band for another thread I took the controller off the wall so I could have it beside me in the rooms I was testing, and immediately the battery symbol was at half - this is not uncommon as it doesn't seem to recharge the batteries until they get quite low.

          However I only had it off the stand for about 10 minutes before the big red "battery low, place place the unit back on the charger" warning appeared - the one that blocks you using the user interface altogether. Hrmph. Normally it will run for about 3 hours off the charger before this warning appears, not 10 minutes...

          So back it went on the charger. Either the batteries are faulty or the charging bug that lets the battery run nearly right down before recharging them (first reported nearly 2 years ago ?) is still there in the latest firmware...

          I've had the unit long enough now (2 1/2 years ?) that it may be time to try replacing the NiMH batteries - and with some better, slightly higher capacity ones! Maybe the batteries are getting a bit iffy.
          Last edited by DBMandrake; 2 February 2018, 10:45 AM.

          Comment

          • paulockenden
            Automated Home Legend
            • Apr 2015
            • 1719

            #20
            There's something really odd about the temp reported by the controller. If you graph it it's very bumpy, unlike the temps from an HR92 or wall stat which tend to be nice and smooth.

            I don't mean oscillations, I mean a sawtooth like appearance.
            chart (6).jpg
            P.

            Comment

            Working...
            X