Faking a Evo zone without Evo kit

[MrBoy]

As mentioned in a previous post, I'm maxed out at 12 zones perfectly with the exception of my hallways and utility room which are left on their existing TRVs. So obviously they come on when ANY zone demands ANY amount of heat. This is not necessarily always too inefficient because a)they have TRVs b)often you'd want the hall not to be baltic when using other rooms.

But at night time we really only want the bedroom to be warm. And during the working day, only my office needs to be warm - we set everything else to 12C during these periods. I would therefore like more limited control over my communal radiators e.g. they are open evenings and weekends and shut the rest of the time.
All I seem to need are remote control TRVs so I can toggle this... they can open if they want heat and hope another (Evo) room has turned the boiler on.

Any recommendation for kit to let me do this? I have maybe 4 such radiators. I see there are bluetooth and other generic smart TRVs, any recommendations? If they can be linked into Google Home or IFTTT it would be awesome as then I can probably (later) chain them with my Evo system with a simple project which sits atop Evo and other controllers using the Evo API, etc. Similarly if I convert my cellar(s) I can do something similar with underfloor heating or whatever.

So - anything good in terms of generic smart TRVs that don't need binding to a hub or a dedicated RF controller?

[DBMandrake]

What about a couple of HR90's for your hallway and utility room ?

https://www.honeywelluk.com/products...nic-TRVs/HR90/

They look similar to the HR92 but they are completely standalone. They won't communicate with Evohome, but you can program a schedule into them. So you could program them to be off at night to ensure those two rooms don't heat while only your bedroom is on, and on during the day at a suitable temperature - but they will only heat up if other zones are calling for heat and not if the system is off. But that may be just what you need for a hallway and utility room.

[MrBoy]

Huh, I never heard of those - thanks. I'm sure they'd work but it's the minimum I can cope with since to change a schedule I still have to go round all the heads - it's like one step up from a regular TRV whereas I'd ideally like some of the connected functionality because they are not especially accessible.

I'll add them to my list of options

[StephenC]

Useful info actually @DBMandrake as I'm up against the 12 zone limit.

The HR90 instruction PDF (US version so temps in F) is located here for anyone wishing to take a look:

https://customer.honeywell.com/resou...3-00084EFS.pdf

HR90-c1.jpg

[dty]

That's very interesting! How have I not heard of those before? I have a few rads (toilet, hall, cupboard (don't ask!)) which currently have manual TRVs for which these would be ideal - especially since they can have schedules built in too.

[DBMandrake]

That's very interesting! How have I not heard of those before? I have a few rads (toilet, hall, cupboard (don't ask!)) which currently have manual TRVs for which these would be ideal - especially since they can have schedules built in too.

The main problem with manual TRV's on some radiators (I know because I ran like this for a long time as I gradually built out the system with HR92's!) is not being able to schedule bedrooms on at night without downstairs radiators passively coming on as well, which is very wasteful.

So a radiator valve that has its own schedule solves this problem even if it is not as flexible, or remotely controllable as a full HR92. Probably only useful if you've hit the 12 zone limit though.

I wonder if the HR90 is on sale in the UK and is available in a celcius version though ? Can't say that I've seen it for sale in the UK.

Edit: Ouch, £76, but at least it does celcius, and has an M30x1.5 fitting:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Honeywell-T.../dp/B00EXPF1JS

It has the upside down screen orientation of the EU version of the HR92 so maybe there is no UK specific version with the screen the "right" way up ?

[dty]

The main problem with manual TRV's on some radiators (I know because I ran like this for a long time as I gradually built out the system with HR92's!) is not being able to schedule bedrooms on at night without downstairs radiators passively coming on as well, which is very wasteful.

Precisely why I want it.

So a radiator valve that has its own schedule solves this problem even if it is not as flexible, or remotely controllable as a full HR92. Probably only useful if you've hit the 12 zone limit though.

Not only have I hit it, I'd benefit from an extra 4 zones or so!

There was talk some while back of a firmware update effectively including this functionality - having a zone where you install HR92s, but their heat demand doesn't fire the boiler. I wonder when that's coming?

[DBMandrake]

There was talk some while back of a firmware update effectively including this functionality - having a zone where you install HR92s, but their heat demand doesn't fire the boiler. I wonder when that's coming?

That was what we hoped and assumed we'd get, but instead we got the "electric heat" zone type added, which works like the old "zone valve" zone type but without causing a boiler demand.

It doesn't sound like an option to ignore the heat demand of an HR92 zone is coming or ever will.

[Dan_Robinson]

Peglar do a version of these called iTemp IIRC.

[paulockenden]

I'm not tried, but can you select an electric zone type and then bind an HR92 to it?

P.