EvoHome self install

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  • dty
    Automated Home Ninja
    • Aug 2016
    • 489

    #16
    Originally posted by JohnOC View Post
    Speaking of loss of comms, what's the comms performance like? I read that the range is 30 metres but how would that be affected by the signal having to penetrate 2 or 3 walls between the wifi touch controller and the HR92?
    You'd have to experiment in your own home to be certain. But I have a 4,000 sqft house which Evohome struggles with sometimes. It's fairly solidly built - i.e. block walls instead of stud, beam and block first floor instead of wood, etc. I have the controller positioned fairly carefully near the centre, and some of the radiators at the extremes lose contact now and again.

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    • JohnOC
      Automated Home Jr Member
      • Aug 2018
      • 25

      #17
      As I may have mentioned, I already have a CM927 wireless thermostat which has a wireless relay connected to my boiler. Looking at photos in the EvoHome brochure, it would appear that my existing wireless relay is the same model as that which comes with the EvoHome kit I'm hopefully receiving tomorrow - can anyone confirm that's the case?
      If it's not the same, I guess I can at least reuse the mounting holes and wires that connect the relay to the combi boiler.
      Last edited by JohnOC; 2 October 2018, 07:29 PM.

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      • Karrimor
        Automated Home Jr Member
        • Oct 2016
        • 24

        #18
        I also had a similar setup to yours before I moved to the Evohome system: A combi-boiler, a BDR91 relay box and a Honeywell CM927 wireless thermostat. Your existing relay box should work. You have to clear any previous bindings (see the guide).

        My old BDR91 developed a fault about 10 months after installing Evohome (flashing red led, comms faults, losing bindings). I replaced it with a newer BDR91. Installation was simple: remove the old BDR91 "faceplate" and replace it with the new one. It's been fine ever since. The newer BDR91's seems to have an updated "firmware" or version number.

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        • JohnOC
          Automated Home Jr Member
          • Aug 2018
          • 25

          #19
          Originally posted by Karrimor View Post
          I also had a similar setup to yours before I moved to the Evohome system: A combi-boiler, a BDR91 relay box and a Honeywell CM927 wireless thermostat. Your existing relay box should work. You have to clear any previous bindings (see the guide).

          My old BDR91 developed a fault about 10 months after installing Evohome (flashing red led, comms faults, losing bindings). I replaced it with a newer BDR91. Installation was simple: remove the old BDR91 "faceplate" and replace it with the new one. It's been fine ever since. The newer BDR91's seems to have an updated "firmware" or version number.
          Thanks for that, as my current wireless stat is almost 8 years old, I'll definitely replace the old BDR91 with the new one, should be easy enough I hope...
          Last edited by JohnOC; 2 October 2018, 10:56 PM.

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          • JohnOC
            Automated Home Jr Member
            • Aug 2018
            • 25

            #20
            Well, my EvoHome is all installed and seemingly working!

            I was able to re-use the mounting plate of the BDR91 from my existing Honeywell wireless stat so fitting the new BDR91 was just a matter of unclipping the old and clipping in the new one which came with the Wifi Controller, which saved a lot of time and hassle. I didn't need to bind the the BDR91 as it was pre-bound, I guess because it came with the Wifi Controller.

            I felt that the setup process for the HR92s wasn't very user friendly: referring to the installation docs, it wasn't at all clear how to remove the top cap and how to insert the batteries, though I did manage to work it out and subsequently came across a few YouTube videos showing how it's done. The binding process was initially hit and miss too: following the instructions on how to put the TRV into binding mode, I kept getting a display of "English 1 1" and so had to navigate through the menus until I got to the Exit option, then I clicked the button to return to the TRV default state.

            I created and configured each of the 5 zones I created, binding each HR92 and fitting each one in turn. After completing the installation, I did a few tests to check that the boiler was firing when I turned up the heat on one of the TRVs, all seemed to work okay with no comms issues (though I haven't done a comms test).

            I installed the Honeywell Home iOS app and created an account, received an email asking me to verify the account which I did from my laptop, then logged in and tried to register the Wifi Controller but that failed due to an unspecified error reported by the web site, directing me to phone customer support. It took a few minutes to get through to a human being, I described the issue I'd encountered and was eventually told that registering via the iOS app was the cause of the problem. I wasn't convinced but proceeded to create a new account using the web browser on my laptop, and presto, it worked and I was able to register my Wifi Controller's MAC address. I asked the customer support lady to delete the account I'd created using my phone, she said she could if I provided a photo of the MAC address and the CRC code as printed on the controller.

            The app is useful for overriding schedules and other stuff, but one thing it doesn't do (as far as I can see) is to allow editing of schedules, so it's a bit limited in that respect.

            Time will tell how well my new EvoHome all works, hopefully it's a good investment.

            Thanks to everyone who patiently answered my questions in this thread

            Comment

            • JohnOC
              Automated Home Jr Member
              • Aug 2018
              • 25

              #21
              I'm gutted

              After all my effort getting everything set up and working (though the bedroom HR92 that I'd most expected to have comms issues did report an issue), my wife came home and doesn't like the HR92s at all, insisted I remove them and replace the old TRVs, which I've done and deleted all the zones from the wireless controller. So I have a set of 5 barely used HR92s if anyone is interested?

              There's no accounting for some people's thinking, especially when they believe that thermostats don't work and are a waste of time, but, c'est la vie.

              So I'm back to a wireless thermostat/controller that will control the boiler but the iOS app still reports the zones I'd previously configured and even pressing the refresh button on the menu makes no difference. I tried deleting the app and data and re-installing it but to no avail.

              Does the app work with just one zone/the controller as a thermostat?

              EDIT: I've worked it out - just needed to delete my Home entry from my online Honeywell TotalConnect account and then re-add it using the controllers MAC and CRC numbers.
              Last edited by JohnOC; 3 October 2018, 08:27 PM. Reason: found the answer to my question

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              • paulockenden
                Automated Home Legend
                • Apr 2015
                • 1719

                #22
                Can't you just upgrade your wife?

                P.

                Comment

                • JohnOC
                  Automated Home Jr Member
                  • Aug 2018
                  • 25

                  #23
                  Originally posted by paulockenden View Post
                  Can't you just upgrade your wife?

                  P.

                  I'm going to give her a few days to think about it, she might see sense and change her mind, but having said that, if the main bedroom HR92 is unable to talk to the controller, the benefit of zoned control is much reduced.
                  Last edited by JohnOC; 4 October 2018, 12:13 PM. Reason: typo corrected

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                  • paulockenden
                    Automated Home Legend
                    • Apr 2015
                    • 1719

                    #24
                    Try plugging a mini-USB cable into the socket on the side of the HR92. Some people have claimed that this acts as an antenna and significantly increases the range.

                    P.

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                    • JohnOC
                      Automated Home Jr Member
                      • Aug 2018
                      • 25

                      #25
                      Originally posted by paulockenden View Post
                      Try plugging a mini-USB cable into the socket on the side of the HR92. Some people have claimed that this acts as an antenna and significantly increases the range.

                      P.
                      Thanks, I'll give that a try if the wife grants a reprieve on the use of zones

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