Batteries for Evohome
Exciting thread topic alert!
Very occasional poster here. Infrequent lurker.
As the weather is starting to turn, I thought I'd do a pre-Winter shakedown of my system and fire it up for the first time since March.
All was well, but I discovered that something didn't shut down properly.
Tracked down my issue to a duff set of batteries.
My question to you all is this:
what batteries do you use in your rads?
I'd been replacing mine every year with a set of Costco own brand.
Has anyone given Enerloops a try?
I'd never heard of them until recently, but the fact that they don't leak seems like it could prevent having to buy a new rad "thing" (Mine are HR80, and I don't know the correct lingo for the updated ones!)
eric
Energizer Lithium here. I buy them in bulk - still expensive, but about 1/3 the cost of buying in the supermarket.
Last ages, but more importantly they don't leak. Just remember to set the parameter in the menus.
Enerloops are rechargeable. These ones I use aren't. Rechargeable AAs don't have such good capacity as non-rechargeables.
Can you help me find the setting in the Menus?
Is that in the Installer Menu?
Thanks for the tip. I'd not heard of those batteries before.
The menus in the HR92 itself. I think it’s parameter 9. Maybe the HR80 doesn’t have this setting.
P.
Rechargeables (even good ones like Enerloops) have less capacity than a good quality Alkaline battery. Given how little Alkalines last (it seems like some rooms last me only around a year), I've avoided using rechargeables (even though I have a tonne of them) as I imagine I would have to swap them more frequently. I think Paul's use of Lithium is the ideal, but I haven't worked out the cost (I still have a few Alkalines left).
I just buy a bulk pack of 40 decent brand alkalines online (which costs pennies per cell compared to smaller packs from ASDA etc) to keep on hand, which I think ironically Paul originally linked to last year.
As soon as a zone starts complaining about low batteries, rather than trying to stretch out another months worth of use (which is about how long it will last once it starts complaining intermittently) I just replace them then and there, job done in about 2 minutes. I tension the battery contacts while I'm at it as they have inevitably gone soft since the last battery change leading to a loose connection.
I don't bother to replace all batteries during the summer etc due to the waste that would cause - different rooms use their batteries at very different rates. So I just wait for them to complain then change them immediately.
It will be interesting to see how long they last now - after installing Valencia valves I've concluded I need to run all HR92's in Stroke 1 mode for optimal performance, which theoretically uses the batteries quicker. However a number of my zones were already in Stroke 1 mode with the old valves and I'm pretty sure none of my zones has lasted less than 18 months despite this, although I don't actually keep a log of when individual rooms were changed. (Maybe I should!)
If they last 18 months I'm happy with that.
Last edited by DBMandrake; 28th September 2018 at 12:13 PM.
What are the pro's and con's of using a USB power supply to power the HR92 instead of batteries?
One disadvantage of using cheap batteries is leakage wrecking the TRV head, I bought some B&Q batteries some years ago which leaked before they were used.
How would you connect the USB supply to the HR92 when the batteries are under the knob on the top ? There's no hole for the wires of a "battery eliminator" to pass though and to be honest the whole idea sounds like an ugly kludge to me. Do you really want cables from every HR92 to a power socket ? Kind of defeating the purpose of a wireless system ?Originally Posted by GreenGuy
Haven't had that problem yet. Buying reputable brands in bulk online lets you get good quality batteries for the same price or less than cheap ones bought in small quantities.One disadvantage of using cheap batteries is leakage wrecking the TRV head, I bought some B&Q batteries some years ago which leaked before they were used.
if you look at the HR92-Installation-Guide.pdf at http://www.honeywelluk.com/products/...or-Controller/ on page 7 it shows using a cable ACS90 to connect the external window contact Micro B mini-plug. The Micro B mini-socket can also be used to power the HR92.
The whole POINT of Evohome is no horrible wires. And that imposes limitations too (limited processing and short wake-up times of the HR92, for example).
A powered system would work very differently.
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