Like many users of this forum, I am both delighted and disappointed with my evohome system. Delighted at the excellent per-zone temperature control. Disappointed at some design decisions, missing "convenience" functions like Advance and the apparent lack of interest from Honeywell.
I decided to do something about it. The result is evoPlus.
evoPlus is an auxiliary console for an evohome system. It has a simple button-based touch user interface and provides functions that are either missing from or implemented poorly in evohome.
The hardware consists of a small plastic enclosure, a colour TFT display with touch screen and a Raspberry Pi Zero W. The software is written in Python and makes use of Andrew Stock's evohomeclient library. It also uses PyGame and a custom button class. A shell script is used to autostart the program and optionally log run-time events.
My evoPlus unit is installed in my Hall on the wall opposite to the evotouch controller. The attached photo's show the evoPlus unit and the various screens. The main screen contains 8 buttons. Some invoke a function directly, others lead onto an options screen.
Early Start allows you to start the heating earlier than usual tomorrow. It is useful if you have to get up early tomorrow for whatever reason. You select the time that you want the heating to come on and evoPlus activates a time comparator that turns the heating on at the specified time. Alternatively, if you get up early and want the heating to start right away, tap Now.
Leave Early is for when you leave the house earlier than normal (perhaps after an early start).
Return Early is for when you return earlier than normal.
End of Day is for when you decide to have an early night. It forces all zones to their overnight temperatures.
Boost allows you to increase the zone temperatures by a specified amount for a specified time.
Setback does the opposite. I find it useful when going out for a while. It saves fuel by letting the house slowly cool down without getting too cold. Unlike the evohome Eco mode, it does not have irritating behaviour at 15 degrees C.
Heat Now behaves like the traditional +Hr function. It lets you extend the heating in specified zones for a specified time. Great if you are staying up late to watch a film.
Cancel All cancels all zone overrides.
If you have a Raspberry Pi system, then you can try out evoPlus without needing any extra hardware. You can launch evoPlus from a Terminal window on the desktop and it will then run in its own window. This also works well with a VNC remote desktop.
I have created a data pack that contains all the software together with a BoM, comprehensive instructions, case drawings etc. If you would like to try out evoPlus or build a unit, send me a PM with your contact details and I will email you the data pack. Feel free to adapt evoPlus or to modify it as you wish.
Please note all information is provided on an "as is" and untested basis and without any warranty of any kind. Refer to the file disclaimer.txt in the data pack.
I decided to do something about it. The result is evoPlus.
evoPlus is an auxiliary console for an evohome system. It has a simple button-based touch user interface and provides functions that are either missing from or implemented poorly in evohome.
The hardware consists of a small plastic enclosure, a colour TFT display with touch screen and a Raspberry Pi Zero W. The software is written in Python and makes use of Andrew Stock's evohomeclient library. It also uses PyGame and a custom button class. A shell script is used to autostart the program and optionally log run-time events.
My evoPlus unit is installed in my Hall on the wall opposite to the evotouch controller. The attached photo's show the evoPlus unit and the various screens. The main screen contains 8 buttons. Some invoke a function directly, others lead onto an options screen.
Early Start allows you to start the heating earlier than usual tomorrow. It is useful if you have to get up early tomorrow for whatever reason. You select the time that you want the heating to come on and evoPlus activates a time comparator that turns the heating on at the specified time. Alternatively, if you get up early and want the heating to start right away, tap Now.
Leave Early is for when you leave the house earlier than normal (perhaps after an early start).
Return Early is for when you return earlier than normal.
End of Day is for when you decide to have an early night. It forces all zones to their overnight temperatures.
Boost allows you to increase the zone temperatures by a specified amount for a specified time.
Setback does the opposite. I find it useful when going out for a while. It saves fuel by letting the house slowly cool down without getting too cold. Unlike the evohome Eco mode, it does not have irritating behaviour at 15 degrees C.
Heat Now behaves like the traditional +Hr function. It lets you extend the heating in specified zones for a specified time. Great if you are staying up late to watch a film.
Cancel All cancels all zone overrides.
If you have a Raspberry Pi system, then you can try out evoPlus without needing any extra hardware. You can launch evoPlus from a Terminal window on the desktop and it will then run in its own window. This also works well with a VNC remote desktop.
I have created a data pack that contains all the software together with a BoM, comprehensive instructions, case drawings etc. If you would like to try out evoPlus or build a unit, send me a PM with your contact details and I will email you the data pack. Feel free to adapt evoPlus or to modify it as you wish.
Please note all information is provided on an "as is" and untested basis and without any warranty of any kind. Refer to the file disclaimer.txt in the data pack.
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