Hot water control

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  • Me-again
    Automated Home Jr Member
    • Oct 2020
    • 25

    Hot water control

    I bought a evohome hot water controller when i bought my system but was put off by people on here reporting problems with it, hot water not coming on, comms faults etc. Just wondering if these problems have now be fixed as i dont want to install if there still present as the last thing i want is no hot water when its needed.
  • Scubajoe
    Automated Home Sr Member
    • Nov 2018
    • 50

    #2
    I've been running one for a couple of years without any issues, seems to work very well. What does annoy me is that when we go on holiday and use the app to turn the heating off, the hot water is still on so make sure you turn off the jot water as well.

    Comment

    • CT1
      Automated Home Guru
      • Apr 2016
      • 189

      #3
      Our hot water has been working sort of okay for years. It did frequently report a loss of comms, but this has only happened once since I changed the batteries about 8 months ago and was reset by removing and replacing the battery. We don’t rely on timed control of the hot water, because it is generally kept hot by our solar, so only needs the occasional manual boost. So far a comms fault has not coincided with a need for a manual boost. I suspect there will always be a risk of hot water comms faults, but these could be very dependent on each specific installation; you are only likely to know for sure about your system by giving it a try. Just be sure the battery terminals are tensioned and clean, and the batteries are in good condition with clean terminals. The low currents makes all EvoHome kit sensitive to contact resistance. You also need to be careful about location and separation of the kit and distance from metal (not always easy in an airing cupboard. I would give it a try and be prepared for some trial and error regarding location of the controls. A bit of a faff, but works well if you get it set up right.

      Comment

      • Me-again
        Automated Home Jr Member
        • Oct 2020
        • 25

        #4
        Scubajoe, that sounds promising two years is a good run with no faults. I will keep the hot water switch off thing in mind.

        CT1, your outcome is on the positive side so i think i will install it but leave the old control in place and wire the two through a change over switch so old system or evo can be selected. This would have the added advantage of being able to monitor the evo performance and see if any faults occur whilst not relying on it till i am happy its doing the biz.

        Will check the battery terminals are ok and see if there's any life left in the batteries if not will replace with lithium AA,s. I may look at using a mains power supply instead of the batteries. My central heating bdr91 is installed in the airing cupboard following the separation rules(not easy as you say) but its been fault free apart from a few teething problems after install.

        Comment

        • CT1
          Automated Home Guru
          • Apr 2016
          • 189

          #5
          Sounds a very good plan. I think it was having good clean contacts that made the difference for me rather than battery performance, in fact changing the batteries (and cleaning the contacts) less frequently with lithiums may make thing worse? Don’t forget to clen the battery as well as the contacts.

          As the HW sensor is almost inevitably in and airing cupboard, where there is usually access to a mains supply, I think it would have made much more sense to have avoided batteries, and this would have also enable more robust rf communications, such as sending more frequent messages so that one going missing would have far less impact.

          Comment

          • therealfronty
            Automated Home Guru
            • May 2021
            • 140

            #6
            Been running Evohome here with the hw kit for about a year now, have had zero issues with it, it's a brilliant system.

            We got through the winter burning less gas and the house has also been more comfortable (translated = wife was warmer). So a double win!

            Comment

            • DBMandrake
              Automated Home Legend
              • Sep 2014
              • 2361

              #7
              Originally posted by Scubajoe View Post
              I've been running one for a couple of years without any issues, seems to work very well. What does annoy me is that when we go on holiday and use the app to turn the heating off, the hot water is still on so make sure you turn off the jot water as well.
              That would be a case of failing to read the manual....

              The "Heating Off" action does exactly what it says on the tin - it turns off the heating but leaves the hot water schedule running.

              Use case - summer weather when you don't need heating but still need hot water.

              What you want to use is the "Away" action. This turns off the hot water schedule as well.

              Use case - when you're away from the house for an extended period of time and don't need heating OR hot water.

              Heating Off defaults to 5C and Away defaults to 15C however you can configure either of them to be whatever you want. (So in truth heating off mode is only a house wide set point which defaults to 5C but can be increased)

              I've reduced our Away mode temperature to 10C and this is the mode we use if we're away for several days. It turns off hot water completely and turns off heating unless a room dips below 10C at which point it will come on just enough to prevent any rooms going below 10C.
              Last edited by DBMandrake; 1 April 2022, 05:47 PM.

              Comment

              • Me-again
                Automated Home Jr Member
                • Oct 2020
                • 25

                #8
                CT1, I can see what you are saying about the battery contact and batteries. I've had many occasions were dead products have sprung to life even just rotating the batteries to and fro in there holder. I think i will take a chance with the lithiums if needed and see how they go.

                Couldn't agree more with your second comment about avoiding the the batteries or even keeping them just as back up and being able to use them if the mains power supply failed ( im talking mains with a low dc voltage out bytheway).

                therealfronty, another plus post for the system. Just started doing a temporary install of the hotwater kit, finish it tomorrow and hope it runs like yours.

                Comment

                • Scubajoe
                  Automated Home Sr Member
                  • Nov 2018
                  • 50

                  #9
                  As a follow up to my previous post, while I do have the hot water kit, I also have solar panels with a device from INTELLIGENT IMMERSION LTD: that diverts excess electricity to an immersion element with it's thermostat set at 65°C. The Evohome kit is set at 55°C and only on for an hour in the evening just as a backup.

                  Comment

                  • CT1
                    Automated Home Guru
                    • Apr 2016
                    • 189

                    #10
                    The other benefit of using a mains powered device is not having to worry about leaking batteries. Over the years, I have had several devices damaged by leaking batteries. Price and manufacturer has been no guide to which are likely to fail. Are lithium batteries any more reliable in peoples experience?

                    Comment

                    • Me-again
                      Automated Home Jr Member
                      • Oct 2020
                      • 25

                      #11
                      I have no experience of lithiums leaking only been using them since installing evohome but they do have a very very long shelf life, 20years so Energizer say. they have on the pack "Worlds longest lasting".

                      Temporarily installed (CS92 hanging by wire and some sellotape, BDR91 propped up on a box) the hotwater kit and its just a case of monitoring it now.

                      Comment

                      • bruce_miranda
                        Automated Home Legend
                        • Jul 2014
                        • 2307

                        #12
                        I run the CS92 and the Evohome controller off the same wall mount PSU. So my CS92 doesn't use any batteries. I did this to test if it was the batteries causing the community failures. Ofcourse we now know it is not the batteries but a bug with the controller.

                        Comment

                        • G4RHL
                          Automated Home Legend
                          • Jan 2015
                          • 1580

                          #13
                          Originally posted by Me-again View Post
                          I have no experience of lithiums leaking only been using them since installing evohome but they do have a very very long shelf life, 20years so Energizer say. they have on the pack "Worlds longest lasting".

                          Temporarily installed (CS92 hanging by wire and some sellotape, BDR91 propped up on a box) the hotwater kit and its just a case of monitoring it now.
                          When I had a CS2 for hot water (now have a combi boiler) I did try lithiums and they lasted the same as “normal” batteries. I don’t know how long my batteries last now but it is over a year. I adopted the practice a couple of years ago of changing them all once a year. This then overcomes the problem of failures happening at different times. The batteries are cheap enough to do this.

                          Comment

                          • Me-again
                            Automated Home Jr Member
                            • Oct 2020
                            • 25

                            #14
                            bruce_miranda

                            I have read somewhere that the wall mount unit itself can cause comms problems which i am presuming is caused by the copper windings, Just a thought. I have only had my temporary setup running since Sat/2/Apr/22 but i have had no faults as yet.

                            G4RHL

                            I cant really say if they will last any longer than alkalines as i did not make a note of when i installed them. If i remember the next time the batteries fail in an HR92 I will make a note of the date.

                            Comment

                            • bruce_miranda
                              Automated Home Legend
                              • Jul 2014
                              • 2307

                              #15
                              You tend not to get Comms faults when the HW is actually on a lot. The issue is that the Controller will sometimes go deaf to the message sent by the CS92 and then marks it as Unavailable with a comms fault. In the cooler months when the HW is used often these messages arrive reasonably quickly so if one is missed the controller receives the next one and all is well. Its in the summer months when the CS92 is sending out very few messages, that's when the problem is more noticeable.

                              Comment

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