Climote vs EPH

Sublime79

Hey - looking for some advice. Not familiar with heating control systems and am a new house owner so hopefully I explain this correctly.

We bought a house a couple of years ago (about 15 years old) and we now want to upgrade the boiler control.

We have been advised that Climote would be best suited but we first need to install a motorized valve on the water tank (the upstairs and downstairs heating already has one each) and then rewire the system wire each zone (upstairs, downstairs, hot water) so that they work independently from each other and fire the boiler independently from each other.

We have been told Climote or something called EPH (?) would be best. If I am correct, the EPH has two thermostats as opposed to 1 with Climote. Can you install Climote and get a second thermostat added?

Any opinions/advice on which system is better and how they differ would be really appreciated. Thanks

Ak84

Not sure about the new versions but I have seen Climote systems with "dial type" wall stats. Not very accurate and only allow 1 temperature setting.
Whatever you go for, choose a digital room stat that will allow different temperatures throughout the day.
I lived in a small 2 up 2 down (cold) house and after 2 years of tricking about with zones and different systems, I ended up with a Nest stat controlling up and down.
It was set to never drop below 16.5 degrees and went up to 19 in the morning and evenings.
Actually used less oil this way as the fabric of the house stored a certain amount of heat, and it eliminated drafts by whole house being on together.
Esb have a deal where they will fit a Nest for discounted price.

Sublime79

Yep, I want a digital one that can be controlled by an app from the phone. Unfortunately we'd signed up for that deal to get the NEST system installed but for some reason the existing set up was not suitable.

As i said, the recommendation from the installer was installation of the motorized valve and rewire the system. The get Climote - it was an electrician who went on to recommend this EPH system.

2011

The Climote has a monthly charge associated with it. For this reason alone I would not go with this option.

In my own home I have 2 zone valves and a gas boiler. I have installed three Sonoff TH16 devices at a cost of around €60 (for all 3). This provides me with:
- Full app control of all 3 devices independently
- I can set up different timers for each. So I can have the boiler coming on to heat water at certain times and the boiler coming on to heat radiators at other times.
- Full integration with Google Home and / or Alexa
- Temperature of water available on the free app
- No monthly charges
- Simple to install and comparable with all heating systems.
- Very cost effective.
- Can control any number of zones.

Sublime79

Hey 2011 - cheers for the advice. What is the monthly charge for?

The three Sonoff TH16's you installed - is it case of house in 2 zones, so 1 for each of these and then one for the water tank?

What's the name of the free app you use?

2011

Sublime79 wrote: »

Hey 2011 - cheers for the advice. What is the monthly charge for?

Running a SIM card within the Climote.

The three Sonoff TH16's you installed - is it case of house in 2 zones, so 1 for each of these and then one for the water tank?

1 is for the hot water valve. Once this valve opens it will fire the boiler. This also provides me with the temperature of the hot water.

1 is for the valve for the radiators. Once this opens it will also fire the boiler.

1 is for the boiler. This remains on but if a valve were to stick open (due to a fault) I could use this to turn off the boiler. This also provides me with the room temperature.

What's the name of the free app you use?

eWeLink, details of this are included with the Sonoff

2011

See link:

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=109529364&postcount=3

Sublime79

Cheers mate! Looks like three Sonoff TH16 devices might also be the solution for me - cost wise as well, seems to make much more sense. In terms of the unit price - think the sparky was telling me that the EPH unit was going to be about €300 for the kit.

Anywhere you'd recommend to pick up the Sonoff TH16's? Did you just buy them online?

2011

I bought all of mine from Amazon. There are lots of variations of the same product. I have about 8 of them in my house now. Obviously you need broadband, they connect to the WiFi. Did you look at the link in my last post? I also included a screenshot of the app.

The J Stands for Jay

I have an eph ember system. There a re thermostats for each zone (the hot water one is never touched). It can be controlled through an app, but a separate bridge device is needed (about €100). It can't be integrated with Google assistant. It does the job, bit we don't even use the 7 day timer on it. I've searched on here, and there's a bit of info on it.

Bruthal

I have 2 sonoff relays too. 2 zones in house. 1 relay for each zone motorised valve
You can make one sonoff device control another as well. So. I have the rads one bring on and off the cylinder one with it. So cylinder valve can run on its own, or if put on rads one, it brings on cylinder one with it.

Sleeper12

2011 wrote:

The Climote has a monthly charge associated with it. For this reason alone I would not go with this option.

They have reduced the price for this. I think its 18 euro per year now when dealing directly with Climote

2011

Sleeper12 wrote: »

They have reduced the price for this. I think its 18 euro per year now when dealing directly with Climote

Well that’s €18 a year more than the Sonoff.

What is the cost price of the unit?

Sleeper12

2011 wrote:

Well that’s €18 a year more than the Sonoff.

Agreed. I only mentioned it bec it used to be something like 60 euros per year

2011 wrote:

What is the cost price of the unit?

I don't know the answer to that. I got mine free from one of the energy providers a few years ago.

I asked on a plumbing Facebook group, last year, about the best timer. I expected nest or but was gobsmacked when the vast majority voted for eph ember. I'd never heard of it before that. It's definitely the plumbers favourite. I'm not sure if that's because it's Irish and they get great back up or because it's any good

EHP

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Agreed. I only mentioned it bec it used to be something like 60 euros per year



I don't know the answer to that. I got mine free from one of the energy providers a few years ago.

I asked on a plumbing Facebook group, last year, about the best timer. I expected nest or but was gobsmacked when the vast majority voted for eph ember. I'd never heard of it before that. It's definitely the plumbers favourite. I'm not sure if that's because it's Irish and they get great back up or because it's any good

I'd always encourage people to go with the EPH system. It is Irish and to be fair to EPH there back up is excellent when needed. What I like most is you still have a time clock in the house that can be operated without any phone or WiFi. Nearly every plumber and electrician will be familiar with the EPH time clock so no issues when any faults come etc. All stats are digital and wireless including the cylinder stat, you can have as many zones as is plumbed for. The app is very easy to work and once fitted no further charges. EPH also have a wireless relay switch if you need to fit a valve in the house you don't need to run cables from the time clock to the valve. I've fitted alot of these and so far no call backs so seem very reliable also.

TheValeyard

I live in Dublin and Climote was a disaster because of the sim card. Constantly loosing signal, not activating, etc.

Would not recommend.

2011

EHP wrote: »

What I like most is you still have a time clock in the house that can be operated without any phone or WiFi.

In the event that the broadband fails Sonoff devices will still operate according to the schedules that have been programmed. There is also an override manual on/off button on them. Additional remote wireless switches can be added. There is no physical clock (other than the app) however most people’s homes are full of clocks so I don’t really see this as a disadvantage.

All stats are digital and wireless including the cylinder stat, you can have as many zones as is plumbed for.

I like the idea of wireless stats Sonoff don’t have that. This is clearly an advantage when retrofitting but not so much for a new build.

Like the EHP Sonoff can handle any number of zones.

Can EHP work with Google Home and Alexa?
What does it cost per device?

It’s good to see Irish companies coming up with solutions

Sublime79

Would most sparky's be able to hook up these Sonoff TH16 devices? Just curious as the guy who called to take a look did not recommend this.

The J Stands for Jay

2011 wrote: »

Can EHP work with Google Home and Alexa?
What does it cost per device?

It’s good to see Irish companies coming up with solutions

EPH doesn't work with Google home or Alexa.

There was a thread somewhere on her where a poster contacted them about their future plans, and there doesn't seem to be any.

2011

McGaggs wrote: »

EPH doesn't work with Google home or Alexa.

There was a thread somewhere on her where a poster contacted them about their future plans, and there doesn't seem to be any.

That is a pity.

They are not cheap either even for the most basic version.

€134.00 – €793.00 :eek::eek:

awec

We have EPH in our house, never realised they had an app. Is it only certain models or programmer that are wireless, or do you just need to buy their gateway and add it to your system?

Sleeper12

awec wrote:

We have EPH in our house, never realised they had an app. Is it only certain models or programmer that are wireless, or do you just need to buy their gateway and add it to your system?

I think it's only the EPH Ember range

2011

awec wrote: »

We have EPH in our house, never realised they had an app. Is it only certain models or programmer that are wireless, or do you just need to buy their gateway and add it to your system?

Depending on what you have it may be simpler and cheaper to change to Sonoff. This would also mean thy it will work with Google home and Alexa.

Stoner

2011 wrote:

Depending on what you have it may be simpler and cheaper to change to Sonoff. This would also mean thy it will work with Google home and Alexa.

It's very difficult to compete with the base cost of sonoff units.

They are so inexpensive that it make you question why you'd pay another subscription for something so similar.

ted1

I find the user interface on the actual climotr to be really poor. Trying to turn up the temperature is ridiculous. I really don’t like it.

Not sure what the app is like.