dingdong1234567 wrote: » I removed this thing ages ago. Screen went black and no chance of getting it fixed. So whipped it off and reinstalled the old timer clock. Pure gimmick.
cruizer101 wrote: » Did you try contact them. I found them very responsive when I had an issue. Not as fancy as some other smart controls but free and is handy for remotly boosting the heating.
deezell wrote: » Free it's not. There's a substantial grant ( your taxes) collected on your behalf by the utility on the pretence that you have an energy saving smart zoned heating controller. It's none of these. If you do try to get a proper full featured smart heating control system in the future, your grant is already gobbled. Not that any of the utilities would install these superior stats anyway, as they make a profit by installing cheap tat. If you try to do it independently, grant registered installers rates seem to be higher by the amount of the grant, so most forget the grant, buy the kit as a Amazon special or in a sale, and DIY it.
cruizer101 wrote: » I've seen this said before in this thread and am sceptical of it. At no point was I told that and it is not mentioned in any of the documentation. In terms of funding I know they b got various grants themselves but not from seai. Do you have any proof of what you are claiming.
dingdong1234567 wrote: » My experience couldn't be more different. Responsive they were not from the first to the last. The unit worked for about a month and then died. Why would any sane person want to contact a company that provides poor service and product. Unit was removed and binned. FYI, it's not free. Tax payers are footing the bill ultimately.
deezell wrote: » Start herehttps://www.seai.ie/business-and-public-sector/business-grants-and-supports/energy-efficiency-obligation-scheme/
cruizer101 wrote: » Strange, when I had an issue I emailed and got a reply within 30 minutes and that was at around 7 in the evening, then had installer out in the next day or so. Fair enough I'd get rid of it too if got no response. From link "The property owner must give written consent to the obligated party agreeing to assign energy credits to them." I never had to do anything of this sort so I don't see any reason to believe that if I were to apply for the grant I wouldn't receive it.
jimmycrackcorm wrote: » I have them coming to install next week. But reading this thread has me concerned. I've currently a climote to control both the central heating and the hot water separately. The central heating heats the water anyway so during the winter I don't bother setting that. But during the summer I have the supply to the rads turned off and the water is heated using its schedule and the hot water tank thermostat. But now I don't know how this is going to work in the summer for me. If I turn off the rads in the summer, how is it going to heat the water if its own built-in thermostat is controlling the heating?
cruizer101 wrote: » .. .......I never had to do anything of this sort so I don't see any reason to believe that if I were to apply for the grant I wouldn't receive it.
deezell wrote: » There you have it. It's a disgrace that EU money is being misused in this way. Another poster told of how they removed his two zone CH control system and combined it back into one. Staggering
L'prof wrote: » I went with a different company under the same scheme and am very happy with it. I previously had a Nest Thermostat but that was either everything on or everything off. I should have been able to control the hot water and rads separately by a switch on the boiler but the controls were bust. The new system installed can control upstairs, downstairs and hot water individually. This is a huge improvement for me. The only slight inconvenience is that I can’t control my heating with any of the smart assistants, just it’s one dedicated app
deezell wrote: » Sounds like the Ember 3 zone controller? Proper zone controller, remote access, not 'smart' as you say, but a good start from a reputable company.
deezell wrote: » Now when you say 'the supply to the rads turned off' I'm assuming that is achieved by simply programming the Climote CH schedule off? If you mean that you have to physically turn each rad valve off, then you haven't even got the most basic of grant eligible systems, the ability the heat the HW only without mechanical intervention. In this case you'll end up programming the hub for CH but with closed rads just to get HW. If you can currently turn off the CH schedule and just use the HW schedule without radiators heating, then don't change from this to a useless hub controller. If you want to upgrade, not downgrade, get a Tado+HW kit. Hive 2 zone or Drayton Kit 2.. all streets ahead in terms of features, and with optional smart individual radiator control by adding TRVs later. If you can't heat HW only without the rads being closed off manually this is where your grant money should be going, the installation of zone valves, but this is a real energy efficiency measure, requiring a bit of real work and upgrade, not a paper exercise justification for claiming taxpayers money for pretend energy improvement measures.
deezell wrote: » This Drayton Kit 3 is a step up from the Ember, very full featured, but in a simple package with your 3 zone wall controller, a cinch to wire in. Aleca/Google capable also. It should cost no more than the Ember kit, and can be used in a grant aided install.https://www.screwfix.ie/p/drayton-heating-hot-water-3-channel-wiser-thermostat-control-kit/4081v
jimmycrackcorm wrote: » How can I get this via a grant aided install? I could probably install it myself but otherwise do you need to get an approved installer and pay up front then claim back, or are there installers taking care of the while process?
deezell wrote: » Long reply warning!! Firstly, this kit is for a properly functioning 3 zone system, upstairs CH, downstairs CH and HW, which is not yours. If you had a working zoned system, 2 or 3 zones, and if you can find someone like the installer referred to earlier who done the Ember install for L'prof, it's just a case of asking for the different controller, and if he's up front about the cost of his preferred kit (Ember), then I see no reason that you shouldn't be able to ask for the Drayton, it's design is almost identical to the Ember. That's the theory, but many of these guys stick to what they know. It's little wonder then that quotes are so high for grant aided work, net if grant, that you end up just doing a DIY job. In your case you already have a botched system, as you have a two zone controller which is connected to a single Zone system, which may be a two Zone as it has a valve. Either the valve is faulty, or the installation of the Climote was botched. Who installed that? Was it another offer you received from an electric utility? Prior to the Climote, what did you have? Did HW work without without heating the rads? This needs to be sorted first, rather than adding an even more useless stat to your system. Unfortunately, all these offers involve nothing more than swapping whatever stat you have for the offer one. They will never address your system configuration, and figure out what you already have, single zone, gravity two zone, pumped, zone valve(s) etc. They will swap a pair of wires and leg it. IF you can get your system plumbing sorted, to at least give you individual zoning of CH and HW only without resorting to manually closing valves, then you can have the Climote working as it should. With this, you can then inquire about fitting (possibly with grant), a proper smart two zone system, such as the two zone version of the Drayton I linked earlier, whic is only €144, https://www.screwfix.ie/p/drayton-heating-2-channel-wiser-thermostat-control-kit/9575v Other options are Tado, Nest, Hive, all capable of switching a 2 zone valved system. Tbh, you'll need to find a genuine competent person to first examine your system and sort out your zoning. Many older systems consisted of a mechanical timer which just fired the boiler for everything, HW and CH, and then a wall stat which either turned on a circulation pump for CH, or a zone valve if the pump was already on constantly when the boiler fired. Adding a two zone controller to such a setup was beyond most installers, as they are generally designed for a fully independent 2 valve (S plan) or changeover valve (Y plan) system, not the cruder HW always, CH on a stat system I described. Some two zone controllers such asTado can cope with the wiring required to operate a gravity two zone, where HW is always heated, but CH is controlled by either the pump or a single valve. Wiring this correctly requires a little more know how than just swapping the old stat for the new controller stat, which may be what happened when the Climote was installed.
L'prof wrote: » I’d just like to add that I didn’t have a zoned system before the the installer came to my house. That was an upgrade as part of the install
jimmycrackcorm wrote: » I'm almost certain that the Danfos HP-22 motorized valve isn't working. The climote is able to control the CH and water zones separately and based on their respective thermostat settings. I deduced that it's the Danfoss because in the summer I turn off the manual lever that is inline just after that so it looks to me that the purpose of that valve is to shut off the central heating supply when the water zone is active. I requested cancellation of the hub controller anyway as there's no point losing out on the two zones I have when at some point I can look at the HP22 to see if the valve is stuck or the motor is burnt out and needs replacing. What I really want in a replacement is a smart controller that not only will manage the heating temperature better, but also send me notifications, or I can track when it is turned on/off. Because I have a lodger who has a habit of turning on the heat in the middle of the night. I can check the Climote app to see if it is on, but I'd want to get some better tracking to know when I'm not asleep.
deezell wrote: » So your upgrade was a proper plumbed 3 zone upgrade, plus a decent electronic internet app controller. That's worthy of the grant. Can you indicate what the total cost was after grant? People really need to know whats needed, these 'Free' upgrades are a con, and are disqualifying people from later getting a proper grant aided installation like yours.
L'prof wrote: » Everything was included. I didn’t pay a thing
deezell wrote: » So a €700 grant covered a 3 zone controller, stats and 3 zone valves plus all the installation labour? I'm amazed.
deezell wrote: » Get that valve fixed, and the Tado would be perfect for you. As you only have a single valve in the CH flow, your system would appear to be configured for gravity mode. The wiring options for A two zone controller are a little different in gravity mode, and there are further differences between CH via pump, or CH via a valve. The valve has its own relay which closes when the valve opens, and this used to signal the boiler to fire for CH. In this instance, the live from the controller for HW ON goes straight to the boiler to fire it, the live for CH ON goes to the valve, which opens the flow and the closes the relay to fire the boiler. I'm curious as to why you boiler fires for CH if the valve is stuck. If stuck open, it would keep firing the boiler continuously, but if stuck closed, then no CH. It's possible that you Climote's two seperate zone live outputs have just been connected together to fire the boiler. In this case a live from the HW terminal is going to open the valve as well as a live from the CH terminal. This is why the valve has a relay, so that it can send a live to the boiler to fire it, but if the boiler call terminal is already live from another zone calling it (HW or CH2), this live will not feed back to the other zone and open it's valve. This logic is lost on some installers, who will happily join 2 or 3 zone ON terminals at the boiler, without realising this turns the system into a single zone, with any timer turning on all zones. You need to check if that zone valve is opening, has it been mechanically locked open in service mode or is it stuck, and are there more than two wires connected to it, meaning it has an ON relay to fire the boiler. Get this sorted first, get two independent zones going, then you can consider better 2 zone smart stat systems.
