Drayton Wiser TRV head out of range, what are the options?

[ericmark]

The socket adaptor is £37 so that doubles the cost of the TRV, there are other Zigbee items in the house, but they seem to be independent of Wiser stuff. Tried moving the wall thermostat, no change.

 

[Mister Banks]

The socket adaptor is £37 so that doubles the cost of the TRV, there are other Zigbee items in the house, but they seem to be independent of Wiser stuff. Tried moving the wall thermostat, no change.

The Wiser TRV’s and room thermostats do not act as zigbee relays, you need a mains powered device to act as a relay (Wiser smart plug or electrical heat switch for example). The Wiser zigbee network can not be combined with another zigbee network.

 

[ericmark]

I will get the socket adaptor, I did need to replace one, but

in real terms £27 more expensive, and only rated at 10 amps where the other rated at 13 amps. I suspect again it will be back order and get it next day, but can't check Screwfix, it has been 6 months or more screwfix site shows so it means a second trip one to order and one to collect 24 mile return. So a bit peaved, but they are at moment the cheapest, so trip to Newtown it is.

 

[Mister Banks]

It is ridiculous how expensive the Wiser smart plugs are (even though they arent just smart plugs) but its a closed zigbee sysem so we have no choice.

Have you had the recent Wiser Home app v7 update yet? Its very different to the previous versions, I'm undecided about the new home screen.

 

[Rodders53]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07D71BPGK/ at £33 is cheaper and even if there is a delivery charge from Screwfix (making it £42) or Amazon (free with a Prime trial?), it may be cheaper than two round trips in a vehicle?
Toolstation offers free delivery over £25 and are £38.58; check out if cashback sites work to reclaim a few pence (eventually).

Screwfix site issue is your PC / Tablet / Phone. Works fine here. Clear cookies. Go incognito etc.,. to refresh properly??

Have you had the recent Wiser Home app v7 update yet? Its very different to the previous versions, I'm undecided about the new home screen.

Its a from me.

 

[ericmark]

Ordered from Screwfix, so end of options for me. I do wish there was a Wiser app for the PC, I can open Screwfix using Private Window, but when you get a list one simply wants to click on it, not have to mess around opening a different Firefox browser, it shows the items in google, but when you click on them one gets sorry page, no problem with any other shop.

I find version 7 only one I have had very slow loading, in the main use Google Home or Nest Mini voice control.

 

[Mister Banks]

It’s a from me.

Fortunately I use Home Assistant to manage the heating so not much use for the app. HA really shows the app for what it is, I.e not great.

 

[ericmark]

It works, both with Nest/Google, and Wiser own app. The socket adaptor it seems shows the power being used. Not looked further as yet, in summer we normally put a fan on the windowsill and use a smart socket adaptor to turn it on/off.
It seems to be working well, may need to adjust temperatures, but when my wife's bedroom is in use and under temperature the boiler is firing up, even when not required by main thermostats, so just need to give it some time now to settle in.

Now I see how cold my wife's bedroom gets, no wonder she was complaining.

 

[ericmark]

I am now looking at cost, three thermostats give a record of the temperature and the schedule for the bedroom is firing the boiler when no other rooms need heat. As expected with sun in living room, the living room is warmer, when I look at the two how the new TRV is firing the boiler latter at night, and I have set bedroom heating to come on earlier so around 10 pm, so using boiler at same time as living room, rather than bedroom only. I now wonder if a wall thermostat and separate TRV are better? So the radiator can get hot if the boiler is running, but the boiler is only started if the room is too cold.

If I had a modulating boiler, maybe different, but a 20 kW boiler is firing up to heat a 2 kW radiator. Not sure any more?

 

[Mister Banks]

I am now looking at cost, three thermostats give a record of the temperature View attachment 377787View attachment 377788 and the schedule for the bedroom is firing the boiler when no other rooms need heat. As expected with sun in living room, the living room is warmer, when I look at the two View attachment 377790how the new TRV is firing the boiler latter at night, and I have set bedroom heating to come on earlier so around 10 pm, so using boiler at same time as living room, rather than bedroom only. I now wonder if a wall thermostat and separate TRV are better? So the radiator can get hot if the boiler is running, but the boiler is only started if the room is too cold.

If I had a modulating boiler, maybe different, but a 20 kW boiler is firing up to heat a 2 kW radiator. Not sure any more?

What you are experiencing is exactly what I was saying in your other post. It’s a waste of energy to heat one room/radiator hence why I grouped together enough radiators TRV’s so that when the boiler fired it was worth it.

I now believe it is better to allow a master thermostat to fire the boiler and radiators then warm as required. If you have distinct areas to heat then having a couple of thermostats each controlling an area is the way to go IMO.

 

[ericmark]

Thank you, @Mister Banks what you are saying is it seems correct. But I have a problem, read the books, and it says fit the thermostat in a lower floor room, which has no outside doors, or alternative heating, and in a room normally kept on the cool side. My mid-floor, I will not count flat under main house, has two standard outside doors, and two sets of patio doors, and an open fire, and kitchen appliances so no such room exists.

The house can be effectively split, front and rear, so four rooms hardly any sun, and three rooms are bathed in sun when it shines. And the hall and landing split these two sides. Of the four cool rooms, one is a kitchen, so other form of heating, one is a dinning room, hardly used in winter, one is an office also not used much, and the last is my wife's bedroom. So latter is only room really important.

So we are set to change the double glazing cold side of the house, which will likely help. But still left with a room which needs heating when most of the rest of the house does not.

One consideration is an oil filled radiator on a timer and thermostat, only used when there is off-peak power, at the moment midnight to 5 am, will be 2 am to 5 am, at moment 8.95p per kWh, but will go to 15.45p per kWh, in order to be paid for export.

I have already seen how electric can be cheaper than oil for DHW, due to losses, so yes losses may mean the same is true to heat a room furthest away from the boiler? But losses in winter from pipe work still goes into the house, so helps heat the house, losses in summer are true losses. And near impossible to work out how much it is going to cost to heat wife's bedroom by oil. The electric is easy to measure, but to measure oil used 10 pm to 8 am when without the linked TRV my wife's room would be cold, is near impossible to measure.

She has noticed a massive difference, so in one way it is working great, and in the heart of winter, my room is also too cold at night, and her room calling for heat, will mean heat available for my room.

We are likely only talking about another month, and heating will not be required. So hard to tell how much heating one room will cost. So looking for how best to set the schedule for her room for the moment. And thoughts about using oil filled radiator left for next winter.

I could swap TRV heads, put Wiser head in living room and Kasa head in her bedroom, which would mean basic two devices to fire boiler not three, but that would not help my room.