Smart Heating Controls I have an excellent working knowledge of all central heating wiring and controls installation, and an understanding which exceeds that of many electricians, as well as other heating engineers. I am confident and capable working on the full range of traditional 230v AC controls, low voltage and volt-free communication, OpenTherm thermostats, and Bus controls.
I can supply & fit the full range of energy-saving smart controls and connected thermostats, from single-zone and dual-zone thermostats on combi boilers and traditional systems, through to fully automated and zoned control systems such as Honeywell EvoHome, Salus Smart Home, Drayton Wiser and Heatmiser Neo. For underfloor heating systems, I can offer an upgrade service from your existing thermostats to a new fully app-controllable system. For this, I usually recommend the Salus Smart Home system, which provides an excellent interface and a 5 year warranty.
Many systems can also be set up for voice control via Alexa on Amazon Echo, or Google Home. All installations include full setup and demonstration of your new energy-saving smart thermostat.
EPH Controls I now recommend EPH Controls for a number of applications. EPH Controls have been well-established in the Irish market for a number of years, but are a recent entrant to the UK market. These excellent controls are simple to use, very cost-effective, can be paired with the GW03 gateway to provide app control with a very intuitive interface, and are OpenTherm compliant. They can provide control for up to 6 zones of heating, or 5 zones plus a hot water cylinder. Single-zone and dual-zone thermostats I can fit any control of your choosing, but my recommended thermostats for single-zone, dual-zone, and single-zone with a hot water cylinder, applications are the EPH CP4i system, and the Nest Learning Thermostat Single-zone installations where hot water control is not required Both EPH CP4i and the Nest Learning Thermostat are suitable for this application, which is typically a combi boiler installation, although they can also be used in other systems where the user does not require hot water control. The most cost-effective solution is the EPH CP4i, which is wireless and very simple to operate. Nest is usually wired although it can operate wirelessly with the addition of a table stand. Single-zone systems with hot water control Both EPH CP4i and the Nest Learning Thermostat are capable of providing control of hot water systems in addition to a single heating zone. This is usually a separate hot water cylinder, but it can also be a storage combi boiler, or in the case of the CP4i when operating via OpenTherm, intelligent hot water pre-heat of a compatible combi boiler.
As with the single-zone without hot water installations, I offer a fixed-price installation service for these thermostats. Please note, however, that for installations with a hot water cylinder, the fixed-price cost assumes you have either a 3-port valve or a pair of 2-port valves installed on your system, and in working order, and that your boiler heats the hot water cylinder. If your hot water cylinder is electrically heated via an immersion heater, control of the immersion heater can be achieved but will be at additional cost on a case-by-case basis. Please contact me for more information on this option.
Heating systems with two or more zones Both EPH CP4i and the Nest Learning Thermostat can provide multi-zone solutions for your heating system, but there are important differences between the two. EPH CP4i is more cost-effective than Nest as a two-zone solution, and is capable of two-zone central heating control via the highest-efficiency OpenTherm protocol.
Nest Learning Thermostat is a significantly more expensive option as a two-zone solution, but it does permit hot water control as standard. Either wall-mounted (where replacing an existing wired thermostat in the same location) or stand-mounted options are available. It cannot, however, provide OpenTherm control with two zones. Once again, I can offer fixed-price solutions for two zones with or without hot water control as follows, assuming the necessary zone valves are already installed on your system. Salus Smart Home can provide virtually limitless zoning capabilities for heating, along with smart plugs, motion sensors, smoke alarms, smart relays, button activation and more besides. It’s not OpenTherm (yet) but the flexibility and expandable nature of the system do make it very attractive, as does the market-leading 5 year warranty.
If you have more than two zones of heating which you would like to control, please contact me for a free personalised estimate based on your individual requirements.