Datahopa

Technology Chat => Renewable Future => Topic started by: Freddy on February 14, 2019, 19:43:13 PM

Title: Smart heating
Post by: Freddy on February 14, 2019, 19:43:13 PM
I suppose this fits here as well as anywhere.

The bungalow has been fitted with a Hive Hub and one of these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Home-Kitchen/Hive-Heating-Thermostat-Professional-Installation/B011B3J6F4/ref=sr_1_1

Later I might see how it works with Alexa, but I'm happy just to use it manually.
Title: Smart heating
Post by: Data on February 15, 2019, 10:33:31 AM
Ahhh, so you have a bee and a Hive now, interesting  ;D

Would be great to be able to control it with Alexa, from your bed  ;)

I only have heating "on" or heating "off" with my Alexa setup, the Hive is a bit more advanced, I believe you can also get Hive light bulbs that work with the hub, they might be more expensive than the others we were looking at though.

Found this little video that explains how to setup the Hive heating hub. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAk0JoaD67k
Title: Smart heating
Post by: Freddy on February 15, 2019, 12:04:16 PM
QuoteAhhh, so you have a bee and a Hive now, interesting

;D

Thanks for the video, will see if the password is around here somewhere. The option I was interested in was short term heat boost, which I read somewhere it does - there's a button on the top that does it manually I think.

Will take a look at bulb options later  :thumbsup:
Title: Smart heating
Post by: Carl2 on February 15, 2019, 12:15:12 PM
    Sounds pretty good, I have a programable thermostat that does a good job and have always wanted to lower the night temp for the water but have no idea how to do this without going to the basement.
Carl2
Title: Smart heating
Post by: Snowcrash on February 16, 2019, 07:38:23 AM
Quote from: Carl2 on February 15, 2019, 12:15:12 PM
    Sounds pretty good, I have a programable thermostat that does a good job and have always wanted to lower the night temp for the water but have no idea how to do this without going to the basement.
Carl2

I used to do that as a job. Demand sequencing PLC (programmable logic controller, Raspberry Pi and Arduino should work fine). The software is the tricky bit if doing in on a shoestring budget but all you need is a relay (there are Alexa enabled ones), a temperature sensor (maybe 2) and a PLC. Strap the temp sensors to the flow and return pipes, connect the relay to the thermostat circuit (in series so main thermostat will hold it off + any safety features) and then do the tricky software bit of when to turn on, temp to turn off, what temp to decay to at what times. The demand bit is spotting when the temp dips sharply but this all ties in with storage capacity and recovery times of the heater.
It is more efficient to heat cold/cooler water then to maintain hot water but this all depends on usage and convenience. 20-30% savings were typical when I was doing 10-20 apartments building heating systems. The best we did was 65%.

We are well off topic now. Maybe start a heating thread?
Title: Re: Smart heating
Post by: Freddy on February 16, 2019, 08:55:15 AM
Yes I think I should have started a new topic in the first place. Thread split.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Smart heating
Post by: Carl2 on February 16, 2019, 11:52:30 AM
  There are electric water heaters and gas water heaters,  the older gas water heaters used a mechanical temp sensor to turn the power off and on that let or stopped the gas heater.  There is also setting a lower temp where the gas can turn on so pipes don't freeze.  That's about all I know about it.
Carl2
Title: Re: Smart heating
Post by: Freddy on February 17, 2019, 13:10:28 PM
I was mistaken about my home being only £1 per day. I was only looking at electricity - I swapped the display to show combined and it's actually about £2.50 per day. Light's are minimal as they are already fluorescent.

Might look into switching tariff. But it's mainly the heating as would be expected for this time of year.

Eon said they take readings automatically, but how is that done, does someone visit or is it done wirelessly somehow?
Title: Re: Smart heating
Post by: Data on February 17, 2019, 13:47:48 PM
Yes lights are minimal these days but just so you know LED take about half the power of fluorescent, it's getting harder to buy fluorescent these days, mostly they are all LED now, so when you have to replace them just get LED.

Quote from: Freddy on February 17, 2019, 13:10:28 PM
Eon said they take readings automatically, but how is that done, does someone visit or is it done wirelessly somehow?

The smart meter talks to the server down the electricity supply every day, so yes the readings are done automatically  :)
Title: Re: Smart heating
Post by: Freddy on February 17, 2019, 14:07:58 PM
Thanks  :thumbsup:

I need to wait until they get more data to decide on a better tariff then. At the moment there are no readings on my account page.
Title: Re: Smart heating
Post by: Data on February 17, 2019, 15:44:09 PM
When I had my smart meter installed they asked me how often I wanted them to read the meter, I was offered daily, weekly or monthly, think I went for weekly. The smart meters are always in contact with the servers though, in case of tariff changes or software updates.
Title: Re: Smart heating
Post by: Freddy on February 17, 2019, 16:55:22 PM
Cool, I'll give them a call during the week then to see.