Bosch Smart Home Heater & Radiator What is a thermostat?
There are a number of systems that require you to improve your existing heating system and boiler relationship. Bosch's smart home heater and radiator thermostat system are different and provide a smart thermostat radiator valve to supplement existing heating. Thus, for a lessee or a person with an older boiler this system may be interesting.
Neatly, the system will be integrated into Bosch's main smart home app, so you can control the optional security system and your heating from one place. A wide range of starter kits will help you find the system that is most suitable for your home. But lack of elaborate apps and complete boiler control upgrades will diminish.
Bosch Smart Home Heater & Radiator Thermostat - Quality Design and Production
I started with the Indoor Climate Starter Kit which gets you a smart home controller (hub), two radiator thermostats, and a door / window sensor that turns off the heating of the room when the doors and windows are open.
The hub is pretty standard design. It is a square box you want to place so as not to get in the way. It connects to your router via Ethernet before connecting to the mains. If you want to upgrade to a security system, this controller will also be the brain behind it.
Radiator valve is a large mass of plastic replacing your existing valve. Bosch offers multiple adapters for fittings in a box. I had no problem adjusting them to my radiator.
The LCD screen is on the front of the radiator thermostat. The backlight lights when you push the control button on the front, but it is not as easy to read as the screen of the Honeywell Evohome or Tado Smart Radiator thermostat system. You need to look straight to make it easier to read.
Finally, there is a door / window sensor. This can be done by using an adhesive fastener or screwing the mounting bracket in place.
If you want to extend the system you can purchase additional radiator thermostat (54.95 lb) and door / window sensor (34.95 lb). If you want to protect your home, there are also various alarm components such as sirens and motion sensors. Cleverly, the door / window sensor can act as part of the alarm and as part of your heating device.
Bosch Smart Home Heater & Radiator Thermostat - Features
Adding a radiator thermostat to the Bosch Smart Home application is pretty easy. When the connection is completed, the thermostat must first go through the setting phase. In the setting phase, calculate the maximum and minimum possible movements to control the valve. Once you are done, you can put the radiator thermostat in the room. When installing multiple thermostats in a room, use a single temperature setting for all equipment.
Control over heating is fairly basic. In manual mode, you can just set the room temperature using the manual button on the slider inside the application or the radiator thermostat. In this mode the temperature is permanently set. The radiator thermostat then adjusts the valve to keep your room at the correct temperature.
There is also a schedule mode. Again, this is also basic. You can set the temperatures of "warm stage" and "cold stage". After that, you can select the time period to use each stage in the schedule.
This is not particularly flexible because it may be desirable to keep the room warm at night without evening sun and cool during the day. Like competitor systems, it makes more sense to allow Bosch to set a more detailed schedule.
Once you create a schedule, you can copy it on a different day instead of the room. This is a little troublesome if there are many Radiator thermostats in another room.
Since you can not manage the boiler, you need to add a schedule to existing management. Depending on the setting you are using, the heating may be interrupted before the room temperature reaches the set temperature.
The opposite is true when installing a radiator valve near the smart thermostat. If you set the temperature too low with the Bosch application, the main thermostat will never reach the temperature and shutdown may not be done.
Awkwardly, both the app and the radiator valve will only show you the set temperature, not the current temperature. Therefore, it is impossible to know how warm (or cold) the room is. It is strange that these basic functions are missing.
You can control smarter with the door / window sensor. Using the predefined ventilation detection service, you can configure the system to turn the radiator thermostat Low (effectively off) when windows and doors are open in the same room.
By default, the system is set to do this immediately, but you can change the delay from zero to 180 seconds. In general, I think that it is better to implement this function by software. The thermostat measures the temperature drop and detects that the windows and doors are open. However, you can also use Bosch's door / window sensor as an alarm to sound the siren when the alarm is activated.
Having such a dual purpose system has many implications, and you can detect open doors and windows faster and more accurately. However, if you do not use the alarm part of the system, using a dedicated sensor increases the overall cost.
You can also connect the Bosch Smart Home Controller to the Philips Hue Lite and control them in a more basic way through the Bosch app. This is not particularly convenient, but you can use the Bosch Smart Home application for presence simulation. Turning on the system will randomly turn the light on / off to simulate that someone is at home.
That is a good idea, but the problem is that the system is turned on. For example one light bulb in your kitchen and one bulb in your living room, then it will switch on and turn on one light bulb in the office and corridor. Unfortunately, the system does not understand the room and you need to manipulate the group of light bulbs to simulate the person using the individual room.
A scenario is a way to create a routine to control more than one device at a time. There are preprogrammed things like turning off all lights, activating the alarm system, and leaving the house where you can turn on Simulated Presence mode. The scenario can be run via the application or Bosch's wireless switch. It can not be executed automatically.
Automation is also available, and it functions the same as IFTTT. You can set what you want to do with action after setting trigger (something happens, such as time or opening doors). The action is restricted. I could not set the lamp bulb on or off, but I could change the temperature with a radiator thermostat. The only workaround is to launch a scenario that is set to light the necessary lighting.
Bosch Smart Home Heater & Radiator Thermostat - Performance
Changing the radiator thermostat takes place immediately, and the temperature change is displayed on the LCD. It may take several seconds for the valve to react and begin to move. Like rival products, the motor makes wine of treble. It is quiet, but it may take some time to get used to the sound of the bedroom.
It is really regrettable that we can not see the current temperature. It is much harder to judge what is going on and whether the room temperature is correct or not.
You also need to be aware of creating automation that conflicts with other parts of the service. For example, if you set the temperature of the radiator thermostat when opening the door, the default ventilation detection rule will be invalid and the room temperature may be incorrectly set.
Bosch Smart Home Heater and Radiator Thermostat - Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant
You can use Amazon Alexa skills for voice control, but it takes a bit of effort to set up. After creating the Bosch account, you must go to the Bosch Smart Home app, activate Alexa, sign in to your account, then go to Alexa to enable skills and finally log in to your Bosch account again there is.
Upon completion, Alexa will discover your smart radiator valve. With voice control you can set a specific temperature in the room and the change is made to the next schedule set point.
As there is no Google Assistant skill available at the moment, you can not use your Google Home system. There is currently no IFTTT channel for the Bosch system.
Reasons to purchase Bosch's Smart Home Heater & Radiator Thermostat
There are decent system components here, but the Bosch Smart Home Heating system is not completely new. As well as radiator thermostats, lack of their temperature indications and poor scheduling can cause damage. It is regrettable that boiler control can not be added.
My best Smart Thermostat guide has various choices. If you need a multi room system, Honeywell Evohome is the best choice. If you need a smart radiator system you can use the Tado smart radiator thermostat without boiler control. You can upgrade to full boiler control later if necessary. Tado's system does not rely on window / door sensors, so purchasing is also cheaper. Both methods are excellent.
No comments:
Post a Comment