Conrad - Wireless Heating Actuators

[MikeM]

Having become somewhat disillusioned by the compexity of software control for the Househeat system:

See: http://forums.automatedhome.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2050

I was interested by the recent Conrad promotion of 'Wireless Heating Actuators' for just £22.49 !

See: http://www.conrad-uk.com/goto.php?artikel=560218

On their web site they state:

•Expandable with remote control and Windows Contact (sic)

Sadly their site however does not indicate where and how this is done ? After some research I think that although they look similar to the Honeywell Rondostat devices they are probably made by the German company, EQ-3

http://www.eq-3.de

On the EQ-3 site I did find a download for:

'USB programming stick for radio energy-saving controller'

But, again sadly no link to the "USB Stick" !

In their favour they are cheap but do not benefit from the separation of the temperature sensor and the control valve (as Househeat does) thus are not actually sensing the room temperature ?

Has anyone experience of these devices ? At the price I am tempted a buy a couple to 'play' with ?

[SensibleHeatUK]

Don't be put off by the location of the temperature sensor unless your rads are boxed in or behind heavy curtains etc. We did extensive testing on the Honeywell Radiator Controllers when we first became involved with Hometronic and found that there is little variation in most cases between the sensor in the radiator controller and a wall-mount sensor (assuming there is good airflow over the sensor beads). As the radiatros warm up they produce strong convetion currents which draws in room air at floor level that passes up the radiator as it heats. As most UK TRVs are fitted on the bottom raidator connection this means that they are actually getting a constant movement of room air over the unit. In many oour tests we found that the radiator sensors were at or below the room temperature as measured at standard wall-stat positions. The poor performance of standard TRVs has little to do with the position of the TRV valve/actuator, it's mainly due to the limited controllability offered by the TRV head. That is why no TRV heads mention room temperature but rather a simple scale instead.

In the case of the Conrad units I do not know where their sensors are fitted nor do I know if they use any clever control algorithms to control the valve (modifying control output/valve position based on rates of change of temperature, self-tuning of control loops to improve accuracy of control etc). This will also have a reasonable impact on the control accuracy of the units and determine if you get close control of the actual room temperature based on the selected room setpoint.

[toscal]

Hmm seems my post didn't get posted.The conrad sensor looks like the new G sensor system from Househeat. http://www.housetechsolutions.co.uk/