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I have a central heating system in our old bunglow which is due to be added to with an additional 3 UFH zones as part of an extention build. Currently the thermostat is a bit of a hack as when I moved the boiler to what is currently the garage, the thermostat struggled to connect via RF due to very thick walls in this old property. Looking to upgrade this and add some Smartness and control for UFH. I'm currently narrowing down options to: Tado - v3 system doesn't appear to have extenders which worries me. X looks very expensive. Customer support from reading on forums seems to be very slow and with rubbish answers Drayton Wiser - Limited support for UFH. People seem to moan a lot about connectivity Heatmiser - We have this at a previous home and after an argument with their returns department I swore I would never buy again but may have to bite humble pie Any other systems I should be looking at or any of the worries above I should not be worried about? House layout with existing rads and proposed UFH zones below. Zone 4 already exists and is working well My main requirements are: Must be able to communicate through thick stone walls Wall thermostats would ideally have integrated humidity sensor. I’ve been battling (and mostly winning) against a lot of damp so want to ensure I am still in control. Ideally would not require separate humidity sensors Should be controllable remotely. Needs the ability to have multi zone underfloor heating integration Will need multiple thermostats. I can go wired but would prefer the choice of battery or wired My boiler is a Viessmann Vitodens 100-w

My second PV diverter has now given up. Coming to the conclusion the multiple switching isn't good for their health and they are cheap rubbish. Not willing to part anymore cash on them. So looking to go basic but smart enabled. Control scheme will be something like x kW being generated, battery state of charge is higher than x%, run full 3kW into immersion for 30 min recheck and run again etc Can do the control via Shelly and home assistant - have both already. But need a relay that is happy switching 3kW reliably - anyone got a recommendation? Not sure I would trust a Shelly do that directly Does the control sound feasibly?

Recovering from a second hip op within 7 months gives time to think about stuff. In our case it's how to apply SMART tech to enable older folk to extend the range of things they can do No matter how you fight it, getting older slows you down. Things stop working. For no good reason some things start to hurt. Other things need almost constant gentle first aid. Some things fall off - or out. Some things disappear. Other things double in size and visibility. But then if you read BH for more than a few minutes, you find yourself surrounded by people keen to improve things in the house. And lots of evidence of what can be done to make some of the challenges outlined above less daunting. But reading the threads can be hard work. The Tsunami of new terms and quaint acronyms add to the difficulty of wading through the wide array of market offers. I need things that can for example switch this on or off, or on and off randomly, or make it easy to switch that thing on when I'm not there tell me that the solar pv has finished charging the water tank tell me I'm likely to get a healthy dose of solar radiation tomorrow - less likely to need to boost my water tank let me look at a plug socket and tell me it's 'on' when I'm the other side of the room. [... ] insert your need here .... I'd like to use this thread to be a low-level introduction to help inform readers about the technical assistance that can be made available to help older folk make purchase decisions based on evidence presented and discussed here and elsewhere make recommendations based on user-experience. make judgements on whether a 'tech' approach to a problem can be thought of as DIY or not summarise common concepts make those concepts easy to understand give practical examples of how BH members have applied 'tech' to make their lives easier - with a particular focus on 'getting-on-a-bit' I'd like this place to be where we can present simply expressed evidence. And a place to encourage, and maybe put a smile in someone's mind.

Hi guys, I'm needing some help to figure out how to make the most of smart wiring for my new build. Network I think is all sorted. Where I'm getting stuck is how to make the most of power circuits. Favouring the Loxone system for lighting/heating/security/audio. But not found a neat solution for control of sockets - I need option to control selected outlets for lighting - table lights, xmas lights etc. where i need ability to schedule on/off etc. I don't like the idea of stand alone plug in smart outlets and trying to find an integral option for the sockets. I've looked at various Smart sockets that seem to have the required features but trying to avoid multiple systems/apps with multiple control points. Anybody found a way to connect all these together in a common interface?

Big news for home automation: "Amazon, Apple, Google, Zigbee Alliance and board members form working group to develop open standard for smart home devices". Zigbee wins!? https://www.connectedhomeip.com https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/12/amazon-apple-google-and-the-zigbee-alliance-to-develop-connectivity-standard/