Upgrade heating controls to Smart?

[Tristan]

I'm getting soft, and would like to be able to get the heating going before I get home of an evening.
Timers don't really work for me, as I'm Never really sure what time I'll finish.

What's the simplest way to change a basic EPH 3 channel clock to "smart"?

I don't have Google Home, Alexa or any of that stuff, and nor do I want it tbh.
Just something standalone, and that I don't need to be changing the room stats. (there's a stat in almost every room in my gaff)

[philb]

What sort of room stats do you have? I can understand not wanting google or amazon running the show, but there's nothing particularly cheap.Hive is what I can think of but I don't know if that would use many of your room stats.
I went with home assistant and some shelly wireless relays, in place of ep3 clock, but thats not a plug and play option.

[legacydan]

You should be able to wire something like a Hive smart thermostat into your has boiler which will give you smart control over your central heating. You can add a smart radiator valve to each room if you want a bit more control

[Deadly Dave]

I wired in a Sonoff in-line smart switch instead of my timer. It uses an app that you can set daily times and also turn on and off with your phone.

[Bazg2]

Yeah, most providers will fit a free one if you switch. I’ve a Netatmo, when it works it’s great. I set one temp and leave it, home or away. It comes on for a few minutes to maintain the house temperature rather than running for a few hours daily to get the house back up to the set temperature.

[Tristan]

I should have mentioned, no rads, UFH everywhere.

[BuckfastMan]

I wired in a Sonoff in-line smart switch instead of my timer. It uses an app that you can set daily times and also turn on and off with your phone.

If you are looking for cheap then this is the way.
I've a nest and its annoying as :D:D:D:D!

[Tristan]

I rang EPH, very helpful lad explained exactly what I need for a plug and play option.

[Deadly Dave]

If you are looking for cheap then this is the way.
I've a nest and its annoying as !

Yes, about €10 total

[Type17]

I rang EPH, very helpful lad explained exactly what I need for a plug and play option.

What’s the general gist of what he said? - my sis-in-law has exactly the same setup, and would like to make it smart, or at least remotely accessible.

[Tristan]

I can directly replace my 3 channel controller that looks like this
Screenshot_20221124_103459_com.android.chrome.jpg


with one that looks identical,
Screenshot_20221124_103526_com.android.chrome.jpg


but talks to a "Gateway" for smart control.

Screenshot_20221124_103556_com.android.chrome.jpg

[Tristan]

Not the cheapest option, but simple.

[mikerd4]

I used to have a hive in my old house and found it brilliant in fairness. It was fitted by Bord Gais when I was with them. My current house has a oil fired boiler with an old school on or timer controller, its definately something Id like to upgrade to a smart controller if possible

[philb]

fwiw my eph controller stopped working which sent me down this path in the first place. So has my neighbours. seems one of the 3 relays failed in both cases.

[VeeAte]

I had a little device called a Climote in a previous house - it was a timer with a SIM card, no wireless necessary. There was a phone app which allowed you to boost/turn on very easily.