Till the invention of the sensible thermostat, you most likely solely actually considered your thermostat when engaged in a battle of hotter/colder with the opposite inhabitants of your own home, who clearly don’t care about payments/consolation.
Now, due to linked thermostats you possibly can management totally different rooms independently, guaranteeing that everybody will get a temperature they’re comfy with, and that the bill-payer will get to avoid wasting pennies as a result of solely the rooms which are getting used get heated.
One such thermostat is the Honeywell Evohome. On the time of writing, this thermostat is already a couple of years outdated, however is taken into account the most effective within the trade on account of its zonal controls, straightforward set up, and user-friendly interface.
However the query is, now that there are youthful, swankier fashions ram-packed with options in the marketplace, can this straightforward, stable answer sustain?
Worth and availability
The Honeywell Evohome is obtainable within the UK, US and Australia. As it is a UK firm the costs for different areas can rely upon the provider so we’ll be offering approximate charges right here.
Pricing is just a little sophisticated (and never low-cost) because of the modular nature of the package. The management panel will set you again £229.99 (about $330, AU$220) not together with set up, which within the UK will price about £100.
On prime of this you may want a valve for every radiator. These will price £59 (about $85, AU$100) if purchased individually, or there are packs the place you should buy a bigger quantity at a reduced price. It is positively value on the lookout for a pack that most accurately fits your wants.
Set up
Set up of the Evohome system is a bit more concerned than with another sensible thermostats obtainable attributable to the truth that every radiator in your home must be fitted with a person thermostat.
This implies you’ll want radiators with TRV valves to start out with, or be ready to stump up the cash to vary your present valves to TRV valves. TRV valves are the kind that allow you to regulate the temperature of the radiator.
Most fashionable central heating methods may have TRV valves, however toilet radiators typically don’t. This was the case in our home, and we had been informed by the installer that what would occur was that the toilet radiator would merely activate any time one of many different radiators was on, which we figured wasn’t too huge an issue.
Should you don’t want to vary valves, the set up of the person thermostats is unbelievably straightforward. The TRV valves simply pop off and the Evohome valves slide on. The installer even reveals you learn how to do it your self so that you could change the battery on the thermostat when it will definitely runs out.
The principle management panel simply must plug right into a wall socket after which hook up with your Wi-Fi community, so can go wherever you’d prefer it. It may be used as a temperature sensor or just as a management panel. Pairing the thermostats and the management panel was additionally quite simple – your entire set up took about half an hour for a two-bedroom house.
The one little bit of the set up that was a bit difficult was the rewiring wanted to attach the boiler to the wi-fi sign receiver. This makes your earlier thermostat redundant, so that you’re left with the choice of getting a redundant thermostat sitting in your wall, or getting it eliminated and repairing the ensuing gap.
This isn’t technically a part of the set up, nevertheless it’s value remembering when calculating the price, as you don’t have this subject with a direct thermostat alternative just like the Nest Learning Thermostat.
Design
All the particular person elements of the Evohome setup are fabricated from the identical white plastic, which is disappointing when among the competitors have clearly put loads of thought into their designs.
It’s not that the design is disagreeable; it’s simply clearly been designed to be purposeful slightly than modern. It does imply that it’ll most likely be capable to slot in with a variety of inside design types, however for our style the vary may do with a little bit of a picture improve.
The principle management terminal sits on a white dock that’s additionally a charging platform. That’s proper, the terminal has a battery on board so that you could transfer round the home whereas setting temperatures. It’s worthwhile to be sure to return it to the dock although, because the battery life isn’t lengthy sufficient to go away it off the dock in a single day, and it’s the unit holding your complete heating system working.
The terminal and its dock
The terminal homes a backlit resistive touchscreen that enables you full management of the heating system. We’ll get into the total spectrum of the options just a little in a while.
One gripe we had was that the display is at all times on; it has an ‘idle display’ which you can set to show both a digital or conventional clock face, with the choice to point out present settings, however there’s no choice for turning the display off fully, which pressured us to maneuver the terminal to the examine because the fixed white mild was an annoyance.
The person thermostats include their very own screens which are adjustable, to allow them to level up in the direction of you, saving you from having to crouch down each time you wish to see what the temperature is at present set to.
The display tipping up on the thermostat
There’s a twist-dial on the thermostats, so you possibly can override the present settings from the radiator with out having to make use of the management terminal or your cellphone. You gained’t get as subtle a stage of management, however to bump the temperature up or down a few levels it’s excellent.
In distinction to the , the app is fantastically designed. It’s very clearly laid out, with shade coding for temperatures permitting you to establish at a look the temperature for every room of your home.
Efficiency
The Honeywell Evohome lets you set schedules for every particular person thermostat, so if you understand that your bed room is barely used at evening, you possibly can set it to be chilly in the course of the day, warmth up half an hour earlier than you head to mattress, after which cool all the way down to your most well-liked sleeping temperature by way of the evening.
The Evohome may even work out how lengthy it takes to warmth a room to a specific temperature, and activate the radiator the suitable period of time earlier than a scheduled window so the room is strictly the fitting temperature while you stroll by way of the door.
Having zonal controls means you possibly can have completely impartial schedules for every room, so individuals utilizing totally different rooms can have the heating set to their particular calls for.
This was one thing of a revelation once we acquired it to work. The house we had been testing the Evohome in is a kind of properties the place each room is a distinct temperature, and what this implies is that we at all times warmth to the fitting stage for the lounge, however then undergo to a chilly bed room. Not so with the Evohome – it was the primary time since we moved in that the bed room had been hotter than the lounge.
And determining the temperatures that totally different rooms wanted to be at to really feel comfy was one thing of a problem for the primary few days. It’s positively a extra labor-intensive course of to determine the heating necessities of every room and the schedules, and we didn’t get it proper for the primary few days, resulting in some chilly evenings and sizzling nights.
Whereas it’s attainable to only put your complete residence on the similar stage continuously, that may be like doing the varsity run in a Porsche. You get Evohome to get unprecedented management – simply be ready to spend some effort and time exercising that management.
When you’ve arrange a schedule, it’s very easy to customise, override for brief intervals, even activate particular settings. So should you’re up late you are able to do a customized override, or should you’re off sick a single button will activate ‘time off’ mode, which makes use of your schedule for Saturday on a weekday.
Should you’re nonetheless wanting to avoid wasting the pennies there’s an ‘financial system’ mode that reduces all temperatures throughout the board by a couple of levels, and should you’re off on vacation a easy push of a button turns all of the heating all the way down to 15 levels.
In fact, one of many greatest attracts of a sensible heating setup is the flexibility to do all this out of your cellphone, and the Evohome delivers on this division brilliantly. The app is so easy, it makes opponents like Tado look positively labyrinthine.
All the options are simply accessible and temperature management is completely pure, effected by both tapping up or down arrows or by holding and sliding to a most well-liked temperature.
This simplicity runs by way of your entire Honeywell Evohome product. You actually get the sensation that anybody of any stage of tech competency may choose it up, and that’s uncommon within the sensible residence market.
The Evohome’s splendidly user-friendly app
Should you’re a critical sensible residence fanatic you could discover that the Evohome is barely missing within the smarts in comparison with another thermostats in the marketplace. It really works with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, however solely with Alexa and solely in restricted capability. There’s a workaround utilizing the free software IFTTT should you’ve acquired a Google Dwelling sensible speaker, however no integration with Apple HomeKit, Apple’s sensible residence administration software program, and none coming both.
That is disappointing, particularly as there are different sensible thermostats from Honeywell, just like the Lyric, which have all these integrations (however don’t have the zonal management of the Evohome). Hopefully there might be an Evohome 2 sooner or later down the road that mixes the very best of each.
The Evohome additionally doesn’t provide the extra superior options that we’re a fan of in different sensible thermostats, like movement sensor-activated routines, geolocation-activated routines (turning your heating on if it registers, through your cellphone, that you just’re in your approach residence), or studying routines and self-adjusting based mostly in your routine to optimize your heating.
One of many main attracts of Evohome is that it could actually management not solely radiators, however, with extra package, sizzling water and underfloor heating. Our installer discovered it hilarious that our flat was so small we solely wanted to have three radiators connected – the Evohome is designed for large homes with advanced heating and sizzling water methods.
The structure of our flat has proved an attention-grabbing problem for this sensible thermostat, as there isn’t a radiator within the hallway or kitchen. Our outdated thermostat was within the hallway, so the home would at all times warmth to the purpose the place the hallway was heat from all angles.
The screens are straightforward to learn and clear
Evohome’s zonal management has meant that the hallway has develop into uncared for within the temperature division, and now we now have to shut all our doorways with a view to get rooms to remain the fitting temperature.
One other factor value mentioning is that the thermometers aren’t fully correct. Relying on the dimensions of the room you could get totally different precise temperature for a similar temperature studying. This isn’t a large downside, it simply means you must take every temperature measurement with a pinch of salt and alter every room accordingly.
We appreciated
We had been blown away by how easy the Honeywell Evohome was to arrange and use. The app is brilliantly designed, and all the options are genuinely helpful. It doesn’t really feel like there’s something superfluous in regards to the package or the app.
When you’ve acquired zonal management of the temperature in your house, you do surprise the way you lived with out it. With the ability to have towels warming within the toilet in your morning bathe whereas holding the bed room cool till you get up, after which having that room come as much as temperature by the point you step out of the bathe, is actually wonderful.
You may management the temperature instantly from the radiator thermostat, from the management terminal, out of your cellphone, and even utilizing your voice by asking Alexa. It’s actually exceptional how easy it’s for one thing so versatile and helpful.
We disliked
The design positively leaves one thing to be desired, and should you’re hoping for the slick brushed metallic sensible residence look, maintain wanting. Truly, should you’re a sensible residence fanatic, most likely finest to maintain wanting.
It doesn’t have lots of the ‘sensible’ options that you just’d count on from a sensible thermostat like movement sensor management and geolocation. It doesn’t adapt or study based mostly in your routines, and isn’t able to working with HomeKit or Google Assistant with out an IFTTT workaround.
Should you’re the type of family that leaves all of the doorways open, you’re going to have an issue with temperature bleed between rooms, a specific downside should you’ve rooms or corridors with out radiators.
Additionally, as every of the radiators is individually managed, there’s a small motor that makes a whirring noise when altering temperature. It wasn’t a problem for us, however for these which are very delicate to noise, it’s value contemplating.
Ultimate verdict
The Honeywell Evohome is an attention-grabbing gadget. In so some ways it’s been left behind by its latest opponents, nevertheless it’s nonetheless the very best we’ve seen by way of easy, efficient zonal management.
It isn’t excellent by any means, and actually we want that Honeywell had amalgamated the Evohome and the Lyric into one gadget so you bought slick sensible residence tech and trade main zonal management.
One factor that basically units the Evohome aside is how user-friendly it’s. It’s a sensible residence thermostat for individuals who don’t like new and sophisticated expertise – and that’s not us, but we had been nonetheless very impressed, which is saying one thing.
The Honeywell Evohome delivers brilliantly on its gambit: making zonal temperature management baby’s play. If all you’re on the lookout for is a system that enables you complete management over the temperature of your home, even while you’re not there, get this one.
It’s really easy to make use of and arrange, the app is good, and we’ve solely had one subject with the wi-fi connectivity your entire time we’ve been utilizing it (as a aspect notice, our Evohome emailed us to inform us the in regards to the subject and reassure us that it had already been reported).
That mentioned, if you need innovative sensible thermostat options like AI-powered scheduling and geofencing, you’re higher off making an attempt one thing just like the Nest studying thermostat, Hive thermostat, or if zonal management is vital to you, Tado.