About to start the HCC100 install....

[Piemonte]

Hello,
It's my first post and I am delighted to have found this useful forum. In my old Italian house I have a manifold system feeding the radiators. Originally there was one clock that loosely controlled everything but...on discovering the boiler was already opentherm compatible I got the bridge, a number of DTM4's and an Evohome controller; I have Giacomini thermo actuators and the HCC100 is ready to have a first fit on the table.
So the questions start:
As I follow the Resideo pro app and Evohome to set things up, how should I determine my system? Is it underfloor (I just use the valves to send the water to the rads and let the room stat control it) or is it radiators and I just ignore the fact I have to no fancy TRV's?
I know plumbers who have told me that this is not the most efficient way of running things but anything is better than what I had.
Also, the boiler has an external sensor and is about to be reset using weather compensation.
At this point in time it seems like I am just using the HCC100 as a large switch and I guess it is capable of much more but it is early days.
I'm sure there is more I need to know but that is enough for now.
Thanks

[bruce_miranda]

If your radiators have no TRVs on them, you wont be able to use HR92 valves. This in turn means you wont be able to use the Radiator device setting on Evohome within the zones.

Your HCC100 is a UFH controller but instead of controlling pipe loops in the ground, its controlling individual radiators. But for Evohome it's still an UFH controller and its got zones (radiators in your case).

P.S. i've never come across a manifold used to controller radiators. But sure, why not. It's actually a better solution than having TRVs actually, and all your controls can be mains powered. Besides any wireless wall sensors you may choose to use.

[Piemonte]

Thank you for the response.
It is as I thought but now do I have to worry about flow temperatures and the like that I might have to address further along the install? If the boiler temperature is being influenced by outside temperatures (cold here at the moment), I can never really know what temperature the water will be when it gets to the manifold. Are there parts of the set up that I can ignore as they don't relate to my particular system?
Manifolds seem to be very common, perhaps even the norm in this part of of Italy. It is a brilliantly sensible and easy system to install and manage. Recently, I called the plumber to install a radiator. He turned up with a couple of rolls of multistrat pipe, rolled it across the attic space and made the connection to the radiator, then connected to a spare way on the manifold. No draining down, no fuss.
I'm hoping it will not be too long before this old place gets automated...

[bruce_miranda]

Manifolds became popular with plastic pipes. With copper pipework, you wouldn't want to run several parallel lines of copper all coming back to a central manifold. So like an electrical ring main, you run just one pair of pipework from the boiler and then every radiator (like a socket) is connected to the main pair.

[bruce_miranda]

Please update this thread with your experience of the HCC100. The last time someone spoke of that device it was not favourable. So let's hope the Pro App and the HCC100 firmware have gotten better since then.

[Piemonte]

Update...having completed the installation: R8810A bridge, HCC100 and 5 hardwired DT4M's, I took a deck chair into the attic thinking it was going to be a long haul to get everything communicating. How wrong I was.
Bluetooth and Resideo Pro app worked immediately and flawlessly. The connection between the bridge and Evohome controller was immediate and the five zones were established and completed as quickly as I could input the data.
Even the Evohome controller proved to be more user friendly than I imagined and it was a breeze to set up the schedules.
So this old place has now got some control over the heating system.

[Piemonte]

There is always something:

I have a slight and occasional whistle from a radiator (somewhere) since fitting the actuators. I imagine it might be some air but could it also be that the pump needs turning down?

Also, this is more of a challenge for me...the new system concerns the top apartment of the house, The lower floor has a separate pump and thermostat/timer, now disconnected from the boiler. I see that there is a relay for the pump in a wall box and think it must be possible to use the relay and timer to trigger the pump to give some heat downstairs when needed.
Am i on the right lines?
I realise that it would only give heat when upstairs is running...

[bruce_miranda]

This sounds great and maybe the firmware and apps have moved on since the last reported install.
Did you have any trouble getting access to the Resideo Pro app's authentication details. The literature seems to suggest that only certified installers have access to it.
My robot lawn mower has a similar stupid arrangement where the end user is given a dumb app and you need a separate installer app to make any meaningful changes.

[Piemonte]

Resideo Pro app bothered me for ages because I thought that I would not be able to register to use it. I contacted Bola in Czechia who sold me the equipment and they told me to download and sign up. It made no requests for further authentication. All good.

[bruce_miranda]

As long as Resideo are happy to process sign up requests for their Pro app, that's fine. I've seen several manufacturers use the guise of Pro/Installer/Expert as ways for further monetization by forcing a training or certification process in order to get access to these apps.

I bet there are people on this forum who could run a training course on Evohome far better than Resideo themselves, and are end users!

[G4RHL]

I will. It take up your bet. I would lose. No doubt of that! 😂

[bruce_miranda]

Piemonte when you use wired wall sensors, do they constantly display the room temperature or like the battery operated ones, you need to walk up to them, click them, to make them wake up and light their display. Those new stats are the stupidest thing ever and all in the name of progress and moving away from LCD.
So my hope is that constant power means a constant display.

[Piemonte]

Sorry to disappoint you but they are just square boxes on the wall...
As you say, click once to light them up.
By contrast, I find the Evohome controller way too bright, even when it defaults back to the clock.

Regarding the wall sensors. I must say that hard wiring them made life very much easier during the installation. I do not much enjoy having to learn a new set of clicks and tricks to pair and bind. I connected them to the HCC100 and it found them immediately. I set the temperatures on Evohome and it was done.
I know they are working correctly but I would have liked to impress the younger members of the family with the flame symbol (I thought that was on the opening screen to show heat demand) but no.

[bruce_miranda]

To me, having to walk up to a wall sensor to click it to light up, just seems wrong, especially when power is not a concern. The display and its brightness should have been a configuration item. Similar to how the Echo Dot with Clock works.

Thank goodness the Evohome brightness can be controlled, but I agree that even on the dimmest setting I would call that too bright if it was in a bedroom.

[G4RHL]

My Evohome Control, in a cupboard and mins powered normally stays dark but this morning I could see a glow in the cupboard, the control had decided to light up on its own.