Review: the smart evohome with self-learning capability

01The smart thermostat evohome in brief

The evohome is a smart thermostat with which you control the heating individually per room. This provides extra heating comfort, but you also keep control. With the evohome it is also possible to set the heating in your home completely to your liking. You can even do the programming simply with your smartphone or tablet. Because the evohome is self-thinking, programmes are even optimised further without you having to keep an eye on them.

02Full review of evohome

Evohome is a smart thermostat or a decentralised heating system, whichever you prefer to call it. It starts from a central control panel, called the evotouch. You can then set the temperature in up to twelve different zones. To do this, you replace the classic thermostat valves with evohome's smart thermostatic valves. These smart radiator valves are able to open and close the taps themselves and regulate the water supply. They also have their own thermometer to measure the temperature in the room. These valves are then in contact with the control panel, with which everything can be set per room or zone. This panel also communicates with a boiler relay that controls the central heating boiler itself and (de)activates it when necessary. Everything is wireless.

As standard, the package is available in a version for on/off boilers and for OpenTherm boilers. It is important that you choose the right package, but otherwise you immediately have almost everything you need. You get a control panel, a table stand and the boiler relay module. What you are still missing, then, is the thermostatic radiator valve and the batteries you need for it. You can get this thermostatic radiator valve separately. Do bear in mind that this pushes up the bill.

Of course, you are not obliged to control your entire home with the evohome. You could just as well use it as a far too expensive central heating system, but this is less of a good idea. It is, however, modular. So you can start in the living room and connect the most important rooms, and expand this further later if you wish. So you certainly do not have to equip your entire home with the system straight away.

The evohome comes with the Honeywell Total Connect Comfort app. You use this app to control everything and it actually does what you expect of it. It is simple, reliable and accessible. The teething problems that were originally an issue have now really been ironed out. The lack of consumption data, however, is an important drawback.

The smart character of the evohome

The evohome is a smart thermostat that is self-learning. This means that the evohome gets to know the heating characteristics of your home and can ensure that the heating always has the right temperature at the right moment, without heating too much or too little. Another smart feature is that it detects open windows. It cannot close the windows, but the heating does switch itself off.

A plus point is the IFTTT options, with which you can link reactions to certain events yourself. You can then, for example, set the smart thermostat to switch on when the sun rises or when the Philips Hue smart lamps come on. Putting together such so-called IFTTT applets is not particularly complicated and for most people it takes a few dozen seconds at most.

Cost price and saving

It is typical of every provider of a smart thermostat: they promise a hefty saving that can run high. In practice, the promised percentages are only realistic for those who previously left the radiators on all the time and gave global warming a helping hand with the windows open. For most people the saving achieved is fairly modest and the advantages lie mainly at the level of comfort. That is also what the Consumentenbond indicates. They even warn that you may even end up burning more.

Moreover, the evohome system is quite pricey, especially if you want to control many different rooms. For a package with twelve radiator valves you will quickly pay 900 euros, and then an installer may still have to come round. Whether you can earn back that investment remains to be seen.

Installation and compatibility

In theory you can install the evohome yourself, but you do need to be quite handy for that. For most of us it is therefore a better idea to leave the installation to an installer. This will take about one to two hours of work, but in general no demolition work is involved. What you can perfectly well do yourself, on the other hand, is setting up the zones. There are a maximum of twelve of these and setting them up will take quite a bit of time. Once the system is working, it runs very smoothly. For example, there are shortcut keys with which you can switch all zones on or off at the same time. On this point the evohome therefore scores very well.

In terms of compatibility, too, it is very good. Honeywell states that their evohome can truly be used in every house. It is indeed the case that it works perfectly with central heating boilers that work according to the on/off principle and that use OpenTherm, something supported by almost all thermostats brought onto the market in the past ten years. In addition, the system can also handle heat pumps and district and underfloor heating. Finally, the app can be used on both Android and iOS devices.

03Connection to the heating system

Connect the OpenTherm RF module R8810A to the central heating appliance. To do this, after you have unplugged the boiler, connect the wiring of the module to the boiler, at the OpenTherm connections. The wiring diagram can be found in the manual, but also have the manual of your own central heating boiler to hand so that you are sure to use the correct connections. On the module side, you connect the wiring to the only two terminals. Plus and minus do not matter here. Close the hinged cover and press until it clicks into place. The central heating appliance can be switched on again.

04Installing the control panel

The evohome is supplied with rechargeable batteries that are already charged. In principle you can therefore start installing the control panel straight away. To do this, you start up the panel and choose a language. Dutch is a good choice. You then follow the instructions for connecting to wifi. In the meantime, download the app for your smartphone or tablet and create an account.

05Assigning components

If it is a Basic or Connected package, the components have already been assigned and you can skip this step. Otherwise, follow the instructions on the screen ("configuration help") to connect extra components. In our case these are the radiator controllers and the OpenTherm RF module. Use the guided configuration to add the components step by step and do not skip any steps.

06System test and configuration

Once all components have been assigned, it is necessary to check briefly whether everything is functioning properly. In the configuration menu go to 'communication test' and test each wireless component. When everything works, you can set the evohome to your liking. You can always adjust this afterwards too. Go to programme, press one of the zone names and use the programming help to add time schedules yourself.

07How do you install evohome?

In principle you can install the evohome yourself, provided that you are fairly handy. Incidentally, the manufacturer itself recommends having the electrical and cabling work carried out and not doing this yourself. Connecting it yourself is indeed less accessible than what we see with Tado, for example. Either way, the evohome comes with an extensive installation manual that you must follow carefully. The exact instructions differ depending on the heating system. Here we assume an OpenTherm boiler.

08Frequently asked questions about evohome

Discover the convenience of evohome! Be amazed by the intelligent design and the handy features. You have your comfort completely under control when you are informed. Hence this FAQ.

Yes, this is integrated into the control interface as standard. By default, however, it is switched off. So this still has to be activated manually. Follow the steps in the manual.