Drayton Wiser Smart Thermostat Heating Control Heating Only - Works with Amazon Alexa, Google Home and IFTTT

Product Information

A distinctive feature of a gravity-fed system is four 22mm or 28mm copper pipes connected to the boiler (sometimes three pipes if an injector T is fitted, but a fourth 22mm or 28mm copper pipe will still be nearby). Requires a three-channel Wiser kit containing two smart thermostats ( Wiser Thermostat Kit 3), to control the central heating via two of the channels and the hot water via the third.

Gravity-fed systems are no longer fitted new and do not comply to current building regulations, therefore homeowners are increasingly opting to replace older gravity-fed systems to either combi or fully-pumped conventional boiler systems. CHARACTERISTICS OF GRAVITY-FED SYSTEMS (non-pumped) Away Mode overrides your existing schedules with a lower set temperature of your choosing, ensuring your home doesn’t get too cold while you’re away. You can turn off appliances in Away Mode, too. You can also set up geofencing using IFTTT so your system will automatically switch to Away Mode when you’re out of the house. On the 2-channel programmer where you set your schedules, try setting the hot water side to off and the central heating side to on. If only the central heating side comes on and only your radiators get hot, you have independent control and thereby, a fully pumped system. If, however, but turning on the central heating side, the hot water also turns on, this would indicate a gravity system. ADVANTAGES OF CONVENTIONAL BOILERS (with vented hot water and fully pumped)A system that was originally fully gravity-fed that has been upgraded/retrofitted with motorised valves, such that the central heating is now fully pumped - a recommended upgrade if full replacement of an older gravity-fed system is not possible. Installation and servicing is usually cheaper than other system types due to less equipment and plumbing - required. A cold water feed or expansion tank is situated higher than the hot water cylinder, usually in the loft or attic. The Insights tab includes information on how much energy you’ve saved with Eco mode enabled, while also presenting a ‘Heat Report’ that details how long and to what temperature over the past day, week, and month your rooms have been heated. Combi boilers only allow for one hot tap, bath or shower to be running at a time, by running more than one it will significantly reduce the pressure to each, which can be a problem for larger households with high demand for hot water.

Central heating is not available independently of the hot water – water will always be heated when the heating is on whether it’s used or not. The Drayton Wiser system lets you set a schedule for each thermostat, indicating a desired temperature for each room in your home at different times of the day. For example, you can set the bathroom to warm up first thing in the morning and last thing at night, if you don’t use it during the day. As already mentioned, you can override a set schedule at any time by manually twisting the top of the radiator thermostat (turning the heating on in that room for 30 minutes) or from the app, where you can choose for the heating to remain on for between 30 minutes and three hours. Hot water flow depends on the cold water mains pressure, so if this is supply is lost, you will soon lose the hot water supply.Insights tab provides stats about the number of hours the heating has been switched on and energy saving made through Eco mode An older and more traditional system type, gravity-fed (or vented) installations feature a conventional boiler and utilise gravity and convection to heat water and distribute it to taps and radiators, rather than the water being pumped. Cold water from tank(s) in the loft flows down by gravity to a water cylinder where it is heated, it’s then forced to hot water taps and radiators at low pressure. Can provide good pressure in some residential areas where mains water pressure is low, particularly if the water circuit is also upgraded with pumps. In residential areas with low water pressure a gravity or gravity/pumped system is usually the best option. Some systems incorporate a pump to help provide greater pressure at the taps.

We also found it was easy to create some basic automations in the app using the Moments feature - such as turning the radiators in the lounge on, while also dimming the map connected to the Wiser smart plug to create a cozy atmosphere of an evening. App On the 2-channel programmer where you set your schedules, try setting the hot water side to off and the central heating side to on. If doing this automatically turns on the hot water side as well, this would indicate a gravity system. ADVANTAGES OF GRAVITY-FED SYSTEMS (non-pumped) The Wiser Hub can be installed in just 20 minutes using the industry standard wall plate included. The system is suitable for 99% of all UK boilers. Four 22mm or 28mm copper pipes connected to the boiler (sometimes three pipes if an injector T is fitted, but a fourth 22mm or 28mm copper pipe will still be nearby). Wiser smart thermostats are compatible with most boiler makes and models, but it’s important to consider which boiler system type you have when selecting your Wiser kit. Here we’ll guide you through the most common boiler system types to help you find the ideal Wiser products to suit your home. Also try our online Product Selector to find the right kit in just a few short steps.Hot water can be stored within the cylinder, beneficial for larger households where a lot of hot water is used. See if you have a time controller on your system or if it just on and off at the boiler. Controlling your system by turning the boiler on an off could indicate a gravity system. This type of system is effectively an upgraded gravity-fed system, where the central heating has been upgraded to be fully pumped, while the hot water remains gravity-fed. This type of upgrade allows separate central heating and hot water timer control, unlike standard gravity-fed systems, due to the addition of motorised valves and a cylinder thermostat. CHARACTERISTICS OF CONVENTIONAL BOILERS (with vented hot water and fully pumped) The final component, the smart radiator thermostat, is a white plastic cylinder, which fit to the radiator once the existing valve has been unscrewed. To manually override any schedules you may have set, simply swivel the top of the radiator thermostat right to start the radiator heating, or left to stop heating. An LED on the radiator thermostat glows red temporarily when the radiator is heating, and blue if it's been turned off. Turning and holding the radiator thermostat will also reset or put it into set-up mode, depending upon how long you hold it in that position. Hot water is available on demand independently of the central heating, without having to wait for a water cylinder to heat up.