Drayton Wiser Smart Heating Radiator Thermostat Works with Amazon Alexa, Google Home, IFTTT
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App controlThe Wiser app takes your heating to the next level of smart. With winter on the way comfort is key. Save up to 50% on your energy usage and maximise comfort by controlling your heating and hot water on your phone. | Insights and Heat ReportInsights help you to make wiser decisions when it comes to controlling your home heating. The Heat Report lets you see exactly what your system is up to – anytime, anywhere. Helping you to save energy. | Energy savingsOver 80% of a home’s energy consumption is used for heating and hot water, so when it comes to heating your home, Wiser will have a big impact on your energy usage. Wiser smart heating controls could save you almost 50% on your energy usage. |
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Smart speaker compatible“Alexa, turn off the heating in the kitchen†Connect your Wiser Thermostat to Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant to enhance control and comfort. Use voice commands to check the status of rooms and make simple changes to your system. | IFTTT compatibleIFTTT automates your heating using geofencing, turning it off when all members of the household leave home, whether it’s for a day or for a fortnight. You’ll never need to think about turning the heating on or off again while you’re home’s empty, just sit back and enjoy saving more energy and money with Wiser. | Wiser smart modesFeel warm and cosy exactly when you want to be in Comfort Mode; let the system turn off the heating at the best time in Eco Mode; and instantly reduce all setpoints while you’re away to avoid over-heating an empty home, using Away Mode. |
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| Boiler Type | Combi | Conventional (boiler with separate hot water tank) | Combi or Conventional with two heating zones | Combi | Conventional (boiler with separate hot water tank) |
| Heating and Hot Water? | Heating control | Heating and hot water control | Heating and hot water control with two heating zones | Heating control | Heating and hot water control |
| Radiator Thermostats Included? | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Can I add Radiator Thermostats & Smart Plugs? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant & IFTTT? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Energy Saving Smart Modes? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Easy to install? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Weight: | 240 g |
| Size: | Radiator Thermostat |
| Dimensions: | 5.1 x 5.1 x 9.5 cm; 240 Grams |
| Model: | WV704R0A0902 |
| Part: | WV704R0A0902 |
| Colour: | White |
| Pack Quantity: | 6 |
| Batteries Required: | Yes |
| Batteries Included: | Alkaline |
| Manufacture: | Drayton by Schneider Electric |
| Colour: | White |
| Quantity: | 6 |
| Size: | Radiator Thermostat |
Had it nearly a year and so far so good.
The winning feature of this system is that it doesn’t rely on the cloud unlike most other systems. That said using the app remotely does rely on their servers working but so far there have only been a couple of occasions when this hasn’t worked.
Because the device works locally if integrates nicely with Home Assistant.
Whilst the hub has buttons to allow you to boost the water or heating for 2 hours, what would make this perfect is the ability to turn off would be really useful.
I have this system installed in my house along with multiple (3, soon increasing to 5) radiator thermostats & two smart plugs.
It was fairly straight forward to install.
Some electrical knowledge & an idea of how to configure the wifi will help, but isn’t essential as the instructions provided are clear & concise.
It’s provide great control & insight over the heating system whilst reducing energy costs.
The technical support available from the manufacturer is also first rate. Their quick to answer the phone & reply to e-mails.
Please be aware the radiator thermostats do require periodic battery replacement as they are wireless etc.
I’d thoroughly recommend.
Multi-zone without reinstalling your entire heating system! Trigger to install was my existing, rather old, timer and wireless thermostat packing up and having shopped around for a while.
While not as comprehensive a system as others, it is extremely simple to setup, particularly if you already have a Drayton timer unit – it’s just a matter of swapping the existing timer for the hub (took me literally 2 minutes with a screwdriver) and then setting up the app and thermostat (a further 5 minutes following the relatively idiot proof guide) – I am far from an electrician – making it significantly cheaper to get up as you remove the 120+ installation. The most complicated bit was working out how the thermostat stand clipped into the unit. Added bonus of a system made in the UK. You can then scale the system with the smart TRVs which I intend to do over time to spread the cost and/or chase special offers. I’ve not had any issues with the app or connectivity that some people report, I understand the app has recently been significantly improved and my house (fairly standard sized 1900s 3-bed semi) isn’t really big enough to have problems that you might get with a larger house. I’ve not had it for long enough to measure cost savings but given that my old system was going haywire before I replaced it I probably won’t be able to measure it – key thing is being able to control the heating far better.
Negatives – doesn’t integrate with wider ecosystems (apple home / nest / hive etc) so that has to be traded off against the simplicity. Alexia does work but I mostly just use the app. App can take 30 seconds to load sometimes but that’s not really been a problem.
Multi-zone without reinstalling your entire heating system! Trigger to install was my existing, rather old, timer and wireless thermostat packing up and having shopped around for a while.
While not as comprehensive a system as others, it is extremely simple to setup, particularly if you already have a Drayton timer unit – it’s just a matter of swapping the existing timer for the hub (took me literally 2 minutes with a screwdriver) and then setting up the app and thermostat (a further 5 minutes following the relatively idiot proof guide) – I am far from an electrician – making it significantly cheaper to get up as you remove the 120+ installation. The most complicated bit was working out how the thermostat stand clipped into the unit. Added bonus of a system made in the UK. You can then scale the system with the smart TRVs which I intend to do over time to spread the cost and/or chase special offers. I’ve not had any issues with the app or connectivity that some people report, I understand the app has recently been significantly improved and my house (fairly standard sized 1900s 3-bed semi) isn’t really big enough to have problems that you might get with a larger house. I’ve not had it for long enough to measure cost savings but given that my old system was going haywire before I replaced it I probably won’t be able to measure it – key thing is being able to control the heating far better.
Negatives – doesn’t integrate with wider ecosystems (apple home / nest / hive etc) so that has to be traded off against the simplicity. Alexia does work but I mostly just use the app. App can take 30 seconds to load sometimes but that’s not really been a problem.
This is a good internet thermostat and the support was v good from Drayton. Unfortunately it doesn’t work with my Huawei B535 4g modem. The system works by pairing the hub to an account run on Drayton servers via your WiFi/Internet set up. Your mobile phone must also be connected to the same WiFi network. The system uses the 2.4g WiFi band so you will need to have separate 5g and 2.4g networks – usually a simple modem setting if not on by default. The support engineers explained this and emailed me some info for my Huawei modem on using channels 1, 6 or 11 rather than auto. Sadly this didn’t work so I have lost the ability to use the app to control the system. Not too critical for us as this is installed in a Static Caravan and not in constant use. We can however still use the desk thermostat which comes with the system.
This is a good internet thermostat and the support was v good from Drayton. Unfortunately it doesn’t work with my Huawei B535 4g modem. The system works by pairing the hub to an account run on Drayton servers via your WiFi/Internet set up. Your mobile phone must also be connected to the same WiFi network. The system uses the 2.4g WiFi band so you will need to have separate 5g and 2.4g networks – usually a simple modem setting if not on by default. The support engineers explained this and emailed me some info for my Huawei modem on using channels 1, 6 or 11 rather than auto. Sadly this didn’t work so I have lost the ability to use the app to control the system. Not too critical for us as this is installed in a Static Caravan and not in constant use. We can however still use the desk thermostat which comes with the system.
This is a good internet thermostat and the support was v good from Drayton. Unfortunately it doesn’t work with my Huawei B535 4g modem. The system works by pairing the hub to an account run on Drayton servers via your WiFi/Internet set up. Your mobile phone must also be connected to the same WiFi network. The system uses the 2.4g WiFi band so you will need to have separate 5g and 2.4g networks – usually a simple modem setting if not on by default. The support engineers explained this and emailed me some info for my Huawei modem on using channels 1, 6 or 11 rather than auto. Sadly this didn’t work so I have lost the ability to use the app to control the system. Not too critical for us as this is installed in a Static Caravan and not in constant use. We can however still use the desk thermostat which comes with the system.
This is a good internet thermostat and the support was v good from Drayton. Unfortunately it doesn’t work with my Huawei B535 4g modem. The system works by pairing the hub to an account run on Drayton servers via your WiFi/Internet set up. Your mobile phone must also be connected to the same WiFi network. The system uses the 2.4g WiFi band so you will need to have separate 5g and 2.4g networks – usually a simple modem setting if not on by default. The support engineers explained this and emailed me some info for my Huawei modem on using channels 1, 6 or 11 rather than auto. Sadly this didn’t work so I have lost the ability to use the app to control the system. Not too critical for us as this is installed in a Static Caravan and not in constant use. We can however still use the desk thermostat which comes with the system.
A direct replacement for the old controller – simple removal and a replacement of the controller (hub). Followed the connectivity instructions and connected quickly and easily. App downloads & works OK, all features I need are there. I would like an ‘off’ setting for the heating (during the summer) but this is possible by using the ‘Away mode’ option with the hot water switched on. You can also use the ‘manual’ option but each device needs setting, so a bit more hassle. I found that the temperature readings on the TVRs (radiator valves) to be low but after contacting Wiser, did a reset and they are pretty good now. Thought about knocking off a * but as the support was quick and effective so I didn’t.
I have moved one of the TVRs around the house and it connects OK (with out an extender) at my furthest radiator ~8m away and through 3 walls. My walls are lathe and plaster. Will be buying further TVRs.
I have tested out of the house (3G) and it all works as if I am in the house.
A direct replacement for the old controller – simple removal and a replacement of the controller (hub). Followed the connectivity instructions and connected quickly and easily. App downloads & works OK, all features I need are there. I would like an ‘off’ setting for the heating (during the summer) but this is possible by using the ‘Away mode’ option with the hot water switched on. You can also use the ‘manual’ option but each device needs setting, so a bit more hassle. I found that the temperature readings on the TVRs (radiator valves) to be low but after contacting Wiser, did a reset and they are pretty good now. Thought about knocking off a * but as the support was quick and effective so I didn’t.
I have moved one of the TVRs around the house and it connects OK (with out an extender) at my furthest radiator ~8m away and through 3 walls. My walls are lathe and plaster. Will be buying further TVRs.
I have tested out of the house (3G) and it all works as if I am in the house.
A direct replacement for the old controller – simple removal and a replacement of the controller (hub). Followed the connectivity instructions and connected quickly and easily. App downloads & works OK, all features I need are there. I would like an ‘off’ setting for the heating (during the summer) but this is possible by using the ‘Away mode’ option with the hot water switched on. You can also use the ‘manual’ option but each device needs setting, so a bit more hassle. I found that the temperature readings on the TVRs (radiator valves) to be low but after contacting Wiser, did a reset and they are pretty good now. Thought about knocking off a * but as the support was quick and effective so I didn’t.
I have moved one of the TVRs around the house and it connects OK (with out an extender) at my furthest radiator ~8m away and through 3 walls. My walls are lathe and plaster. Will be buying further TVRs.
I have tested out of the house (3G) and it all works as if I am in the house.
Over a year on and I am very pleased and impressed with the Drayton Wiser system (UK).
The system was fairly straightforward to install replacing a modern programmable control unit. The valves likewise were easy to fit and program via the app, replacing existing TRV valves. The only fly in the ointment which I stress isn’t due to Wiser, is the need to use a device (tablet/phone) that’s WiFi can be set to 2.4ghz in order to initially connect and sync the valve to your system.
The valve works well using NiMH rechargeable batteries, though the system will suggest the batteries are getting low prematurely (something to do with the lower starting voltage of rechargeable batteries over a standard battery).
The noise of the valve’s motor working was noticeably only at first, but quickly became overlooked by the whole household.
I have used this product for almost a year now and like it. It is a lot better than Hive or Nest as it allows individual control of each room and does some real savings on heating. I live in a rented apartment, so I didn’t want to make any too significant changes in the current system. The building has a central boiler but is allows individual control in each apartment.
The wiser Central replaced the old thermostat in the wall, I needed only to add a power cord, as the previous one was battery powered, so I put a power cord and connected it to the wall socket. If this were my apartment, I would probably do something more elegant, but as I mention, I want to take this all out once I leave the apartment. That said, it is clear that I’ve installed myself; it is easy enough if you like DIY and have a basic knowledge of electrical installations.
This kit is a good start, but I bought more devices to expand the system. The radiator heads (Drayton Wiser Smart Heating Radiator Thermostat) do have a thermostat in it, but it is not precise for big rooms (as it is only centimetres from the radiator). What I recommend is have one of their digital thermostats (Drayton Wiser Smart Heating Room Thermostat) on each room as well. The Wiser system automatically assumes its temp instead of the radiator’s once they are mapped in the app to be in the same place. You should put the digital thermostat some meters from the radiator. I put one close to the baby’s crib, so the central controls the temperature in that place. By the way, if you have a newborn baby, this is amazing, as you can guarantee that you have the correct temp all the time in his room. It is peace of mind as the digital thermostat is very precise.
My set up: Radiators heads on 2 beds, 2 baths, living room(5 devices); 3 digital thermostats: 1 in the baby room, 1 in my room, 1 in the living room.
Wiser support is also very responsive via email; they genuinely try to help you, asking for more pictures and prompting you if the problem was solved or need more help.
My heating bill was definitively cheaper, as this winter I’ve only heated the rooms that I was in, all programmed to be on-off in different periods of the day and different temperature needs. Definitively worth the money.
I have used this product for almost a year now and like it. It is a lot better than Hive or Nest as it allows individual control of each room and does some real savings on heating. I live in a rented apartment, so I didn’t want to make any too significant changes in the current system. The building has a central boiler but is allows individual control in each apartment.
The wiser Central replaced the old thermostat in the wall, I needed only to add a power cord, as the previous one was battery powered, so I put a power cord and connected it to the wall socket. If this were my apartment, I would probably do something more elegant, but as I mention, I want to take this all out once I leave the apartment. That said, it is clear that I’ve installed myself; it is easy enough if you like DIY and have a basic knowledge of electrical installations.
This kit is a good start, but I bought more devices to expand the system. The radiator heads (Drayton Wiser Smart Heating Radiator Thermostat) do have a thermostat in it, but it is not precise for big rooms (as it is only centimetres from the radiator). What I recommend is have one of their digital thermostats (Drayton Wiser Smart Heating Room Thermostat) on each room as well. The Wiser system automatically assumes its temp instead of the radiator’s once they are mapped in the app to be in the same place. You should put the digital thermostat some meters from the radiator. I put one close to the baby’s crib, so the central controls the temperature in that place. By the way, if you have a newborn baby, this is amazing, as you can guarantee that you have the correct temp all the time in his room. It is peace of mind as the digital thermostat is very precise.
My set up: Radiators heads on 2 beds, 2 baths, living room(5 devices); 3 digital thermostats: 1 in the baby room, 1 in my room, 1 in the living room.
Wiser support is also very responsive via email; they genuinely try to help you, asking for more pictures and prompting you if the problem was solved or need more help.
My heating bill was definitively cheaper, as this winter I’ve only heated the rooms that I was in, all programmed to be on-off in different periods of the day and different temperature needs. Definitively worth the money.
I was unfamiliar with the product and had a number of questions. I sent a number of emails to the company and received extremely quick and helpful responses. I have no doubt that they will attempt to help with any future issues I have. The system now seems to be working ok although the test will be when the colder weather comes. The only worry I have is that the app always tells me that the Hub has no signal despite it being only 10 metres or so from my Wifi Hub. As the system is operating ok I will hope that there are no future problems with it.
Bought as an addition to a Wiser kit that I installed with 2 rad stats provided, these made up for the other rooms. I love the whole set up although its important to get the installation tight on the rad taps before calibrating otherwise performance can be poor.
Delighted now I can individually set a room to off whilst others are on a schedule and can boost a room with a simple twist of the rad stat and rely on it going back to its original setting. I also like the fortnightly self operating maintenance feature that keeps the things in good shape.
The system monitors battery life so no fear off unnoticed failure although changing batteries looks a bit fiddly.
Overall a great buy, if rather expensive when bought as a standalone purchase without a kit.
The Good, schedules and remote control work really well and temperature control is great (at least as reported by app vs the set point) the graphs and visualisation in the app are informative and useful. haven’t changed the batteries in either thermostat since install so 2 years+ at this point – which is a pleasant surprise.
the not so good, heating can be triggered by placing the mobile thermostat somehwere cold – which is a sneaky way of putting the heating on without changing the set points ! but thats a husband and wife discussion point rather than technology related.
the smart start or eco mode (starts boiler early to reach set point by the time the schedule requests) is a bit hit an miss (as reported by the app. doesn’t always reach temp target by schedule time, but once at target temp it controls really well.
improvments recently – record of number of hours call for heat activated, temp vs setpoint
would like to see – call for heat timeline vs temp, download of data from app.
really happy with the system, other family members have hive, and for me this is more flexible. I have purchased a TRV but not yet fitted it so will be interresting to see how well that integrates with the app.
I’ve had this running for about 6 months now. Although in my use-case it is working fine, I am finding the feature set pretty limited (given that what is missing is generally software).
There is no ‘Work from home/holiday’ setting. Actually, in my case, I’d really like to have an option of A or B week. You can force ‘away’ mode to keep the heating on, but then it stays on till you remember to turn it off.
There is no CSV save/restore for settings.
Away mode doesn’t have a ‘away until’ setting. So this means I can’t easily say I’m going to be out for most of the day.
Comfort mode can mean the heating coming on rather too early in the morning (and mine is noisy).
There is no data export for easier analytics (although there is a HomeAssistant plugin, so this has a viable workaround).
Alexa can’t ‘boost’ the temperature or turn on the hot water.
A hot water thermostat would be nice (although a little hard to use).
Proper multi-account design is rather sad to see absent.
I’ve had this running for about 6 months now. Although in my use-case it is working fine, I am finding the feature set pretty limited (given that what is missing is generally software).
There is no ‘Work from home/holiday’ setting. Actually, in my case, I’d really like to have an option of A or B week. You can force ‘away’ mode to keep the heating on, but then it stays on till you remember to turn it off.
There is no CSV save/restore for settings.
Away mode doesn’t have a ‘away until’ setting. So this means I can’t easily say I’m going to be out for most of the day.
Comfort mode can mean the heating coming on rather too early in the morning (and mine is noisy).
There is no data export for easier analytics (although there is a HomeAssistant plugin, so this has a viable workaround).
Alexa can’t ‘boost’ the temperature or turn on the hot water.
A hot water thermostat would be nice (although a little hard to use).
Proper multi-account design is rather sad to see absent.
The radiators were super fast to change and pairing thermostats was super easy. I have this unit setup with Google home and it works like a treat. Hey Google, what’s the temperature in my loving room 😉 I love it. I can setup each radiator with separate schedules and different room temperature. If for some reason you need to boost heating in one or more rooms you can twist the radiator thermostat and it will power up or simply use app or tell your smart home to boost heating in any rooms.
I think this is way better than Nest or Hive – I had both of them in previous houses but Drayto (shneider) is super easy and you can install it yourself without a fuss.
Highly recommended and massive bill saver as you heat rooms that you want.
* The ‘setup’ light flashes green/amber, turn off/on and just tap the ‘setup’ button
* Inability to pair your phone to the hub, ensure the phones data is off during this procedure
* Ensure your router Wi-Fi channel is set to 1 or 11, to insure stability of connection
When our boiler was fitted, we were given a basic, very basic remote which allowed only hours to be set, as a result I often extended it to constant and some nights forgot the put it back to timed, on all night. The other annoyance with that remote stat was its temperature ‘sampling rate’, this left the heating on till I was sweating and off when the sweat started to freeze (hyperbole) but really not good. To replace said stat was over 200, this cost me under a hundred on Black Friday Deals. The sample rate is excellent giving an even temperature by switching the boiler off/on more frequently. Be aware however that as this being battery powered, transmits the signal at a set rate. This means that although you change the setting, either stat or phone, it may not react immediately but it will soon.
The apps default setting will not be to everyone’s taste but are so easily changed, see screenshot. A lot of controllers have a ‘boost’ button which does nothing but override for a predetermined or settable period of time, here however, boost means exactly that, by 2% over the current temperature for 30 minutes to 3 hours.
I can’t help myself rambling on about this setup because I have lived with that horrible stat for some time so if you want ‘simple’ with a great Customer Service, I don’t think you can go wrong here.
I bought this system (Multizone 1 Heating Only) to replace a Nest thermostat. It was very easy to install and configure. I am using OpenTherm to control my boiler which gives a smoother and, hopefully, more efficient control.
I have not found any communication issues in my small house between the radiators and the control unit. I like the radiator control as it means I am not heating rooms I don’t want to at different times. For example, I like a warm bedroom to wake up to and a cool one at bedtime. All now possible.
The IFTTT integration works well and I have used it to geofence my journey home so the house is toastie on arrival. This is welcoming but means the cat ignores me for the warm radiators!
Absolutely brilliant! Our house was ALWAYS cold (1912 twin brick, non insulated, suspended timber floor) the difference this has made is wow….
Granted the zones that are ‘off’ are colder but the spaces you are in when you get a good schedule set is warm! The reduction of the gas bill is marked too! As the boiler is only heating 1/2/3 radiators at a time compared to 13 when it was conventional heating.
I know friends with Hive and Nest but this system makes them look gimmicky!
The thermostat itself is pretty redundant if you install valves throughout your house as, the heating won’t actually come on if all the rooms are up to temperature and you try to turn that up.
UPDATE: Drayton support actually reviewed the ticket and provided an advice about the valve. So my impression is much better now.
Purchased the version for heating only with two thermostatic valve heads.
Fitting the heating controller was easy as it only requires four wires to be connected to a standard wall plate. Connecting to the termostat is easy using the setup.
Now the not so great things. The device is about three meters and one thin wall from my Virgin media router. Despite this the hub has weak signal and the connection can take ages.
Contacted Drayton if they sell compatible valves with the thermostatic heads as they sell some other heads with valves was a kit. My current valves are not compatible with the thermostatic heads or any adapter. However their reply was that they only support the product and closed the issue.
So in general I find the product fine but the support quite useless.
UPDATE: Drayton support actually reviewed the ticket and provided an advice about the valve. So my impression is much better now.
Purchased the version for heating only with two thermostatic valve heads.
Fitting the heating controller was easy as it only requires four wires to be connected to a standard wall plate. Connecting to the termostat is easy using the setup.
Now the not so great things. The device is about three meters and one thin wall from my Virgin media router. Despite this the hub has weak signal and the connection can take ages.
Contacted Drayton if they sell compatible valves with the thermostatic heads as they sell some other heads with valves was a kit. My current valves are not compatible with the thermostatic heads or any adapter. However their reply was that they only support the product and closed the issue.
So in general I find the product fine but the support quite useless.
UPDATE: Drayton support actually reviewed the ticket and provided an advice about the valve. So my impression is much better now.
Purchased the version for heating only with two thermostatic valve heads.
Fitting the heating controller was easy as it only requires four wires to be connected to a standard wall plate. Connecting to the termostat is easy using the setup.
Now the not so great things. The device is about three meters and one thin wall from my Virgin media router. Despite this the hub has weak signal and the connection can take ages.
Contacted Drayton if they sell compatible valves with the thermostatic heads as they sell some other heads with valves was a kit. My current valves are not compatible with the thermostatic heads or any adapter. However their reply was that they only support the product and closed the issue.
So in general I find the product fine but the support quite useless.
I have a newly built 4 bed room town house (3 floors). I have 2 heating circuits with 2 room thermostats and a hot water tank with a thermostat. Lounge is on one heating circuit and rest of the house is on other heating circuit. I have ESI programmer, ESI room thermostats and Hot water thermostat.
My requirements were:
1) Independent room temperature control – Met
2) Easy installation without major wiring changes – Partially met
3) Geo fencing – Met with IFTTT
4) Amazon Alexa integration – Met but with limited operations.
5) Energy saving – Met
6) Opentherm interface – Opentherm itself is not compatible where the system has a hot water tank with external water temperature thermostat. So even though my boiler has opentherm module, the system won’t work with my setup. Opentherm enables wiser to control boiler temperature in real time to reduce the gas consumption.
Why I chose this kit?
I did a lot of research in this area and I found the following
1) Google nest: No seamless way of having individual radiator thermostat temperature control. We can use Energenie smart TRVs with MI software but the integration is clunky and unrealistic.
2) Tado : Features like Geofencing are subscription based which is not a great way to save money.
3) Hive: Although it is possible to install smart radiator thermostats to get individual room heating control, reviews suggest that the radiator TRVs are taking 1 hour to turn on. Recently hive released a firmware update to reduce this time to 30 minutes. This defeats money saving objective. Also, the radiator TRVs don’t have the same priority as the room thermostats. This way, if the room thermostat reaches target temperature, even if TRV calls for heat it won’t work.
Some information about the wiser system:
I purchased wiser kit 3 (Comes with Wiser hub, 2 room thermostats) and I purchased 4 radiator thermostats separately.
Wiser hosts a 2.4 Ghz radio network to communicate with room thermostats and radiator thermostats.
It is advised to use a 2.4 Ghz wireless home network with WPA2 security (But it worked ok with my dual band wifi network which hosts 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz frequencies with same SSID).
Installation procedure and issues I faced:
Note: It is important to know TRVs which are linked to specific heating circuits before starting the installation process.
Step 1) It is advised to remove the existing room thermostats and short the call for heat wire so that the thermostat calls for heating all the time. I achieved this by simply turning the thermostat to maximum temperature so that it is calling for heat all the time.
Step 2) I had ESI programmer which I removed from the back plate. The back plate of ESI programmer is different from wiser’s back plate. I had to removed the cables from existing back plate and labelled them. Then I removed the existing back plate, installed the wiser back plate and connected the cables to wiser back plate as described in the manual.
Step 3) After the wiser controller turned on, it hosted a wireless network. I installed wiser heat app on my android phone and from wifi settings, connected to the wifi network hosted by wiser hub.
Issue 1) Android system detects that the wifi network hosted by wiser hub is not providing internet connection and requests the user to switch wifi. While this prompt is open, wiser heat app can’t find the wiser hub. So, I had to select the option on wifi settings to stay connected to wifi network hosted by wiser. After this the wiser heat app found the wiser hub
Step 4) I paired the room thermostats and Radiator thermostats with wiser hub via the wiser heat app and started installing the radiator TRVs.
Issue 2) After pairing the radiator valve with the wiser hub, I went to the top floor to install the radiator thermostat. After the calibration started, the mobile phone lost wifi connection with wiser hub due to poor signal and the configuration failed. So, I came back to ground floor, connected to wiser wifi network and then completed the setup. This resolved the issue.
Step 5) After pairing and installing room/radiator thermostats, we have to connect the wiser hub to home wifi network which is by far the most painful step of all.
Issue 3) I hosted a 2.4 Ghz wireless guest network with WPA 2 network security as advised in the manual. I tried 10 times to connect wiser hub to this guest network but it failed every time. Ironically it connected to my dual band home wifi network (Which hosts 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz frequencies with same SSID/wifi network name) with WPA/WPA2 security with no issues.
Step 6) Created new account with email address etc. This completed without any issues.
General issues reported by users.
Some users reported that Wiser system has issues in homes with Philips hue lighting system. But I didn’t face any issues as I have Philips hue lighting at home.
I called wiser technical support to know the signal strength of my radiator TRVs. They told me that I don’t need to worry about signal strength until the TRVs show offline frequently in wiser heat app. So far, I didn’t see any issues.
The TRVs make some noise when they turn on and turn off. As my kids are older, I am not finding this as a real issue.
Look and feel of wiser heat app.
This app is functional but not flashy. It has everything that we need from a Smart heating system. If you are someone who can figure out things by using apps, then it should be a breeze for you.
Advise to product team:
The wiser hub power led blinks in the same way when it loses wifi connection and when it is updating the firmware. This won’t help the user to understand what’s wrong. Please change the power led blinking pattern so that we can distinguish the difference.
The Alexa integration provides very basic functionality. Please add functions to alter heating schedules.
In the next version of Radiator TRVs, try to reduce the noise.
Final verdict:
This is by far the best smart heating system for the price in the market but to set this up and use it, user must have a troubleshooting mindset. So, non-technical users must opt for professional installation 🙂
One thing to note is that you do need the thermostatic valve on which to connect the thermostat. Mine were a like-for-like replacement so no plumbing was involved.
Google Home and Alexa integration works as advertised (although fractions of a degree don’t seem to be possible.)
Overall (although I’ve only had it for two weeks) it’s proved to be totally reliable and is likely going to be what I stick with.
Google Home and Alexa integration works as advertised (although fractions of a degree don’t seem to be possible.)
Overall (although I’ve only had it for two weeks) it’s proved to be totally reliable and is likely going to be what I stick with.
OK so the problems and there were a few.
1) Ordered over black Friday week had dropped to 109.99 so ordered when it arrived it had clearly been out of the packaging so returned for a replacement.
2) Physical install was easy mounted next to boiler and 4 wires connected following the instructions and markings on the boiler and disconnected the old controls. Old boiler face plate re fitted but no connection
3) followed the instruction for setup found the hubs temp network followed instructions added to my WiFi no problems then it tries to connect to the cloud and fails.
4) Phone support are helpful but after almost 2 hrs still not connecting and they were to send me an email to test some ports . The tests come back OK so its not that and they are suggesting its my network causing the issue. AT this point I have control but only when connected to my WiFi
5) After what must of been 15 attempts at pairing this thing I email and get nowhere fast just wanting me to try the same over and over again.
6) I give up and decide to phone one last time I explain the situation and that my WiFi is not the problem as when logging into the router I can see the heat hub and its MAC address.
7) The new guy on the phone asks for the MAC address and once he has this tells me he knows whats wrong and that they need to run a script from that end but that it could take up to 24 hrs to get processed and that its a common issue.
However in under 3 hrs i’ve had an email to say it’s been done and I restart the app log in and complete the setup and now have a fully functional system that I’m delighted with.
Did I get frustrated with setting it up yes do I wish I’d got through to the 2nd tech support guy 1st time round you bet but even with those issues would I go through it all again hell yes and all because I want to say “Alexa set the lounge to 20 degrees” rather than get off my A*** and adjust the thermosta
OK so the problems and there were a few.
1) Ordered over black Friday week had dropped to 109.99 so ordered when it arrived it had clearly been out of the packaging so returned for a replacement.
2) Physical install was easy mounted next to boiler and 4 wires connected following the instructions and markings on the boiler and disconnected the old controls. Old boiler face plate re fitted but no connection
3) followed the instruction for setup found the hubs temp network followed instructions added to my WiFi no problems then it tries to connect to the cloud and fails.
4) Phone support are helpful but after almost 2 hrs still not connecting and they were to send me an email to test some ports . The tests come back OK so its not that and they are suggesting its my network causing the issue. AT this point I have control but only when connected to my WiFi
5) After what must of been 15 attempts at pairing this thing I email and get nowhere fast just wanting me to try the same over and over again.
6) I give up and decide to phone one last time I explain the situation and that my WiFi is not the problem as when logging into the router I can see the heat hub and its MAC address.
7) The new guy on the phone asks for the MAC address and once he has this tells me he knows whats wrong and that they need to run a script from that end but that it could take up to 24 hrs to get processed and that its a common issue.
However in under 3 hrs i’ve had an email to say it’s been done and I restart the app log in and complete the setup and now have a fully functional system that I’m delighted with.
Did I get frustrated with setting it up yes do I wish I’d got through to the 2nd tech support guy 1st time round you bet but even with those issues would I go through it all again hell yes and all because I want to say “Alexa set the lounge to 20 degrees” rather than get off my A*** and adjust the thermosta
After looking at smart heating controllers for a long time I finally decided on this Drayton Wyser system. Easy to Install and backed up by Schneider – what could go wrong.
This Kit2 version is used to control both water heating and central heating. I already had a Honeywell C21 timer/programmer controlling an Ideal Standard boiler. The backplate on the existing timer was the same as the Wyser, so following the instructions it said disconnect the existing thermostat in the living room and simply swap out the controller. Checking the diagrams looked fine as the connections matched what I had in front of me.
Following the instructions I downloaded the app on my Android phone and started the process. Initially you have to connect up to the local Wyser WIFI created. What is the most important piece of missing information during set up is that when you connect your phone to the Wyser WIFI is that due to the Wyser WIFI not having internet connection you have to check the option on the phone to Always connect to the WIFI service – if I had realised this at the time I wouldn’t have had the problems trying to get the system set up. Once realised my set up issues was down to not ticking the box on the phone WIFI set up the rest of the set up and account creation went through very easily.
Ok – time to check the heating, however when the thermostat called the boiler to switch on – nothing, just a click then silence. After a call to their technical team it turns out that you need to disable the original thermostat but connect the 2 existing wires together. Once done the system has worked well.
Easy to set up and monitor the room temperature and timing control for the water
1 week on and very happy with the install – if only these little set up issues were documented on their FAQ’s and it would have taken literally minutes to set up.
Hardware is great, all fits, easy to install but the software has a mind of its own. See picture, flame is on but the room temperature is higher than the set point. I also see that the boiler on/off on the controller seems very random and not much correlation to whether or not there is a flame showing in the app.
If the software is worked out this will be 5 starts, let’s hope for updates soon. Once fixed, will be great value for money and I predict you will easily make the cost back in one winter season.
This product is great competition for the more expensive players in this market. The build quality is great, as you would expect from a major company like Schneider. The TRVs are a cinch to install, as is the room thermostat. To install the boiler controller, you may need some help from and electrician/gas engineer depending on your level of expertise, but it is all very easy.
My only gripe with this product is that the TRVs only really “guess” at the room temperature rather than actively measure it, so for a really accurate temperature per zone or room, you will need to invest in additional room thermostats (at 80 a throw, that ain’t cheap).
Overall great value for money though and I would pay more for the competing brands.
I am at home most of the day and need to have some rooms heated but not all of them. I live in an old house that is expensive to heat and hard to insulate. Having done what could be done, I wanted to save further on fuel and began looking at the rooms that were empty all day but were still being heated because the heating was on. The Drayton Wiser system appealed to me because I can set schedules for every room that would benefit and only heat them when they needed to be heated. It was fairly easy to install: my radiators had non-standard TRVs (Thermostatic Radiator Valves) and the smart TRVs would not find and neither would any of the adapters. In the end I drained down my system and swapped the TRVs for some very cheap ones from Toolstation that were compatible with the new smart TRVs, and then I could easily fit the smart TRVs where I needed them. I did the wiring myself – that was trivial.
My house is very spread out being a chalet bungalow and I found two of the smart TRVs were about on the limit of the range from the Wiser Hub, so I bought two Wiser Smart Plugs – these are very expensive compared with other Smart Plugs that I use but they also function as an amplifier for the Wiser Hub ensuring that those two zones always get a good signal.
I’m not going to write here about all of the benefits of a smart system – if you’re looking for a smart system then you’ll already know most of those from their advertisements. I looked at several systems including Hive and Nest and felt that the Drayton Wiser system offered the best value for me because of the ease of setting up zones. It has all of the features of the others apart from Nest’s ability to not have schedules instead opting to learn what you want by observing how and when you set your heating.
Drayton not only had the best match of features for me, but it was the best price, and Drayton have been making heating control systems for donkey’s years – they are a household name for heating.
The app has some very interesting statistics (graphs) to show you how your heating is performing. It has intelligent modes that can shut off the heating for a room if there’s a window open there. It works well with Alexa. With the help of Life360 and IFTTT it is easy to set up geofencing so that if nobody is home it goes into background heating mode and then automatically resumes the schedule when someone arrives back home again.
Now on to why I only gave 4 stars when what I’ve written suggests 5 stars…
[a] If there’s a power cut, or the internet drops out, then often the hub gets “stuck” and cannot reconnect to the Wiser cloud – it sits there with a red light on. My son-in-law has the same system and also experiences this issue. The heating still continues to work, but you can’t work it or monitor it remotely. The fix for this is to turn off the master switch for the heating, thereby shutting down the hub for 2-3 minutes and then turn it on again – but you need to be at home to do that UNLESS: I fitted a smart plug in the power feed to the Wiser hub so (remotely) I can cycle the power on and off. Fortunately, we don’t get many internet outages or power cuts.
[b] It’s quite an investment in time to set up all of the schedules and I change them with the seasons [1] Spring and Autumn, [2] Summer and [3] Winter – I have requested (but had no feedback) that it ought to be simple to have the App store your schedules as a SET so that you could restore each SET as and when you need it.
Bottom line: brilliant system but nobody’s perfect.
Purchased this to add to my Samsung smartthings system, knowing that it wasn’t directly compatible but could be botched into place using a community-provided DTH, some tinkering in webcore, and a horstmann thermostat.
3 purchased, one was faulty, but due to the cheap yet awkward system I’m using, it took a bit of fiddling to determine it was knackered.
2 hints…. The valves take up to about 90 secs to respond to changes in setpoints. Not a great deal of time, but an eternity when initiallly building something like mine. Also, valves don’t tend to close/open unless there’s about 1 degree more of less than the setpoint, so that’s another one to watch out for. Right now, I couldn’t be happier with the system but it was a fair challenge. To put together.
Working fine but app is very basic and cheap!
App needs updating it could do with a dial to change temperatures to make changing temperatures quicker!
Firstly I am not a heating engineer of any sort.
Our house has a heating/hot water system that is 12-14 years old and I opted to fit this 3 Channel (dual heating & hot water) kit myself.
It took me four attempts to fit and the final result is it works fine.
Be aware that if like our house you have junction box for heating in the airing cupboard, master heating controls under the boiler, wired heating controls in the lounge and wired heating controls in hallway (which are all different rooms) and none of the wiring is labelled then make sure you have a good few hours at hand to fit a kit like this maybe even half a day!
All of the existing heating controls in our house were also Drayton but taking off the old heating/hot water controller box then sliding this new one on top wouldn’t work!
I am successfully able to turn on/off hot water & control heating from an Android phone when at home or out of the house.
Working fine but app is very basic and cheap!
App needs updating it could do with a dial to change temperatures to make changing temperatures quicker!
Firstly I am not a heating engineer of any sort.
Our house has a heating/hot water system that is 12-14 years old and I opted to fit this 3 Channel (dual heating & hot water) kit myself.
It took me four attempts to fit and the final result is it works fine.
Be aware that if like our house you have junction box for heating in the airing cupboard, master heating controls under the boiler, wired heating controls in the lounge and wired heating controls in hallway (which are all different rooms) and none of the wiring is labelled then make sure you have a good few hours at hand to fit a kit like this maybe even half a day!
All of the existing heating controls in our house were also Drayton but taking off the old heating/hot water controller box then sliding this new one on top wouldn’t work!
I am successfully able to turn on/off hot water & control heating from an Android phone when at home or out of the house.
I think this is a good system, easy to set up, works well, my only gripe is the app could do with more features such as geo fencing and also have more support such as apples home kit.
Our house is a large 4 bed and have no connection issues with the kit. I think people who have issues need to check there networking kit and ensure what they have isn’t over subscribed. Also remember the kit that isp’s supply isn’t always great (very rarely is)
I installed the bridge with ease, as the current thermostat was already connected with the same wiring colours. Setting up the bridge and then installing/setting up the thermostats and TRVs was as easy as can be! So now I’m fully connected with total control in all rooms. It’s amazing how quickly I did the install and the comfort of being able to sit on the sofa and asking Google Home to add 2C to the room is great! The TRVs might not be as slick as the Tado ones, but they definitely don’t look bad at all! So if you’re in the market for a system that will put your home heating in the cloud, I can wholeheartedly say you can’t go wrong with these.
I can’t comment on some of the issues others are reporting regarding signal and distance as I’m in a terraced house (read: London small). For me it’s working perfectly with about 15m straight line and 3 walls/floors between the bridge and the furthest TRV. Also please note that setting this up requires you to be able to handle a screwdriver and have some basic knowledge of electricity/cabling.
Trying to be clever and keep things tidy I initially installed the base unit very near the boiler. This was a mistake as you should put it in as central location as possible in order for it to see your router/TRVs. (and preferably away from large metal white goods that are going to interfere with signals).
Naively I assumed that the new smart TRV(thermostatic Radiator Valves) would be compatible with the old lockshield(tap) valve controls. You require compatible thermostatic Radiator valves and I had to install 4 new ones for the planned system. (cheap units are available for around 7 each – and you don’t seem to be able to buy just the valve body). These require the system to be drained and a bit of plumbing work.
Good points
While it takes a while to get used to the philosophy behind the new control, its great being able to switch individual radiators off. We have noticed that the system heats up so much faster and each radiator gets hotter.
I’ve found the app very intuitive and relatively clear.
The integration with Alexa is seamless and brilliant.
The thermostat is very accurate and the TRVs accurate enough.
You have the option for the system to switch on at fixed times (normal mode) or to be clever and use ambient temperature to determine start times (comfort mode)
Bad points.
Sometimes it takes a while for the boiler to be requested to fire despite the indication of Flame ON displayed on the app.
An indication of the position/status of each TRV would be useful.
It would be nice if the thermostat was non-backlit LCD with the display on all the time rather than having to wake it up to display the current temperature. I also assume that only the thermostat temperature is used in its assigned room rather than the associated rooms TRV — does the system just ignore the TRV temp?. (I also wonder if you can have a cheaper system without the thermostat as I’m not sure it adds much.)
Things that still confuse:
The app has too many ways to change room temperature. E.g
* There is a boost function which has a time limit. (also enabled from the TRVs control). Does enabling from one radiator automatically apply the same boost to others assigned to the same room?
* You can also change the room temperature without the boost time limit.
* You can also set the room to MANUAL (shown as a HAND on the app) control.
I’m still unsure if ALL or any of these settings are automatically overridden by a scheduled temperature change?
Word of warning for those with an older system. I had planned to smart control just 4 of 13 radiators in rooms only used part time. I did this but noticed how much warmer the whole house was. The problem being that 6 radiators/towel rails in my house do not have TRVs (just lockshield taps). The living areas would get up to temperature with bedrooms ‘smart controlled’ off, then prior to bed these would switch on but request the boiler ON for prolong periods to get them up to temperature. However, obviously the 6 radiators/towel rail with lockshield valves would then get very hot in rooms already up to temperature. So I’m now having to convert these to TRVs or smart. In summary — your house requires TRVs!
This is a very good system and I’m not entirely sure what features are missing or that you’d ever need. Only concern is the longevity of the motorised TRVs at 40 a pop.
Trying to be clever and keep things tidy I initially installed the base unit very near the boiler. This was a mistake as you should put it in as central location as possible in order for it to see your router/TRVs. (and preferably away from large metal white goods that are going to interfere with signals).
Naively I assumed that the new smart TRV(thermostatic Radiator Valves) would be compatible with the old lockshield(tap) valve controls. You require compatible thermostatic Radiator valves and I had to install 4 new ones for the planned system. (cheap units are available for around 7 each – and you don’t seem to be able to buy just the valve body). These require the system to be drained and a bit of plumbing work.
Good points
While it takes a while to get used to the philosophy behind the new control, its great being able to switch individual radiators off. We have noticed that the system heats up so much faster and each radiator gets hotter.
I’ve found the app very intuitive and relatively clear.
The integration with Alexa is seamless and brilliant.
The thermostat is very accurate and the TRVs accurate enough.
You have the option for the system to switch on at fixed times (normal mode) or to be clever and use ambient temperature to determine start times (comfort mode)
Bad points.
Sometimes it takes a while for the boiler to be requested to fire despite the indication of Flame ON displayed on the app.
An indication of the position/status of each TRV would be useful.
It would be nice if the thermostat was non-backlit LCD with the display on all the time rather than having to wake it up to display the current temperature. I also assume that only the thermostat temperature is used in its assigned room rather than the associated rooms TRV — does the system just ignore the TRV temp?. (I also wonder if you can have a cheaper system without the thermostat as I’m not sure it adds much.)
Things that still confuse:
The app has too many ways to change room temperature. E.g
* There is a boost function which has a time limit. (also enabled from the TRVs control). Does enabling from one radiator automatically apply the same boost to others assigned to the same room?
* You can also change the room temperature without the boost time limit.
* You can also set the room to MANUAL (shown as a HAND on the app) control.
I’m still unsure if ALL or any of these settings are automatically overridden by a scheduled temperature change?
Word of warning for those with an older system. I had planned to smart control just 4 of 13 radiators in rooms only used part time. I did this but noticed how much warmer the whole house was. The problem being that 6 radiators/towel rails in my house do not have TRVs (just lockshield taps). The living areas would get up to temperature with bedrooms ‘smart controlled’ off, then prior to bed these would switch on but request the boiler ON for prolong periods to get them up to temperature. However, obviously the 6 radiators/towel rail with lockshield valves would then get very hot in rooms already up to temperature. So I’m now having to convert these to TRVs or smart. In summary — your house requires TRVs!
This is a very good system and I’m not entirely sure what features are missing or that you’d ever need. Only concern is the longevity of the motorised TRVs at 40 a pop.
Replaced the wireless (not internet enabled) thermostat that came with my boiler with this system. I was lucky enough that that my switch over from old to new was straighforward, requiring only 4 wires at the side of the boiler to be wired into the Drayton Wiser Hub. Once this was done, connecting to the new system and setting up the phone app took a matter of minutes. I was also able to get it to work with Alexa very quickly and easily. Now that it’s set up I can turn on, or adjust my heating from anywhere with an internet connection/mobile phone signal – not just in the house. Alexa can tell you how warm it is, and you can raise or lower the temperature with Alexa too. There are some smart features on the app, you have a weekly planner for how you want the heating to react, but you can also set it to eco mode where it adjusts itself automatically – I haven’t tried this yet. So far, I only have one thermostat and the hub. I plan to get the Wiser smart thermostatic radiator valves so that I can control all radiators in the house from my phone too, as this will obviously incur savings on my heating bill if radiators not needed can be scheduled to be off and automatically come on at certain times of the day. Overall very pleased. I also had to contact support as I couldn’t work out how to change the wifi (I have more than one wifi signal in my house and wanted to change the hub to a different one) – they responded within the day and were spot-on with their reply, and I was able to resolve my problem. Many thanks to Wiser Support! 😉
Replaced the wireless (not internet enabled) thermostat that came with my boiler with this system. I was lucky enough that that my switch over from old to new was straighforward, requiring only 4 wires at the side of the boiler to be wired into the Drayton Wiser Hub. Once this was done, connecting to the new system and setting up the phone app took a matter of minutes. I was also able to get it to work with Alexa very quickly and easily. Now that it’s set up I can turn on, or adjust my heating from anywhere with an internet connection/mobile phone signal – not just in the house. Alexa can tell you how warm it is, and you can raise or lower the temperature with Alexa too. There are some smart features on the app, you have a weekly planner for how you want the heating to react, but you can also set it to eco mode where it adjusts itself automatically – I haven’t tried this yet. So far, I only have one thermostat and the hub. I plan to get the Wiser smart thermostatic radiator valves so that I can control all radiators in the house from my phone too, as this will obviously incur savings on my heating bill if radiators not needed can be scheduled to be off and automatically come on at certain times of the day. Overall very pleased. I also had to contact support as I couldn’t work out how to change the wifi (I have more than one wifi signal in my house and wanted to change the hub to a different one) – they responded within the day and were spot-on with their reply, and I was able to resolve my problem. Many thanks to Wiser Support! 😉
Replaced the wireless (not internet enabled) thermostat that came with my boiler with this system. I was lucky enough that that my switch over from old to new was straighforward, requiring only 4 wires at the side of the boiler to be wired into the Drayton Wiser Hub. Once this was done, connecting to the new system and setting up the phone app took a matter of minutes. I was also able to get it to work with Alexa very quickly and easily. Now that it’s set up I can turn on, or adjust my heating from anywhere with an internet connection/mobile phone signal – not just in the house. Alexa can tell you how warm it is, and you can raise or lower the temperature with Alexa too. There are some smart features on the app, you have a weekly planner for how you want the heating to react, but you can also set it to eco mode where it adjusts itself automatically – I haven’t tried this yet. So far, I only have one thermostat and the hub. I plan to get the Wiser smart thermostatic radiator valves so that I can control all radiators in the house from my phone too, as this will obviously incur savings on my heating bill if radiators not needed can be scheduled to be off and automatically come on at certain times of the day. Overall very pleased. I also had to contact support as I couldn’t work out how to change the wifi (I have more than one wifi signal in my house and wanted to change the hub to a different one) – they responded within the day and were spot-on with their reply, and I was able to resolve my problem. Many thanks to Wiser Support! 😉
Replaced the wireless (not internet enabled) thermostat that came with my boiler with this system. I was lucky enough that that my switch over from old to new was straighforward, requiring only 4 wires at the side of the boiler to be wired into the Drayton Wiser Hub. Once this was done, connecting to the new system and setting up the phone app took a matter of minutes. I was also able to get it to work with Alexa very quickly and easily. Now that it’s set up I can turn on, or adjust my heating from anywhere with an internet connection/mobile phone signal – not just in the house. Alexa can tell you how warm it is, and you can raise or lower the temperature with Alexa too. There are some smart features on the app, you have a weekly planner for how you want the heating to react, but you can also set it to eco mode where it adjusts itself automatically – I haven’t tried this yet. So far, I only have one thermostat and the hub. I plan to get the Wiser smart thermostatic radiator valves so that I can control all radiators in the house from my phone too, as this will obviously incur savings on my heating bill if radiators not needed can be scheduled to be off and automatically come on at certain times of the day. Overall very pleased. I also had to contact support as I couldn’t work out how to change the wifi (I have more than one wifi signal in my house and wanted to change the hub to a different one) – they responded within the day and were spot-on with their reply, and I was able to resolve my problem. Many thanks to Wiser Support! 😉
Replaced the wireless (not internet enabled) thermostat that came with my boiler with this system. I was lucky enough that that my switch over from old to new was straighforward, requiring only 4 wires at the side of the boiler to be wired into the Drayton Wiser Hub. Once this was done, connecting to the new system and setting up the phone app took a matter of minutes. I was also able to get it to work with Alexa very quickly and easily. Now that it’s set up I can turn on, or adjust my heating from anywhere with an internet connection/mobile phone signal – not just in the house. Alexa can tell you how warm it is, and you can raise or lower the temperature with Alexa too. There are some smart features on the app, you have a weekly planner for how you want the heating to react, but you can also set it to eco mode where it adjusts itself automatically – I haven’t tried this yet. So far, I only have one thermostat and the hub. I plan to get the Wiser smart thermostatic radiator valves so that I can control all radiators in the house from my phone too, as this will obviously incur savings on my heating bill if radiators not needed can be scheduled to be off and automatically come on at certain times of the day. Overall very pleased. I also had to contact support as I couldn’t work out how to change the wifi (I have more than one wifi signal in my house and wanted to change the hub to a different one) – they responded within the day and were spot-on with their reply, and I was able to resolve my problem. Many thanks to Wiser Support! 😉
Like most people I was deciding between this, Tado, Nest and Hive. After realising my existing programmer was Drayton and this would be an easy plug and play it was a no brainer. I really didn’t want to try book an installer which might take weeks and then require me to be home at some ridiculous hour of the day when I should be at work. And to add the installation would then double the cost. It works well and I love being able to switch the heating on/off remotely if I realise I won’t be home anytime soon.
The main receiver simply replaced my existing timer unit next to the boiler – the standard UK backplate meant no fiddly rewiring (but do check that your backplate is wired suitably for it – there’s details in the box, or get a professional to fit it)
I easily connected 1x TRV and the room thermostat to the central unit, then created an online account through the app. I was turning on and off the heating and hot water from my phone in no time.
I had an issue with a faulty TRV – Amazon customer service was great – after a bit of nudging – to replace the TRV only, rather than un installing the whole kit.
I spent several days phoning and emailing Drayton’s Liverpool-based support centre because the TRVs, while appearing to operate correctly, were not physically opening the valve on my radiators. I have oldish Danfoss valves – their fitting type is supported (there’s an adapter in the box for such values), but eventually we ascertained that the very small distance of travel of the pin in my Danfoss values were incompatible with Drayton TRVs, which expect a distance of travel of >5mm or thereabouts.
I almost kept the system, but without TRVs. The online app is great, and the room stat worked a treat. But zonal control at a great price was what sold it to me, and I wouldn’t get zoned control without TRVs. Reluctantly I uninstalled the whole kit and returned for a refund – excellent customer service as always from Amazon. Looking to Nest or Hive as an alternative non-zoned system.
The price of this kit rises and falls quite dramatically – I was gutted when I realised it wasn’t compatible with my rad valves because I got this at a great price – 140 quid.
If you have Drayton values, or modern Danfoss valves on your radiators, I seriously recommend giving this a go, particularly if you can grab it at a good price.
Well made, UK support, solid wifi and proprietary communication. (and no separate unit requiring a mains plug and LAN-cable connection to your router like Hive, or some other systems. I think only this and Nest are the only systems which connect to your home wifi and don’t require hard-wired cable and a separate unit)
I have not rated Tech support because I had no reason to contact them. These TVRs work with the Drayton Wiser Heat Hub and are not stand alone. The heat hub is a straight replacement for a standard backplate programmer. I am not a plumber or an electrician but it was a simple DIY job. The TVR heads replace existing TVR heads and again it is a simple DIY job. If you have radiators without TVRs, you will need to fit a TVR valve body. Not a difficult task but you will have to drain the system to do it. Once the hub was in place and the app installed it was easy to connect the TVRs wirelessly to the hub using the app. The system allows you to control the heating in each room independently each room has its own time schedule and temperature. We have 9 radiators all individually controlled and so far it works perfectly. Its too early to say if savings are significant but using this system each room is warm only at the time we usually occupy it and I am sure that there will be savings.
Originally had a 2nd Gen Nest thermostat, but it became problematic and was always losing connectivity to the Heat Link box by the boiler despite being installed practically right below it. Problem was when the thermostat lost connectivity, you had no heating which occured a few times. Also disliked the fact that despite the thermostat being wireless, it needed to be constantly plugged into the mains meaning portability was lacking (wasn’t like you could easily carry it from room to room for e.g.).
Being that the product cost alot of money and also wasnt that old, was very disappointed. Rather felt as though it was all show and no go.
In the end decided to rip and replace for the Wiser Heat system and on the whole couldnt be happier with it. Had some initial niggles with the control box losing connectivity with the WiFi but it transpired it was a WiFi problem (or not enough of it!). Once that was sorted its been pretty rock solid.
The system is pretty easy to set up (though the control box really needs professional installation), easy enough to configure and by and large does what it says on the tin.
We bought the pack with the single TRV included and used it in our main bedroom. To begin with I was disappointed as it didnt seem to fit the valve properly and subsequently failed to control the rad properly……several months later after trying it again have found that I hadnt installed it correctly and now seems to control the radiator OK. They arent the quietest things (if you are a light sleeper the opening and closing process could wake you) but do the job. Only issue I have encountered is that the TRV set temperature has a few times dropped down from what it was set to (was 18, falling back to 15 degrees) meaning we’ve woken cold a few times but having disabled Eco mode now seems OK.
I will probably eventually install the TRV’s in all the bedrooms, but at 40 quid a pop it’s not really a cheap exercise (though far cheaper than Honeywell’s offering) but it’ll be nice to have temperature control in the bedrooms in order to run the house a bit warmer and the rooms cooler for comfortable sleeping in the colder months. Test will be whether a range extender will be required as our house is fairly large….time will tell I suppose.
In summary, I imagine the Honeywell system is probably better but at the cost it ought to be. For the money this seems very good value for money as whilst arguably not quite as polished as the likes of the Honeywell offering it offers nice, reliable functionality at a relatively low price. Certainly knocks a single Nest thermostat into the weeds in terms of reliability and overall functionality, from my own experience anyway.
Originally had a 2nd Gen Nest thermostat, but it became problematic and was always losing connectivity to the Heat Link box by the boiler despite being installed practically right below it. Problem was when the thermostat lost connectivity, you had no heating which occured a few times. Also disliked the fact that despite the thermostat being wireless, it needed to be constantly plugged into the mains meaning portability was lacking (wasn’t like you could easily carry it from room to room for e.g.).
Being that the product cost alot of money and also wasnt that old, was very disappointed. Rather felt as though it was all show and no go.
In the end decided to rip and replace for the Wiser Heat system and on the whole couldnt be happier with it. Had some initial niggles with the control box losing connectivity with the WiFi but it transpired it was a WiFi problem (or not enough of it!). Once that was sorted its been pretty rock solid.
The system is pretty easy to set up (though the control box really needs professional installation), easy enough to configure and by and large does what it says on the tin.
We bought the pack with the single TRV included and used it in our main bedroom. To begin with I was disappointed as it didnt seem to fit the valve properly and subsequently failed to control the rad properly……several months later after trying it again have found that I hadnt installed it correctly and now seems to control the radiator OK. They arent the quietest things (if you are a light sleeper the opening and closing process could wake you) but do the job. Only issue I have encountered is that the TRV set temperature has a few times dropped down from what it was set to (was 18, falling back to 15 degrees) meaning we’ve woken cold a few times but having disabled Eco mode now seems OK.
I will probably eventually install the TRV’s in all the bedrooms, but at 40 quid a pop it’s not really a cheap exercise (though far cheaper than Honeywell’s offering) but it’ll be nice to have temperature control in the bedrooms in order to run the house a bit warmer and the rooms cooler for comfortable sleeping in the colder months. Test will be whether a range extender will be required as our house is fairly large….time will tell I suppose.
In summary, I imagine the Honeywell system is probably better but at the cost it ought to be. For the money this seems very good value for money as whilst arguably not quite as polished as the likes of the Honeywell offering it offers nice, reliable functionality at a relatively low price. Certainly knocks a single Nest thermostat into the weeds in terms of reliability and overall functionality, from my own experience anyway.
Originally had a 2nd Gen Nest thermostat, but it became problematic and was always losing connectivity to the Heat Link box by the boiler despite being installed practically right below it. Problem was when the thermostat lost connectivity, you had no heating which occured a few times. Also disliked the fact that despite the thermostat being wireless, it needed to be constantly plugged into the mains meaning portability was lacking (wasn’t like you could easily carry it from room to room for e.g.).
Being that the product cost alot of money and also wasnt that old, was very disappointed. Rather felt as though it was all show and no go.
In the end decided to rip and replace for the Wiser Heat system and on the whole couldnt be happier with it. Had some initial niggles with the control box losing connectivity with the WiFi but it transpired it was a WiFi problem (or not enough of it!). Once that was sorted its been pretty rock solid.
The system is pretty easy to set up (though the control box really needs professional installation), easy enough to configure and by and large does what it says on the tin.
We bought the pack with the single TRV included and used it in our main bedroom. To begin with I was disappointed as it didnt seem to fit the valve properly and subsequently failed to control the rad properly……several months later after trying it again have found that I hadnt installed it correctly and now seems to control the radiator OK. They arent the quietest things (if you are a light sleeper the opening and closing process could wake you) but do the job. Only issue I have encountered is that the TRV set temperature has a few times dropped down from what it was set to (was 18, falling back to 15 degrees) meaning we’ve woken cold a few times but having disabled Eco mode now seems OK.
I will probably eventually install the TRV’s in all the bedrooms, but at 40 quid a pop it’s not really a cheap exercise (though far cheaper than Honeywell’s offering) but it’ll be nice to have temperature control in the bedrooms in order to run the house a bit warmer and the rooms cooler for comfortable sleeping in the colder months. Test will be whether a range extender will be required as our house is fairly large….time will tell I suppose.
In summary, I imagine the Honeywell system is probably better but at the cost it ought to be. For the money this seems very good value for money as whilst arguably not quite as polished as the likes of the Honeywell offering it offers nice, reliable functionality at a relatively low price. Certainly knocks a single Nest thermostat into the weeds in terms of reliability and overall functionality, from my own experience anyway.
In the end I have sent this all back. The radiator thermostats would not control the radiators and I’m fed up faffing with it. Looking at the reviews for Hive and Nest, I don’t think they will be any better, so I will just fit a traditional heating controller and room stat.
In the end I have sent this all back. The radiator thermostats would not control the radiators and I’m fed up faffing with it. Looking at the reviews for Hive and Nest, I don’t think they will be any better, so I will just fit a traditional heating controller and room stat.
In the end I have sent this all back. The radiator thermostats would not control the radiators and I’m fed up faffing with it. Looking at the reviews for Hive and Nest, I don’t think they will be any better, so I will just fit a traditional heating controller and room stat.
Our house used to suffer from always being either too hot or too cold somewhere in the house. Since buying this we have much better control of when heating comes on and where, I can’t remember the last time I had to go alter the thermostat or a radiator.
The only down sides to this are a slightly weak wifi signal (although just strong enough for our house, I can see how some would struggle), and a less than ideal way of displaying the temperature in the hot water tank, which shows at 41% when it reaches the temperature its set to. It would be nice if it let you specify what 100% is.
Our house used to suffer from always being either too hot or too cold somewhere in the house. Since buying this we have much better control of when heating comes on and where, I can’t remember the last time I had to go alter the thermostat or a radiator.
The only down sides to this are a slightly weak wifi signal (although just strong enough for our house, I can see how some would struggle), and a less than ideal way of displaying the temperature in the hot water tank, which shows at 41% when it reaches the temperature its set to. It would be nice if it let you specify what 100% is.
A full review would take ages – I will just say that I do a bit of DIY and found the whole thing very easy to fit. The rad valves are simple to do if you have TRVs already. The only problems I had using the system in a large house was some of the rads lost signal with the control unit. I have ended up buying two smart plug extenders that have solved the problem but probably could have got away with one carefully positioned. The second problem is that I needed an adaptor to fit each of the Drayton thermostats to my rads. The advice from the Drayton hotline was unimpressive and suggested buying from a European company at vastly inflated prices. I bought suitable adaptors from Amazon – no problem. Had the system running now for a few months nd am very happy with it !
A full review would take ages – I will just say that I do a bit of DIY and found the whole thing very easy to fit. The rad valves are simple to do if you have TRVs already. The only problems I had using the system in a large house was some of the rads lost signal with the control unit. I have ended up buying two smart plug extenders that have solved the problem but probably could have got away with one carefully positioned. The second problem is that I needed an adaptor to fit each of the Drayton thermostats to my rads. The advice from the Drayton hotline was unimpressive and suggested buying from a European company at vastly inflated prices. I bought suitable adaptors from Amazon – no problem. Had the system running now for a few months nd am very happy with it !
A full review would take ages – I will just say that I do a bit of DIY and found the whole thing very easy to fit. The rad valves are simple to do if you have TRVs already. The only problems I had using the system in a large house was some of the rads lost signal with the control unit. I have ended up buying two smart plug extenders that have solved the problem but probably could have got away with one carefully positioned. The second problem is that I needed an adaptor to fit each of the Drayton thermostats to my rads. The advice from the Drayton hotline was unimpressive and suggested buying from a European company at vastly inflated prices. I bought suitable adaptors from Amazon – no problem. Had the system running now for a few months nd am very happy with it !
A full review would take ages – I will just say that I do a bit of DIY and found the whole thing very easy to fit. The rad valves are simple to do if you have TRVs already. The only problems I had using the system in a large house was some of the rads lost signal with the control unit. I have ended up buying two smart plug extenders that have solved the problem but probably could have got away with one carefully positioned. The second problem is that I needed an adaptor to fit each of the Drayton thermostats to my rads. The advice from the Drayton hotline was unimpressive and suggested buying from a European company at vastly inflated prices. I bought suitable adaptors from Amazon – no problem. Had the system running now for a few months nd am very happy with it !
A full review would take ages – I will just say that I do a bit of DIY and found the whole thing very easy to fit. The rad valves are simple to do if you have TRVs already. The only problems I had using the system in a large house was some of the rads lost signal with the control unit. I have ended up buying two smart plug extenders that have solved the problem but probably could have got away with one carefully positioned. The second problem is that I needed an adaptor to fit each of the Drayton thermostats to my rads. The advice from the Drayton hotline was unimpressive and suggested buying from a European company at vastly inflated prices. I bought suitable adaptors from Amazon – no problem. Had the system running now for a few months nd am very happy with it !
I have been pretty surprised at how good the RF wireless range is (we only needed one range extender in a large older house with several internal stone walls – for comparison we need 3 access points to cover the same area for WiFi) .
We did have a few signal drop outs in the early days but this has improved over time as firmware updates have come through and we re-positioned the extender. NB we did install the hub in the middle of the house rather than next to the boiler with a length of 5 core cable – absolutely worth a little effort in the installation process for larger/older houses with thicker walls.
We also had a few issues with the radiator valves as some of our radiators existing TRVs were installed at the top entry point on the radiator (rather than at the bottom) which lead to inaccurate heating. A fun afternoon swapping the valves to the bottom sorted it out completely.
My only complaint is that you cant see signal strenth on the app or devices. You need to ring tech support which takes a lot of unnecessary time.
I’ve installed TRVs on most radiators. Exceptions were the two bathroom towel rails and a boxed in radiator where the TRV wouldn’t have worked since it would have given a false room temperature reading. Installation was easy and everything works.
We’ve a medium sized house, but the WiFi router is sufficiently central to provide enough signal.
Screwing the TRVs onto the valves is easy if you’re replacing similar, non-smart TVRs.
We only heat a small proportion of our rooms via the heating schedule. Most sit at 15 degrees unless we want to use the room. Because the radiators therefore only come on when needed a great benefit is they heat up far faster. Also you no longer need to balance the system. Every radiator can be on full when needed.
The Room Stat appears to be vaguely useful, but I find I’m using the app more.
Setting the programme for each room is easy, if time consuming. We have about 8 rooms defined, so four time slots for each room is a lot. That multiplied if you want a different schedule for different days. That’s a price to pay for having something with total flexibility.
December 2020 update. The system is working fine and it’s great being able to control the heat room by room. Much more comfortable having the room you’re in rapidly reaching a good temperature.
Alongside double glazing several rooms now, our heating bill has dropped by a third since installing Wiser.
The main glitch we’ve experienced is when the radiator stat AA batteries run down. The system goes a bit potty since the batteries stop being able to open and close the radiator valves reliably. Doubly confusing was that the App didn’t reliably report on the App that the batteries were low. Drayton appears to have fixed that problem.
We had a very confusing problem where the motorised valve on the central heating broke and was permanently open. This was causing the boiler to shut off periodically to cool down. Drayton support team was very attentive and helped my diagnose the problem, even though it was nothing to do with Wiser. They can interrogate the logs off your Wiser system and see if there’s a problem.
All in all Wiser is an amazing dystem which saves a lot of heating costs and makes your house much more comfortable.
The smart plug boosted the signal enough to enable operation of the offending TRV possible; so to that end a success.
The price of Drayton Smart plugs is way above any others on the market (that I could find) so I feel as though I am being held to ransom and had I realised I would probably not installed the system.
This is total control and I cannot believe how good it is. I have the room where my cats are on most of the time but the rest of the system is just set to frost protection until i need them on and they fire up on the time I have requested….Lets say the scheduling is due in an hour but its cold instead of changing the scheduling just set a thirty minute one hour or three hour boost to whatever radiator you want. Its total control and it is already saving me money….Two other settings of interest…a COMFORT setting brings whichever radiator you want on earlier than the scheduled time so the comfort temperature is there when you want it…I don’t use this because I think it would use more gas..I do use however the ECO mode, well this setting monitors the weather outside and how quickly your house heats up and cools down and assists in saving you money……This is an excellent product easy to install and operate, eventually your schedule will run the house without you having to do anything…..My cats love it…Highly recommended
Had a look at all the other smart systems but this one is the best.
I wouldn’t recommed trying to set this up if you are not tech savvy and do not fully understand hiw heating systems work I suggest you get an engineer to set it up for you.
I had a glitch setting the system up in the fact that it wouldn’t register until I switched my phone back to my router rather than the wiser unit using the wifi.
Once set up it works perfectly I had to make minor adjustments to the schedule temps as the thermostatic valves are near the floor.
I measured a temp difference of 1.5 degrees C when compared to a stat at 1.5M.
I had a wireless/timer thermostat anyway so I doubt it will save me money.
What this tech does is give me the ability to control the temp in any room at any time from anywhere.
I believe this will be more efficient when the use of the open therm tech is employed because then the system will be able to control flow temps which should enabke it to mantain a more constant temp.
Recently installed and have been running a couple of weeks. Still working on optimum position and heat setting for thermostats but that is down to my rooms and hotter and colder areas. I only have the 2 zone (plus host water) with the 2 thermostats for now but rad therms and smart plugs ordered as happy with things so far.
Setup was pretty easy, I had a 3 zone digital clock so wiring was a like for like with the new base plate, instructions clear. I had issue, support was v good, available, responsive and knew their stuff. Turned out issue was my initial wiring, my fault, guys walked me through steps to debug and got it sorted. App and device setup a breeze, find app pretty issue to use, not slick but pretty, logical and does what you need.
Delighted with the functions and working a treat. Used the away mode over Christmas when visiting family and was able to turn on heating on drive home, simple but powerful… Wife blown away which is important as now not classed as gadget purchase… Adding value to household 🙂
All round very happy, I looked at many smart systems for ages and landed on wiser due to v competitive pricing for hardware (got my 2 therm and control setup) for a steel black Friday. Now looking forward to scaling out with full rad therm setup. I’ll update in a couple of weeks/months on back of this.
Recently installed and have been running a couple of weeks. Still working on optimum position and heat setting for thermostats but that is down to my rooms and hotter and colder areas. I only have the 2 zone (plus host water) with the 2 thermostats for now but rad therms and smart plugs ordered as happy with things so far.
Setup was pretty easy, I had a 3 zone digital clock so wiring was a like for like with the new base plate, instructions clear. I had issue, support was v good, available, responsive and knew their stuff. Turned out issue was my initial wiring, my fault, guys walked me through steps to debug and got it sorted. App and device setup a breeze, find app pretty issue to use, not slick but pretty, logical and does what you need.
Delighted with the functions and working a treat. Used the away mode over Christmas when visiting family and was able to turn on heating on drive home, simple but powerful… Wife blown away which is important as now not classed as gadget purchase… Adding value to household 🙂
All round very happy, I looked at many smart systems for ages and landed on wiser due to v competitive pricing for hardware (got my 2 therm and control setup) for a steel black Friday. Now looking forward to scaling out with full rad therm setup. I’ll update in a couple of weeks/months on back of this.
I chose this over other TRVs mainly for the low price and because they are Drayton products. Almost all my existing radiators have Drayton TRVs, so it seemed a no brainer to upgrade my central heating to smart TRVs along with the Heat Hub and matching room stat. Unfortunately, this TRV is not compatible with older Drayton TRVs (it seems my radiators were fitted with TRV3s) and Drayton don’t sell adaptors to allow them to fit. Basically the metal collar only suits 30mm dia. valves whilst my old TRV3s apparently have 27mm collars. There is no mention of this specific incompatibility on Drayton’s website either, even though they have a section which covers compatibility in some detail.
Drayton were quick to respond to my problem, but were unable to suggest any solutions other than replacing all the valves on my radiators, which was outside my budget 🙁
I chose this over other TRVs mainly for the low price and because they are Drayton products. Almost all my existing radiators have Drayton TRVs, so it seemed a no brainer to upgrade my central heating to smart TRVs along with the Heat Hub and matching room stat. Unfortunately, this TRV is not compatible with older Drayton TRVs (it seems my radiators were fitted with TRV3s) and Drayton don’t sell adaptors to allow them to fit. Basically the metal collar only suits 30mm dia. valves whilst my old TRV3s apparently have 27mm collars. There is no mention of this specific incompatibility on Drayton’s website either, even though they have a section which covers compatibility in some detail.
Drayton were quick to respond to my problem, but were unable to suggest any solutions other than replacing all the valves on my radiators, which was outside my budget 🙁
I chose this over other TRVs mainly for the low price and because they are Drayton products. Almost all my existing radiators have Drayton TRVs, so it seemed a no brainer to upgrade my central heating to smart TRVs along with the Heat Hub and matching room stat. Unfortunately, this TRV is not compatible with older Drayton TRVs (it seems my radiators were fitted with TRV3s) and Drayton don’t sell adaptors to allow them to fit. Basically the metal collar only suits 30mm dia. valves whilst my old TRV3s apparently have 27mm collars. There is no mention of this specific incompatibility on Drayton’s website either, even though they have a section which covers compatibility in some detail.
Drayton were quick to respond to my problem, but were unable to suggest any solutions other than replacing all the valves on my radiators, which was outside my budget 🙁
I installed the system myself three weeks ago. It was pretty easy. My old controller used the standard wiring but I had to swap it out with the new Drayton back plate, but wiring positions were simply copied. I had some problems with poor wireless connectivity from my router which was fairly close but inside the airing cupboard. I solved this using a powerline wireless extender. The kit came with two thermostatic radiator valves (TRV) and I bought two more (which were 40 each from B&Q). My house is a 1980’s detached and all of the TRVs reliably connect to the Drayton controller (although if I wanted to control the extension I would need a repeater). I had drayton TR4s originally. It was very easy to replace with the new connected TRVs. The device is easy to programme and the heat report that shows the actual temperature of the rooms for the previous day is very useful. I can now switch upstairs to low temperature during the day. I have been able to balance the heating for the whole house easily. Highly recommended.
I now have a fully working smart heating system in my home at a much lower price than its competitors & I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to have full control over a multi zone system.
I have had a few issues which is down to my router having too many smart switches connected to it at one time which I have resolved by getting a good access point installed
The technical support is excellent & cannot fault them as they are friendly, polite & extremely helpful
Hopefully in the future there will more control of the hot water as I am used to an Owl Intuition which gives me the ability to set the hot water to different temperatures at different times of the day (hotter when people are having showers in the summer, lower at other times of the day) this system only allows you to have hot water on or off which isn’t important in the winter but I would like more control in the summe
My system consisted of a oil fired boiler that heated radiators all fitted with traditional Danfoss TRVs and a hot water tank that the boiler heated in the airing cupboard. This was controlled by a Drayton LP522 programmer and a traditional wired room stat in the hall.
Installation was easy. The Wiser hub fitted onto my existing programmer wall plate. I decided I didn’t want to get an electrician to bridge out the wired room stat as instructed. As if I didn’t like the system I planned to return it. So I set existing wired room stat to maximum so that was always calling for heat and Wiser then would control my heat.
Downloaded App, pressed set up button on hub but my phone would not find the Wiser wi fi. It turned out I was pressing button too long, its a sort quick press. Then connected no problem. Added Drayton wireless room stat, 2 Wiser TRVs to two radiators in Living Room also fitted Drayton smartplug/range extender which is not part of kit but purchased separately.
All worked well and I bought two additional TRVs. So what happens is this enables you to control temperature through App and Alexa.
Things you can do with Alexa.
Alexa What is temperature in Living Room?
Alexa set bedroom to 20 degrees
Alexa turn on hot water
Also use it to operate the Smart/plug to turn on power to a lamp plugged into it in hall
Not all my radiators are fitted with Wiser TRVs. What this means is if a Drayton TRV or the Room stat calls for heat an old manual TRV will operate at the temperature it is set at. So for example Living Room Wiser TRV calls for heat, boiler fires and radiator heats. Kitchen Radiator if old manual TRV open then that radiator also heats.
After about 4 days I ran into a problem. Devices (TRVs, Room Stat, and TRVs) all disconnected. So not visible in App. Switching off power to hub for 2 minutes eanbled them to connect again. But eventually they lost connection againTo cut a long story short I spoke to Drayton Customer services, they were able while I was on the phone to download data from my hub and diagnosed a very poor signal. Apparently the Smart Plugs/Range extenders are better at pushing out signal that accepting it from hub. So I ended up moving position of initial Smart Plug I had purchased and buying an additional 2 Smart Plugs. First Plug is 6 metres from Wiser Hub, second plug 11 metres from first and third placed upstairs.
Now everything seems to be working perfectly.
Easy to set up schedules in App so each room with a Wiser TRV can be controlled individually. There is also an Away setting that enables you to set a schedule or temperatures for when you are not at home. I use this for a frost setting. Of course you can monitor the temperature in your house wherever you are as long as your phone has a signal
I really like system and the control it gives me. Integration with Alexa is great and a real benefit.
As other have said in a large house signal seems poor and resulted in me buying 3 Smart Plugs in total. So maybe worth planning for this in case you have to go this route too.
I will update this review if I have more to add in the future.
It is 30/10/20, two years since I bought my Wiser system so I thought it was about time for an update.
I’m still pleased with my purchase.
I now have a total of 10 TRVs and 3 smart plugs (needed to extend range).
Two things I have noticed…
1 When away from home heatingis off. I often use Wiser to turn on the heating before getting home. Normally works well, but if there has been a power outage at home while away, even a really short one I cannot use the App to turn the system on remotely.
2 Last night TRVs were constantly operating motors. They were not operating heating but had lost connection to the hub. Looking at app this morning, devices not connected. I was on the phone to Drayton Support, they downloaded data from the hub. A smart plug which I used as a range extender had disconnected.
I had great, patient support from the two Drayton customer support people I spoke to. Was an hour on the phone but the problem was sorted.
As I said earlier, I am still pleased with the Wiser system.
Things I like and how I use it……
Increasing temperature in the room I’m inwithout moving of sofa “Alexa make the living room 21 degrees”
Working in the garden, feeling I need a shower. Open door, call out “Alexa, turn on hot water”, carry on working while the water heats.
Turning on heat/water while away so house heated for return (see note about power cut above)
I will continue to update my review as time goes by, but in summary the system continues to impress!
The app can be improved, but it does exactly what I need it to do and more. Schedule as many periods based on the temperature I need is so convenient. Also being able to turn heating or water on and off whilst not at home is very handy. And it helps saving money too as I don’t need to have the water heated if we’re not in for the weekend.
Best spent I have ever made on a product for home!
Installation and initial set up are quite easy (especially if you have a standard wall plate for boiler control).
I had a moment of panic when I powered the hub down after registration with the application – the app could not connect to the hub after power up. It turned out that FAQ covers the issue – it may take up to 15 minutes when the hub power-cycled to connection to the app.
Good points:
1) The app is quite easy to mantain the system and set schedules
2) It is easy to add more radiator valves to the system and it is possible to mix “regular” valves with “wise” ones.
Minor issues:
1) From time to time the app says that hub is not connected to WIFI despite the fact that hub led indicator says that the connection is up.
2) “Wise” valves could’ve been quieter – they do produce some noise when they open/close, which might be a bit annoying in a bedroom at the night.
I have to admit to being a little sceptical about the ‘use value’ of these types of control systems, especially when I looked at the cost of some of the competitor systems, however, the Wiser system seemed to be of a more sensible price level so I took the plunge, and fitted it all at the same time as renewing pump and various bits and pieces of pipework to give my heating system a good service etc.
The system is simply brilliant, well thought out and simple to fit and use with a smart phone, even for me being the wrong side of 60….I could not recommend it higher, I was cautious about some reviews speaking of noise from the valves when adjusting themselves, but I can honestly say this is not an issue whatsoever, a small click and a bit of a whir….but you have to be listening for it….I’ve got better things to do, although at first start up I did find myself standing by different radiators and changing temperatures just to hear it working 🙂
I can now control our system room by room and at different times of day, lounge snug and warm, bedrooms cool, etc etc
The system is great value for money and it saves energy by enabling you to have full control, no unnecessary heating of rooms. I can also make sure the house is warm to come home to….no more journeys home wishing the heating timer was set a bit earlier….and I can switch it all off remotely if I need to. The away mode is great, away in winter…no problem set to away mode the house is kept at a nice 16 degrees C, nicely aired and keeping the fabric of the building warm no more taking ages to ‘get the house warm’
I do wish there were chrome topped valves available.. I would fit them to our towel rails too…may be there are and I just haven’t seen them…I have three different makes of rad valves (Myson/Pegler/Drayton) around the house, the Wiser control tops fitted them all with no problem.
Overall a very good and impressive system.
Took a lot of consideration of Nest, Hive and others which are widely reviewed on line, none quite matched what I wanted for individual control of areas so that one thermostat, no matter however smart, did not shut down the whole house heating system on reaching temperature in one room.
Easy to install and set up. Appears to work OK, still in summer though. Gives a relatively simple set of features to cover most required scenarios. Splitting the rooms/areas of your house is easy, all can be set for independent times and temperatures. The copy and paste feature for setting up day schedules makes programming easy.
Applets and life 360 for auto away are a scutter to set up initially.
Occasionally cloud access fails and you cannot see what your heating is doing on the App, not a problem for the heating as it works independently of this, however if you are wanting to make adjustments or select/deselect the manual away from home function it is a nuisance. Time will tell.
All told for the money it is a good system and you can add smart thermostats individually as you go, so spreads the costs, easy to change and alter where you fit the kit if you find you want to change the control set up of your house.
Would reccommend.
The trickiest part was getting the app up and running and setting up the system to allow remote monitoring and control. I had to turn to the online support service and we eventually got there. The system is still fairly new and clearly there are a few bugs in the software to be ironed out. In saying that the technical support was good and responsive.
Everything is up and running now and I can monitor the temperature in different rooms of my home while I’m out and boost it where required.
I purchased the Kit plus extra TRV’s for all my radiators. It was easy to install and the app is user friendly making it easy to set up.
I had a slight issue when I first attempted to link the app to the hub and had to email the support team. I received a reply within half an hour which got me on my way again. I had to switch off mobile data on my phone until I had established the link then mobile data back on and all is now good.
This is quality equipment for the price in comparison to similar systems.
Edit 6/10/22
I have now benn using the Wiser Smart Control system for over 4 years now and I’m very pleased with the way it’s performed over this time. I had to add a Wiser plug upstairs early on as I was getting the odd drop out from the furthest devices but all is now good. I have now installed an eTRV on every radiator giving me full control.
I would definately reccommend Wiser..
There ARE some issues with individual radiators and it is worth doing some annual maintenance on the valves – they have a “nipple” that controls the valve (you can see this when you remove the TRV top) – use some silicon lubrication on this and work it up and down a few times at the end of the summer when the heating is coming back on. I’ve also had it recommended to replace the valves with Drayton ones if you have to drain your system at any point. Not because they work better with the Drayton Wiser system but because they are the best valves and a lot more reliable long term.
The other occasional issue is that the controller sometimes crashes and it can take some time to restart. I tend to think that it may be because I’m also polling the controller every 60s from a home automation system. Either way, it is only a minor inconvenience given that this system is so much cheaper than its main competitor, the Honeywell EvoHome.
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Excellent. Provides good control, simple to use and very quiet. The Wiser TRV’s are around 1/2 the price of competitors – partly because they have no screen on them. No screen is good! These are really simple to use and easily pass the family test.
Unlike some TRV’s, these are quiet enough not to disturb any but the lightest sleepers.
There ARE some issues with individual radiators and it is worth doing some annual maintenance on the valves – they have a “nipple” that controls the valve (you can see this when you remove the TRV top) – use some silicon lubrication on this and work it up and down a few times at the end of the summer when the heating is coming back on. I’ve also had it recommended to replace the valves with Drayton ones if you have to drain your system at any point. Not because they work better with the Drayton Wiser system but because they are the best valves and a lot more reliable long term.
The other occasional issue is that the controller sometimes crashes and it can take some time to restart. I tend to think that it may be because I’m also polling the controller every 60s from a home automation system. Either way, it is only a minor inconvenience given that this system is so much cheaper than its main competitor, the Honeywell EvoHome.
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Excellent. Provides good control, simple to use and very quiet. The Wiser TRV’s are around 1/2 the price of competitors – partly because they have no screen on them. No screen is good! These are really simple to use and easily pass the family test.
Unlike some TRV’s, these are quiet enough not to disturb any but the lightest sleepers.
There ARE some issues with individual radiators and it is worth doing some annual maintenance on the valves – they have a “nipple” that controls the valve (you can see this when you remove the TRV top) – use some silicon lubrication on this and work it up and down a few times at the end of the summer when the heating is coming back on. I’ve also had it recommended to replace the valves with Drayton ones if you have to drain your system at any point. Not because they work better with the Drayton Wiser system but because they are the best valves and a lot more reliable long term.
The other occasional issue is that the controller sometimes crashes and it can take some time to restart. I tend to think that it may be because I’m also polling the controller every 60s from a home automation system. Either way, it is only a minor inconvenience given that this system is so much cheaper than its main competitor, the Honeywell EvoHome.
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Excellent. Provides good control, simple to use and very quiet. The Wiser TRV’s are around 1/2 the price of competitors – partly because they have no screen on them. No screen is good! These are really simple to use and easily pass the family test.
Unlike some TRV’s, these are quiet enough not to disturb any but the lightest sleepers.
Once connected everything worked as expected though switching my router WiFi to N band only made it more responsive especially when relying on web connection via mobile 4G for remote management.
Comparing with a Netatmo system there are no extras like performance graphs or integration of weather station devices but it does the basics well including hot water control which the Netatmo lacks.
My Boiler is situated at the back of the property in the kitchen, after fitting the radiator stats all seemed well except that some of the units were showing very low Wi-fi signal strength after a day the lounge thermostat lost its connection altogether, I started to worry.
I phoned Drayton and they sent out the free extender, after fitting this and finding the best position for it the signal strength improved and all is well.
Be aware that valve head adapters may be required if your heating system has 28mm valve threads, these can add to the overall cost (approx 10/12 per adapter)
This is a good economical system but it has its faults, the app might confuse some, when it displays the rooms and devices it shows the room name then a line, then the device assigned to the room then the next room name then a line, I’d have thought the room name and device could have been included in the same box. Hopefully these things will get looked at in further updates.
Bottom line I’m happy….so far.
UPDATE. Drayton have updated the app (March) the update states that it has made improvements to the signal strength and this seems to be the case, still a few things about the app UI that I personally don’t like but the system seems to be running very well now
My Boiler is situated at the back of the property in the kitchen, after fitting the radiator stats all seemed well except that some of the units were showing very low Wi-fi signal strength after a day the lounge thermostat lost its connection altogether, I started to worry.
I phoned Drayton and they sent out the free extender, after fitting this and finding the best position for it the signal strength improved and all is well.
Be aware that valve head adapters may be required if your heating system has 28mm valve threads, these can add to the overall cost (approx 10/12 per adapter)
This is a good economical system but it has its faults, the app might confuse some, when it displays the rooms and devices it shows the room name then a line, then the device assigned to the room then the next room name then a line, I’d have thought the room name and device could have been included in the same box. Hopefully these things will get looked at in further updates.
Bottom line I’m happy….so far.
UPDATE. Drayton have updated the app (March) the update states that it has made improvements to the signal strength and this seems to be the case, still a few things about the app UI that I personally don’t like but the system seems to be running very well now
My Boiler is situated at the back of the property in the kitchen, after fitting the radiator stats all seemed well except that some of the units were showing very low Wi-fi signal strength after a day the lounge thermostat lost its connection altogether, I started to worry.
I phoned Drayton and they sent out the free extender, after fitting this and finding the best position for it the signal strength improved and all is well.
Be aware that valve head adapters may be required if your heating system has 28mm valve threads, these can add to the overall cost (approx 10/12 per adapter)
This is a good economical system but it has its faults, the app might confuse some, when it displays the rooms and devices it shows the room name then a line, then the device assigned to the room then the next room name then a line, I’d have thought the room name and device could have been included in the same box. Hopefully these things will get looked at in further updates.
Bottom line I’m happy….so far.
UPDATE. Drayton have updated the app (March) the update states that it has made improvements to the signal strength and this seems to be the case, still a few things about the app UI that I personally don’t like but the system seems to be running very well now
Easy to configure.
No problems with wireless range to the TRvs.
Fitting was easy.
Only 1 of our radiator valves did not suit the Wiser TRV but we checked ahead and the plumber swapped it whilst the system was drained down.
The experience is that our Victorian, solid walled house is more comfortable and using less gas. We can control it from home or when away.
A colleague has the Honeywell system and functions seem similar but Drayton is cheaper.
Any radiators without the Wiser TRVs will come on when any room calls for heat – we left it that the hall and downstairs loo have a traditional TRV so that helps maintain a comfortable feel to the house.
Note that the motorised TRvs do make a noise – most noticeable when they first open fully in the morning. They also make a sound when adjusting themselves. Some of the family didn’t like that but we are used to it now.
Once it is set up controlling the system from phone or tablet is very easy and convenient. Does it save money? Don’t know yet but since each room can be controlled I cannot think it will anything other than save.
Did have the batteries in a radiator valve go down and it took some time before I sorted that out because the explanation for the central red light showing that batteries are down is buried a bit in the manual. It would be better if this indication was shown in the table or light indications at the back of the manual.
If you want a heating control system that you can run from your phone or tablet and does not break the bank then I would recommend the Drayton Wiser system.
I downloaded the full user and installation guides from the internet while awaiting delivery – recommend doing this to aquaint yourself with the product.
It was easy for me to mount the hub and connect up to to existing wiring centre.It was then also very straightforward to link my smartphone to the hub once the app had been dowloaded and installed.
The system works perfectly – there are enough options to allow a wide variety of desired heating and hot water plans. I am pretty tech savvy, but my wife is certainly not, but we both operate the system readily in our individual ways.
The electric radiator valves actually seem to work better than the TR4 valves they replace. I think this is because the valves are fully on (open) until room is warm enough, then fully off. So no time while the valve gradually closes by heating as per my old valves – creating a longer time to bring the room to heat while the last few degrees are warmed by a gradually closing valve.
I have no hesitatation in recommending this product – it works very well, is keenly priced ( cf Nest, Hive etc), easy and clear to control, needs no additional house wiring ( eg no room thermostat wiring).
DIY installation of the physical components was completed in under an hour.
The software bit! Followed the app and:
– Connected the HeatHub and my phone – check
– Configured HeatHub access to my home wifi – check
– Reconnected my phone to the home wifi – check
– Created a “Wiser” account (still within the app) – check
– Received the confirmation email stating cloud account setup and validation request – ermmmm (<<<<<< this was the crucial step that I didn't know hadn't completed!) - Completed configuration in the app - check - Tested satisfactory from App - check Now Alexa - Enable the Skill - check - Link my Wiser account and my Alexa account (as this is where the communication between the devices occurs - in 'the cloud') - Ask Alexa to Discover devices. "No devices found" So, after repeating all steps and starting over a couple of times, I telephoned customer support at Drayton (as I know Alexa is working perfectly) After taking 40 minutes waiting to speak with somebody, the gentleman suggested the account linking was likely to be the fault. He deleted the existing Wiser account details on their server. We then completed the setup process from scratch (less than 5 minutes). I received a confirmation email, clicked to activate the account. Focus then turned to Alexa. I disabled the skill before re-enabling the skill (akin to "turning it off, and back on again")! Clicked Discover devices and Alexa found my heating thermostat, and can now control it perfectly. Summary: A technical fault during 'cloud-based' services resulted in a few days of head scratching (maybe prompt users to expect an email?), but CUSTOMER SUPPORT WAS EXCELLENT and fully resolved my concern with one phone call. Heating works perfectly.