RE: Re: Show report

["Paul Gordon" <paul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Neil.
=20
I did try to say hello on Saturday, but you were busy every time I
looked..=
. - I did however, have a very productive chat with your colleague.
=20
I'm quite impressed with the Hometronic system, it appears very
complete...=
. - actually "too complete" for my needs (if there is such a
thing!)... I'm=
at the point where I'm seriously tempted to explore it further, but I also=
have this nagging feeling that it is "overkill" for my very
modest needs..=
. (I suppose that is probably the HA equivalent of "heresy"??)
=20
e.g.=20
=20
I already have a Comfort system, and I already have CBUS in for lighting.
-=
very shortly I will have the two of those linked up.. I also have a Homese=
er PC which is fully conversant with Comfort. I therefore have no need of
H=
ometronic's own telephone or web interfaces, since I already have both of
t=
hose sorted.. (Comfort provides telephone access, Homeseer provides web).
I=
also have no need of any of Hometronics' other lighting or HA functionalit=
y since that's all pretty much taken care of too... In fact, the only
piece=
that I _do_ need is bringing the existing central heating system under the=
control my existing HA system. - And even there, I suspect that Hometronic=
is "too good" for what I need it to do... - I have a fairly
modest 3-bed V=
ictorian semi, - not very well insulated internally (big gaps at the
bottom=
of doors etc), so heat tends to percolate around our house rather than sta=
ying in a particular room... so it's "almost" invalid to consider
our house=
as having very many separate zones - TBH, "upstairs" and
"downstairs" are =
about as far as we discriminate, - although of course at the moment we
don'=
t even have that degree of zone control, since it's a bog-standard
combi-bo=
iler system with radiators, with nothing more than on/off/timed control
ove=
r the whole lot. We do have TRV's on almost all the rads as well, but
rarel=
y change any of them except for one in a little-used guest bedroom... So
to=
be honest, I don't think would make a great deal of use of the
"lifestyle"=
settings that are available either..
=20
I think all I really *need* (i.e. can justify the expenditure for) is a
sim=
ple interface between the CH and Comfort... I suspect this needs to be
litt=
le more than on / off control over the CH side of the boiler... I want to
b=
e able to have comfort automatically turn the heating off when there's
no-o=
ne in the house - I don't bother with any of this set-back nonsense... -
th=
e system doesn't take very long to warm the place up from cold, so when we
=
aren't there, we turn it off... I also want to be able to dial and/or
web-b=
rowse in from outside and turn the heating on in advance (we came home to
a=
cold house on Sunday when we got back from the show) - It would have been =
nice to phone ahead from the car and turn it on a couple of hours before
we=
arrived... - but I wouldn't particularly have wanted to have left it on ov=
er Saturday as well... I'd also like to be able to turn the heating on or
o=
ff from anywhere in the house, and have feedback available showing the
curr=
ent CH status - again, with Comfort in control of the boiler, I could use
a=
CBUS switch to do both of the above...
=20
Lastly, I was a little bit concerned about the "We supply, you fit, we
comm=
ission" approach... - I'd prefer to have the whole package taken care
of in=
one go... since I'd need to employ both a plumber and a sparky to fit ever=
ything (plumbing is the ONE area I tend to stay well clear of). Also, I
don=
't currently have an off-board room thermostat connected up to my CH
system=
, - I rely purely on the TRV's, - so there's no easy interface point to
the=
boiler without taking the covers off it and getting at the control board..=
- I know there is an interface on there somewhere for a t-stat, but I don'=
t have the circuit diagrams for the boiler mainboard, so this piece of
work=
would also best be performed by someone at least a bit more qualified than=
me...
=20
So, it's an impressive system, but I think I've just talked myself out of
t=
rying to squeeze this one past "credit control" ;-)  Will keep it
in mind f=
or the next house though... - we plan on cashing in on the Olympics in a
fe=
w years!
=20
Cheers.
=20
Paul G.

________________________________

From: ukha_d@xxxxxxx on behalf of Neil Ball
Sent: Mon 06/03/2006 14:27
To: UKHA_D Group
Subject: RE: [ukha_d] Re: Show report

You have to remember that stand space costs around =A3350 a square metre,
t=
hen
factor in the costs of stand materials, getting it
transported/built/dismantled and staffing/accommodation for 5 days so it's
not surprising that show has the bias that is does. And the "are you
self-building or in the trade" is a simple (if somewhat blunt!) filter
to
try and distinguish potential customers from the tyre kickers - we're there
to try and sell our products after all :-) Our little stand cost us more
than =A310k when everything is factored in so I cannot even begin to
imagin=
e
what Siemens must spend for their mobile home.


Anyway the show's over for another year so thanks to everyone who said
hell=
o
at the Sensible Heat stand and let us pitch our wares, most visitors were
very pleasant to talk to and no-one gave us too hard a time!


Neil B.



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