HE; Infrared heaters

🌎 Around the World 🇬🇧 UK
1

Hello,

I am looking to install infrared heating across my house (2 bed, hallway and kitchen living room).

I was wondering if there is a UK brand that can be controlled by Hubitat?

I have been looking at Herschel and Warm4less and both use the Smartlife App - but there is no official support and I am not sure if the solution worked on by the community will work?

Is there another way that infrared heaters can be controlled via Hubital without relying on the cloud?

2

I am interested in your real world experience of the products ?

3

The two brands you mentioned appear to use line voltage thermostats, so third party "connected" thermostat options are limited. You may be able to use a relay/contactor in place of the provided thermostat and use a low voltage transformer and conventional thermostat to control the contactor. A bit of a custom system, but possible.

We had one of these in an office where I work. It was on the ceiling. It kept the occupant comfortable and was definately "warmer" feeling than forced air heat, but if you stood under it for too long your head would get uncomfortably hot.

4

The specs for some mirrored units show a surface temperature of up to 110 ° C - that’s scalding - surely dangerous to touch . Must they be mounted out of reach? Their photos don’t show that.

I have a weird desire to get a white wall panel and project a flame effect fire onto it in my hallway. Seriously !

I’m going to look into the control options too. I suspect it’s very doable. Rather than basic on/off it would nice to be able to set a panel temperature. I suspect remote thermostats introduce quite long duty cycles of several minutes.

5

Thank you Dylan and Kevin,

I am considering the white ceiling options.

The XLS from Herschel and the Platinum (wifi) from W4L

The XLS thermostat says that it can remote control multiple rooms. I am wondering if this can just be placed on the wall linked to mains power and then it communicates with the panels via Wifi (Smartlife app).

Regarding the contactor, is there an example blog/story I can have a look at?

6

This is just one example of a contactor...

https://www.automationdirect.com/adc/shopping/catalog/motor_controls/definite_purpose_contactors/definite_purpose_contactors_(25_to_60_amp)/wdp30-2l-24

It uses a low voltage signal (presumably from a 24VAC thermostat) to control a higher voltage power circuit. Best to consult an electrician on something like this if you're not familiar with how they work or how to make sure you get the correct voltage and current ratings.

7

Why not using a temperature sensor of any kind somewhere in the room where you want your temperature to be whatever you'd like and plug the heater to a controlled plug (or any controlled switch). There's several virtual thermostats apps around that will let you pair the two as if they were a thermostat. Or write your own RM rules for the same purpose.

1 Like
8

If this fits your needs, it's a lot more DIY friendly than my idea.