Function

When you want to control a heat source, there are several ways you can do this. All on/off actuators or smart plugs can be set up with heat control as a functionality. When such a unit is set up to control heat, it will automatically start turning the heat source off or on based on information from sensors in the same room.

The sensors will, in fact, tell the smart plug or actuator what the temperature in the room is. This will then go on or off depending on whether the desired temperature has been achieved or not. In this way, you can set automatic control of the heat and regulate the heat in the room based on the desired temperature and time settings. This will, and can, take into account whether doors or windows in that room are open if they have a magnetic contact. This means that the heat will not be on when you ventilate and have doors or windows open.

Panel heaters with Wi-Fi (e.g.: Mill, Adax, Glamox)

See separate support articles in the Playground section here.

Electric Radiators

Please Note! If the thermostat is digital, it is important to make sure that it remembers the desired temperature after a power failure.

For electric radiators or other heat sources with an internal thermostat, this should be set to the maximum temperature. This is because Futurehome completely takes over the entire regulation of heat management. If the thermostat on a radiator is set to 20°C (68°F), Futurehome will not be able to adjust it up to 21°C (70°F) as the radiator will turn itself off. Therefore, set the thermostat to 28°C (82°F), 30°C (86°F) or to the maximum on your thermostat.

In order to be able to set a temperature in a room and control a heat source, the system depends on a smart plug in the socket or an on/off actuator that can be hidden in the wall box behind the socket. In addition, a form of temperature sensor such as a multisensor is required.

Time management

If the room does not have temperature control, it will still be possible to define it as part of heat control, but it will not be possible to regulate the heat based on room temperature. In this case, you can only turn it on and off manually or control it based on time, etc. Here, you are able to choose to use the internal thermostat on a radiator or fan and you can only decide when the heat source should be on, e.g. only during the day between 5:00 AM and 9:00 PM.

Placement

We still recommend that you use a sensor that sends temperature reports back to the system, so that the heat in the room in question is regulated in the best possible manner. In this way, you will always have an overview of the temperature in the room at all times via the app. When you use this setup, you will also achieve better comfort in the room, as you will regulate the heat based on an entire room and not based on a thermostat that is integrated in a radiator, fan or similar. It is important to ensure that the sensor in the room is positioned optimally in order to be able to propagate the room temperature. Make sure to check the product manual to ensure that the placement advice is followed. Be sure to place these units away from ventilation ducts, windows, doors, other heat sources and the like for optimal propagation of the actual temperature.

LED lights change color from movement, based on room temperature. LED lights can also be turned off using parameters.

Radiators

A smart radiator thermostat will be able to regulate your radiator heaters. The thermostat does not actually report the temperature in the room, but can regulate the temperature based on a set point. You will always be able to see the temperature that has been set in the app, as well as in the display on the radiator actuator itself. If you have one or more temperature sensors in the same room, you will also be able to read the actual room temperature.

Underfloor heating and waterborne heat

With a smart thermostat you can simultaneously control all the heating cables in the home. Some thermostats will report the actual temperature in a room if the thermostat is set up to include a floor sensor or if an external room sensor is used. Several newer model thermostats also have a built-in power meter. This gives you a full overview in the Futurehome app as to how much electricity you are using for heating.

Smart thermostats are also an excellent alternative if you want to regulate waterborne heating. In this case, you will be able to measure floor temperature and, at the same time, change the desired temperature in a room using a physical panel in addition to the app. The thermostat will then provide information to the Futurehome Smarthub about the actual temperature. Consequently, it is now possible to regulate an on/off actuator that is connected to a valve cap in the technical room that regulates water supply for each zone. For the best possible redundancy for the control of waterborne heating, you can place a cable from the thermostat to the water supply and use the relay in the thermostat to control the actuators.

Wireless thermostat setup

If, on the other hand, you want a completely wireless alternative, you can, for example, use the Heatit wireless temperature sensor with display. This measures room temperature, shows the temperature on the display and allows you to change the temperature set for the room.

Management

In Futurehome, there are several ways to control the heating in your home: it can be done manually, using modes or by time control.

Heat pump

In Futurehome Playground you will find integration with Sensibo Sky. Sensibo Sky is a small box that can make most heat pumps smart. Once you have set up Sensibo Sky in Playground, your heat pump will appear as a thermostat in the Futurehome app and modes, timers or other automations can be entered. See separate article about Sensibo Sky here.