Heaters the play nice with HA (e.g. Home Assistant) and available in NZ

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Heaters the play nice with HA (e.g. Home Assistant) and available in NZ

phrozenpenguin

868 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 90

#237713 14-Jun-2018 17:27

I'm looking for some electric heaters that play nice with HA, particularly Home Assistant, and are available in NZ. Does anybody know of anything good?

I have got my heatpump connected to wifi, but want to also have some smaller panel heaters in rooms / bedrooms that can be controlled. I've got a couple of GoldAir Platinum Wifi enabled heaters, but at the moment that is controlled via their servers. I could also use a Wemo style plug for simple on/off, but keen to have some more granular control if possible.

Thanks in advance.

Mattmannz

471 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 88

#2038041 15-Jun-2018 09:20

I have a Tado which I use for controlling heaters that have Wifi support. Have it integrated with my Google Home unit.

Another option for heaters that don't have a remote is to use a modified SONOFF to control the power on/off using a temp sensor.

phrozenpenguin

868 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 90

#2038192 15-Jun-2018 11:21

Thanks. I'm ideally looking for a heater I can use the built in connectivity with a more open source solution. Would rather not use a bunch of extra hardware in this instance.

eluSiveNZ

192 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 42

#2038290 15-Jun-2018 12:54

Here's how I do it.

I use a 1500W Oil Heater, a HASS compatible Wifi plug (make sure the plug is rated for the power draw of the heater), a Xiaomi temp sensor and a Xiaomi motion sensor.

Add them to this component: https://www.home-assistant.io/components/climate.generic_thermostat/

Motion is optional, but I use an automation to set the "Away Mode" On/Off to adjust the target temp when no one is in the room.

You can also add this to other automations e.g. device trackers, so if no one is home the heater will not turn on etc etc.

phrozenpenguin

868 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 90

#2038296 15-Jun-2018 13:06

Thanks @eluSiveNZ. Will have a look at the component in more detail. What wifi plug do you use - the Wemo ones are a bit bulky, would prefer something smaller and would be great if it could also measure power usage. I like the idea of the motion component.

reiveen03

1 post

Wannabe Geek

#2038478 16-Jun-2018 02:49

I have an Evantair heater with no wifi capabilities but comes with a remote. What I did is I added the heater to my Harmony Hub through remote pairing. My Harmony Hub is connected to IFTTT as well as my Echo. So I can just say "Alexa turn on heater" to turn the heater on.

I did the same thing with our pedestal fan last summer.

jnimmo

1098 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 255

#2038503 16-Jun-2018 09:26

If they were wall mounted you could wire them into the wall and use Z-Wave but that's a fair bit of investment