Usually every manufacturer of radiator thermostats offers special settings via their own app, such as presence-dependent control, window open detection or schedules. However, it can also make sense to map these functions solely via homekit automations. Be it because you are not willing to subscribe to tado° for automated control, or because you are using thermostats from different manufacturers, for example. We show you how it works.
schedules
The time-dependent control is actually explained quickly. At a certain time the heating should be turned up or down. Turned down. We will show you an example where we set the temperature to 18°C at night and 22°C during the day.
To do this, we create a new automation via apples home app. As trigger we choose "at a certain time of day". As time of day we choose 6:00 a.m. This is 30 minutes before we normally get up, but then the rooms are nice and warm when we have to crawl out from under the covers. In addition, we select "when someone is home" under people, because we do not want to heat unnecessarily, for example, on vacation.
Then we select our radiator thermostats and set the temperature to 22°C.
In the evening we want to turn down the temperature, because the house does not need to be heated unnecessarily, when we are sleeping anyway.
So we again create an automation in apples home app and again select "at a certain time of day". This time we choose 21:00 as "time of day" and set the temperature of our thermostats to 18°C.
You can of course use other times for the weekend or, if you have fixed working hours, also include these in the schedules.
Presence-dependent control
The presence-dependent control is actually also uncomplicated. As soon as the last person leaves the house, the heating should be turned down and when the first person is back, it should be turned up accordingly.
However, with multiple residents, you can also make the whole thing a little more complex. If the child comes home first, the father’s office and the parent’s bedroom, for example, do not need to be heated. On the other hand, the child’s room does not need to be heated if the mother is at home but the child is at school.
To implement this, first create a new homekit automation that sets the heating to your desired temperature in all common rooms, for example in the kitchen, living room and bathroom, as soon as the first person comes home.
Now you have to create another automation for each person with his own room, which raises the temperature in the corresponding room.
As soon as people leave the house, the automations work in a similar way. First create a new automation for each person, in which the heating is turned down in the person-dependent rooms. If we take the child as an example, the heating in the child’s room should be set to 18°C as soon as he leaves the house.
Then only one last automation is missing. This should be triggered as soon as the last person leaves the house. Then also in the common rooms the heating can be turned down accordingly.
Window open detection
Some radiator thermostats already have an integrated window-open detection function. As soon as the temperature drops rapidly, the devices detect an open window and turn the heating down.
The most reliable way to do this is to use contact sensors. Then the heating can be turned on without delay when opening or closing the door. Closing the window can be controlled.
To do this, simply create two homekit automations for each window in the room. One turns off the heating when the window is opened, and the other turns it back on when the window is closed.
As a trigger you use the open or closed window. Closed state of the contact sensor. Then you select the radiator thermostat and turn it off with the window open or. At your desired temperature with the window closed.
