Monthly Archives: January 2023

solved : Matter-compatible Smart Thermostats that are already for sale

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Question :

I am considering buying new Smart Thermostats for my home, but now I heard that an all New cross-platform standard for home automation called “Matter” will be introduced later this year, I am thinking about postponing my purchases… even though I should start using Smart Thermostats as soon as possible since energy prices ar rocketing…

Now I heard that some of the Smart Thermostats that are already available right now will be upgradable for integration with Matter, but I can’t seem to find any… which ones are sure to work with Matter ?

Answer :

Yes, Matter (formerly known as Project CHIP – Connected Home over IP) will be the new communication standard in home automation. Matter will unify all new home automation by Apple (HomeKit & Siri), Google (Google Home & Nest), Amazon (Alexa), Samsung (SmartThings), Comcast, CSA – Connectivity Standards alliance (formerly known as The Zigbee Alliance), IKEA, Huawei and Schneider. Others like Philips HUE, EVE Home, WiZ and TP-Link (Kasa & Tapo) are working on Matter-certification, and more and more brands will follow.

At the moment of writing (January 2023) only 2 Smart Thermostats that are already available on the market are confirmed to be Matter-compatible / Matter-upgradeable :

We expect to update this list soon when new Matter-compatible Smart Thermostats are confirmed.

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fixed : Smart Thermostat is too large for the space I have next to my radiator

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Question :

I want to install Smart Thermostats on all my radiators, but some of our radiators are in a cove where I a regular smart Thermostat won’t fit because it’s too bulky. There just isn’t enough space to screw the Smart Thermostat onto the radiator valve, there’s only 78mm of space.

What options do I have ?

 

Answer :

Most Smart Thermostats are bulky because you need to install 2 AA penlite batteries inside the Smart Thermostat. The TP-Link KE-100 Kasa Smart Thermostat is 88mm in length and even the Tado Smart Thermostat is 80mm in length. So, even if your radiator valve is M30x1.5 the space you have is too small… so, you only have 2 options :

(1) the Fibaro “The Heat Controller” FGT-001 which is only 75mm in length, because it isn’t powered by AA penlite batteries, but by a built-in rechargeable battery that can be charged through a mini-USB cable

Note #1 : the Fibaro FGT-001 comes in 2 versions : an Apple HomeKit-compatible version and a non-HomeKit-compatible Z-Wave version that is compatible with Google Home and Amazon Alexa

Note #2 : the Fibaro FGT-001 (HomeKit version) is rather easy to install and program, but the Fibaro FGT-001 (Z-Wave version) is slightly more difficult to install end harder to program, and you will also need a Z-Wave Hub (a.k.a. “Z-Wave Controller”) but it’s extremely programmable

(2) use a perpendicular M30x1.5 angle adapter to get your Smart Thermostat pointing in a more convenient direction, like this one :

Oventrop Angle Adapter for M30x1.5 radiator valves

That’s it – you choose 😉

enjoy !

fixed : adapter for Smart Thermostat on slightly smaller Comap radiator valve

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Question :

I want to install Smart Thermostat knobs onto my radiators, and on most of my radiator valves I succeed without problems, even without adapters, but on some the thread just won’t fit, even with the adapters that are included with the Smart Thermostat. These radiator valves seem to have a slightly smaller thread and the original head is branded “Comap”. Still, I can’t find adapters for “Comap” anywhere…

Which adapter do I need ?

Answer :

Most Smart Thermostats can be screwed onto any M30x1.5 radiator valve (which is sort-of the standard these days) and most Smart Thermostats come with some adapters (usually for RA, RAV and RAVL valves) but the “Comap” head you are talking about is a M28x1.5 (usually referred to as a “Heart” (or “Herz” in German) valve.

So all you need to do is find the right adapter. For your “Comap” valve that is a M28x1.5-to-M30x1.5 adapter. All Tado Smart Thermostats do have this adapter included, but if your Smart Thermostat is from a different brand, you will need an adapter like this one :

Heimeier / Herz adapter (buy it on Amazon)

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : 70mai Dash Cam only records one segment then stops

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Question :

I have a 70mai Dash Cam Pro+ A800 with the RC06 Rear Cam which works great, but I happened to notice that it only records the 1st minute of every time I drive my car after starting. So, in the 70mai.app, when I go into the album, I can see recordings from both the Dash Cam and the Rear Cam, and I can see all types of recordings, like parking and emergency recordings, but of every regular journey only the first minute is recorded. So for some reason loop recording is not working as intended.

What is wrong and how can I fix it ?

Answer :

As it turns out, not every microSD card that meets the official requirements (a microSD SDXC U3 card of Class 10 or above with at least 32GB) works with the 70mai Dash Cam Pro+ A800/A800S 4K UltraHD (with RC06 Rear Cam).

The only microSD card that is sure to work as intended with this Dash Cam is the Samsung EVO Plus SDXC U3 Class 10 A2 130MB/s of at least 32GB, so we recommend something like this :

Samsung EVO Plus SDXC U3 Class 10 A2 130MB/s 128GB

Just replace your current microSD card with one of the above mentioned Samsung EVO Plus microSD cards, have the Dash Cam format it and you’re good to go !

enjoy 😉

fixed : problems installing Fibaro Z-Wave Smart Thermostat and Room Sensor

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Question :

I have chosen to install the Fibaro “The Heat Controller” in my home, and even though I have the Fibaro Z-Wave Home Center 3 Lite controller/hub already installed, I can’t get The Heat Controller (Z-Wave version) Smart Thermostat to connect to it. Whenever I try to connect from the Fibaro Yubii.app it can’t find the Smart Thermostat.

How do I set up the connection ?

Answer :

To install a Fibaro “The Heat Controller” (Z-Wave version) FGT-001 Smart Thermostat (that also comes in a Starter Pack combo teamed with the Fibaro FGBRS-001 Room Sensor), do this :

  • make sure you have the Yubii.app installed on your iPhone
  • make sure you have a ‘Z-Wave controller’ (a Z-Wave protocol hub/bridge device) set up, the most basic one that Fibaro offers is the Home Center 3 Lite
  • to prevent connection problems temporarily unmount/unscrew the Smart Thermostat from the radiator and make sure you have the Smart Thermostat near your Z-Wave bridge
  • >> if theSmart Thermostat is completely new, you will need to charge it first ; so plug in a micro-USB cable and power that using any USB (phone) charger, USB battery pack or USB wall outlet ; if the Smart Thermostat is fully charged it’s LED ring will flash in green
  • then, in the setting of your wireless router, make sure the WiFi is (temporarily) set to “2.4GHz only”
  • then, open the Yubii.app
  • in the Yubii.app on the main page, click the More button (bottom right)
  • in the MENU page that opens, click Add Devices
  • in the Z-Wave page that opens, wait until there is only one huge “Z-Wave protocol” button, then click on it
  • in the Add Device page that opens, click the blue Start button (bottom right)
  • on the next page, you will see a countdown circle of 60 seconds (so you now have 60 seconds to add the Smart Thermostat)
  • now, on the Smart Thermostat, long-press the small bubble button (so, press it for at least 1 second)
  • the LED ring on the Smart Thermostat should now light up (in blue)
    • >> if not, try again
  • if the LED ring is blue, triple press the small bubble button (so, press it for 3 times in a row)
  • the LED ring on the Smart Thermostat should now start blinking (in white)
  • >> if it does not, triple press the small bubble button again (and again, and again) with 1 second pauses until the LED ring starts blinking (in white)
  • >> if the circular countdown timer in the Yubii.app reaches 0 seconds before you get the LED ring blinking (on the Smart Thermostat) just try again
  • when the Smart Thermostat is recognised, just wait for the connection process to finish
  • when the connection has been established, the LED ring on the Smart Thermostat will change to let you know it was successful
  • >> if it was not, just try again
  • basically you’re ready now, so you can screw the Smart Thermostat back onto the radiator and start setting the scenes (operation programs) for the Smart Thermostat
  • do not forget to switch your WiFi setting back to “2.4 & 5GHz”
  • >> note #1 : in the Yubii.app you can only select scenes that you have already programmed ; all new scenes need to be programmed on the ‘Z-Wave controller’ first ( using the local web interface that you need to access from your browser ; if you have a Fibaro Home Center, access it by going to https://find.fibaro.com )
  • >> note # 2 : if screwing the Smart Thermostat back onto the radiator is difficult, turn the head knob of the Smart Thermostat until the LED ring flashes in red and you hear it buzzing (that will take the pressure of the valve inside the thermostat knob)

If you also want to connect the Fibaro “Temperature Sensor” FGBRS-001 Room Sensor (if you already have the Smart Thermostat installed) do this :

  • make sure you have the Yubii.app installed on your iPhone
  • make sure you have a ‘Z-Wave controller’ (a Z-Wave protocol hub/bridge device) set up, the most basic one that Fibaro offers is the Home Center 3 Lite
  • to prevent connection problems temporarily unmount/unscrew the Smart Thermostat (the one that you want to integrate the Room Sensor with) from the radiator and make sure you have the Smart Thermostat near your Z-Wave bridge
  • then, in the setting of your wireless router, make sure the WiFi is (temporarily) set to “2.4GHz only”
  • now, take out the plastic battery initiation strap from the Room Sensor (if it’s still there)
  • >> if there is no strap, the Room Sensor may have been used before and/or the the battery may be dead so the next installation steps will not work until you resolve this
  • >> if the battery is dead, use a coin to twist open the battery compartment and replace the battery first ( you will need a 3.0V CR2032 battery cell )
  • >> if the Room Sensor has been used before, it might still be connected/paired to other Smart Thermostats so you will need to reset it first, so use the F-marked pin to long press (press and hold) the button inside the hole for at least 2 seconds ; if the LED light on the Room Sensor blinks 3 times, the unpairing has succeeded (just try again if unsuccessful)
  • to continue the installation, open the Yubii.app
  • in the Yubii.app on the main page, click the More button (bottom right)
  • in the MENU page that opens, click Add Devices
  • in the Z-Wave page that opens, wait until there is only one huge Z-Wave button, then click on it
  • in the Add Device page that opens, click the blue Start button (bottom right)
  • on the next page, you will see a countdown circle of 60 seconds (so you now have 60 seconds to add the Room Sensor)
  • now, on the Smart Thermostat, press the small bubble button (so, press it once) for at least 1 second
  • the LED ring on the Smart Thermostat should now start blinking (in blue)
  • if not, just try pressing the small bubble button again
  • while the LED ring on the Smart Thermostat is blinking, use the F-marked pin that came with the Room Sensor to press the click button inside the small hole on the back of the Room Sensor
  • clicking the Room Sensor’s button is successful if a small light on the back of the Room Sensor lights up
  • if not, try pressing the click button inside the small hole again
  • Now, the LED ring on the Smart Thermostat should blink 5 times (in green) to indicate that the connection was successful 
  • if not, try pressing the click button inside the small hole again
  • if the countdown circle in the Yubii.app hits 0 seconds before you have the connection set up, just try again
  • That’s it
  • Do not forget to set your WiFi back to “2.4 & 5GHz”

enjoy !