Is Sonoff TRV worth $26.90?

[@CX23882]

Great video, and it looks like a nice product. The pricing shows how unreasonable Honeywell's pricing for their HR91 and HR91 is. My biggest annoyances with the Honeywell TRV heads are that they have a fixed -3°C offset to their temperature readings and for Danfoss TRV they STILL (several years after the issue was identified) need the pin filing down to work the full range of Danfoss TRV. I use separate wall thermostats due to the TRV temperature offset which further adds to the cost of evohome. Good point on keeping one radiator "on" all the time. Even though I have a working bypass on the pipework, it still makes sense to have the hall radiator always on. The reason for this is that even though I have large double radiators, their individual heat output are less than half the minimum modulation level of the boiler, which leads to cycling. By keeping the hallway radiator always on, any other radiator plus the hallway radiator is just about the minimum, enough for the boiler to run continually. Plus all rooms are connected to the hallway so the heat ends up in the right place anyway. Cycling wastes gas, and it's bad for heat pumps too.

[@BapBapuHa]

Thanks for the great video! It would also be great if Sonoff updated the Nspanel 1st gen. to be able to control this TRV directly. I imagine it wouldn't be that big of a programming challenge. It could also be a sales tactic to offer both as complementary products.

[@notenoughtech]

I'm pretty sure the Pro version will have this integration. I had no info about the original NS Panel.

[@mauriceatkinson9520]

great video but I am waiting for the zigbee2mqtt setup to work before I buy some. Looks good though and would be useful to have a comparison with the Aqara E1 trv.

[@paulfontaine7819]

Nice: What I was waiting for: Zigbee TRV with turning knob and display on top. I would have preferred a permanent display (LCD or ink) though.

[@PetervdSanden]

I have 2 Sonoff TRVZB in the Netherlands. It works. The are not supported as a smart device in Scenes. So i can not let them react on anything or any other device status.

[@TheBaron0000]

One of these will no smarts, just Zigbee with a "open valve to x%" would be perfect.

[@eberger02]

The valves are a binary open/closed. That’s not a Sonoff thing. The valve body has a round pin rather than the turnsole rectangle found on lockshield valves.

[@notenoughtech]

Some of them do open half way although I'm not sure how viable it really is to run it this way. Usually there is a bit of lag involved in having it on then room reaching the correct temperature. Which combats hysterisis

[@typxxilps]

IMPORTANT question unanswered. If your TRV is not mounted parallel to the wall, but square to the radiator showing into the room do you have a control to turn the UI / display upside down ? I have not seen that on the itead product page cause they only show it with the knob / turning wheel on the top. But if you walk to the TRV to turn it right or left you would see the digits upside down. I might have missed it in this videos but therefore I am asking here. The display is key for every day users like all the relatives of the nerds and therefore I suggest to emphasize more on that than anything else: the non app dumb user I like the advantages we got with the Rademacher Homepilot solution 6 !!! years ago on the back end and smarthome control, but I need the usability of the unit first which means * input functions / Ui * battery exchange (the rademacher needs a set per heating season) * display and readability

[@notenoughtech]

You can rotate the display 180 degrees.

[@mikosoft]

Finally an interesting TRV for an interesting price. Since I'm on Home Assistant ZHA I guess I'll have to wait some time for a custom quirk. Especially if it allows to set the frost protection (I assume it's for when you are away the TRV keeps the temperature above freezing).

[@notenoughtech]

Yes. I say it's a matter of a week or two before someone will figure this out completely

[@dsdlonyer]

Thanks for the update. Still waiting to see some improvements with the Android auto integration.

[@notenoughtech]

I hope you are not going to use these in your car :D

[@lorenz7550]

Couldn‘t you pair it in Home Assistant just with a thermometer and let it get managed by an automation and the thermometer?

[@TheBroz]

Yes? Why wouldn’t you?

[@TheNikesh85]

Good point about the ability to turn on and off, which Aqara does. I have 2 of Aqaras and 4 Moes (1 just got damaged). One thing I like about Moes is the eco mode function. I have set up a chip card which can be toggled to activate the eco mode which Ive put conveniently in my dashboard to toggle. Aqara on the other hand does have the Away mode but I guess I need to tweak it a bit to align it with the rest of my moes dashboard cards. One big thing I'm disappointed about the Moes is its build quality. The part that is attached to the radiator is just a small plastic plate with the threaded coupling, and the rest of the body that is heavier, detaches from it. I find that it's really not a good design. The small extruded part of that plate that holds the body together is not strong enough to hold the entire body in place. Mine just broke and I'm really disappointed because I cannot use it anymore. Now I need a replacement and I'm considering the Sonoff. So still waiting for the z2m reviews to make that call. Thanks a lot for the informative videos!

[@notenoughtech]

It's in the production - I had a pause as I have been on holiday!

[@eberger02]

With the MOES TRV there’s an ‘eco mode’ which I use a bit like an on/off. Hen they’re on sale, which is quite often, they’re a similar price, although I’d probably have gone for the Sonoff had they been released back when I got smart TRV. When they mentioned the iHost getting the function did that include other brands? I have MOES TRV, an iHost and most of my electric heating is Sonoff controlled. It’d be nice if they all worked together. Also did you try home assistant?

[@notenoughtech]

IHost may remain problematic for 3rd party until custom ZigBee firmware is available. Ewelink doesn't have the best track record in supporting other devices. Tuya usually fairs better for compatibility

[@joseph9915]

On older houses with not the best insulation and if the occupier goes on holiday or something, we have had quite a bit of damage from split pipes etc. in the UK, Devon. Maybe not in the last few years, but it can cost a lot.

[@notenoughtech]

That could be a saving grace for landlords too

[@DrDuck1905]

The most important feature of a smart TRV for me is the physical interface with the valve. I spent a small fortune on my first set only to discover that the cheap plastic fingers in the ring crumble after a few months of heat. Do these seem robust? Sonoff usually have a quality feel

[@notenoughtech]

Nothing stood out to me. But it's a new product and it's summer so... 🙈🙈

[@manjot-singh.]

Great comprehensive review!!!

[@ronm6585]

Thanks for sharing Mat.

[@notenoughtech]

Thank you for watching 🙂

[@sergehaddad8975]

What do you mean by "overdrive the set point" to turn it off? I'm thinking of buying a few for my house, but wanted more info on this. Thanks for the video!

[@notenoughtech]

If there is no direct on/off control I can replicate the binary control with setting setpoint extremely high or low to be sure that the TRV is on/off

[@rubencanmar515]

Great video! Marvelous review. Just a quick question, is it possible to use an external sonoff temperature sensor to send a signal to the TRV to command them to close? To avoid the internal extra heating of the TRV. Or the TRV can only be scheduled and they can not receive external signals for control??

[@notenoughtech]

Not yet but I fed back my feedback to sonoff ppl

[@patrikfloding7985]

That will be a lot of AA batteries to change regularly. Also, is there some integration with a device to act as a room thermostat (just to control the boiler)? I'm sceptical about the app you are showing as well. I'd like for my heating system to work even if a server in China stops working.

[@notenoughtech]

@@patrikfloding7985 batteries would last a season (depending obviously on number of daily actuations). I this is zigbee so with local controls servers aren't that crucial. The app uses local lan to speak to the hub and technically they do have servers in each region so you aren't really using "Chinese based infrastructure" for this.

[@patrikfloding7985]

@@notenoughtech I don't want to depend on any server anywhere. China was just an example. I had no broadband for several days recently (very poor IP provider), and guess how much stopped working? (IoT is a stupid concept.)

[@notenoughtech]

@@patrikfloding7985 you will depend on a server regardless. If you do it yourself you'll depend on that. In most cases the downtime of home automation made DIY is significantly longer then established ecosystems due to fail overs in place

[@patrikfloding7985]

@@notenoughtech I've had RPi's chugging away for years with no issues. And if the internet goes down it doesn't affect them. A dedicated RPi would be my preferred choice. But even better a simple console that is part of a supplied system, that's just 100% local. (They can use a RPi or whatever in it.) Defvelopment is simply going in the wrong direction now, with moving GUIs into phones, for example. A few Android versions later, and some abandoned app, and you are stuffed.

[@alexgill2154]

Hi. Thanks for the video review, nicely done! What do you guess operation would be like if the zigbee network is down or non-existent? Would it function simply like a dumb TRV?

[@notenoughtech]

Good question. I suspect it has a memory for schedules and will continue to use the internal temp sensor

[@rubencanmar515]

First of all, thank you very much for the vídeo, very very useful. GREAT VÍDEO. Could you let me know if through alexa I can control all the heating from my house? I mean, I have a tado thermostat which control the ON and OFF for heat water running and I’m wondering if with differents TRV I can control the on and off even if one is telling to switch off and other still requires hot water running. If I can do if, I will buy for all my radiators. I’m asking this because ewelink isn’t allowing me to control the tado… Best regards

[@notenoughtech]

Check out my DIY smart heating post this outlines pretty well what you are trying to replicate

[@pianistul21]

Hello, will NSpanel be able to control there with a Sonoff Zigbee Bridge Pro?

[@thefunkygibbon]

whats the opinion 5 months on? does it have that feature you mentioned that aqaras do? how long have the batteries lasted? is it better than the other brands?

[@notenoughtech]

From a couple ones I tried this one get the best price to feature rating. Aqara one is better in quality but it's also twice as expensive

[@BenIsmail]

Two questions: Will there be Google assistant compatibility? How to switch from ZBBridge to ZBBridge-P without deleting and newly connecting all the SNZB? Cheers 👋

[@notenoughtech]

You will need a hub that enables Google Home (any sonoff hub does it) I don;'t know about the direct ZigBee connetion as I don't have anything from Google that supports ZigBee

[@BenIsmail]

@@notenoughtech I asked support, they wrote there could be an update to support Google assistant in the future. Have to wait tho!

[@BenIsmail]

Today I found the thermostats in Google Home App. But only temperature to see. Not able to change via Google Home App or Google assistant...yet

[@janpaulik2121]

Are you testing other new products from SONOFF?

[@eugserj9095]

Thank you for video! Also noticed your interesting accent, where are you from originally?

[@notenoughtech]

I'm Polish

[@NapalmCandy]

I bought 10 today because the price and the trademark, but I have doubts. They make noticable noise during night? Are fully Home Assistant compatible? Can I send a call to completely turn off/on from Home Assistant? These 3 things are the most important to me

[@leona_devon]

I would like to see the Sonoff TRV working in Home assistant, I have this, connected using the Sonoff Zigbee USB stick, but once it connects, it doesn't see to 'set' the temperature and disconnects after a time and stops reporting, don't know what I'm doing wrong. using ZHA

[@notenoughtech]

I don't use HA but I have not noticed any issues on Z2M if this helps? I would check the mesh strenght

[@justatiger6268]

Are there any downsides to this TRV compared to the competition? Especially given its super low price. How does it compare to the Shelly (which is 3x as expensive)?

[@notenoughtech]

Shelly uses a different protocol (WiFi) and comes with fully developed API for local interaction. You are paying premium for that. Once I know what are the options for m2q interactions I'll know if it's as flexible in this regard.

[@justatiger6268]

@@notenoughtech thanks 👍 Very nice and helpful review.

[@lee-he3ey]

looking to bite the bullet with a bunch of these, any update on how they integrate with z2m ?

[@notenoughtech]

Yes, in short- do buy! In long.. well I will have an article out after 20th Nov about it

[@AidanBree]

Can you try run it with rechargeable batteries. I made a bad decision on the Moes TS0601 which are terrible. One of the many issues with it is that they die after a few days running on rechargeable batteries

[@notenoughtech]

RE-Chargable batteries usually have lower voltage hence the issue you are experiencing. I'll try to give it a go in my spare time

[@fruvita67]

Did you try to pair your other brand trv's to sonoff hub?

[@notenoughtech]

No. Actually not. Would be interesting to see this. I'll add this to my tasks

[@fruvita67]

@@notenoughtech thanks ,let us know if its vorking

[@TheJammySpark]

Hi Mat, thanks for the comprehensive review. I may have missed this in the video but how would you intigrate these to switch the boiler on and off? Can you create a smart scene which triggers say a sonoff basic etc to fire the boiler when one of the trvs are calling for heat?

[@notenoughtech]

Id use a separate sensor for this to avoid situation where the heat from the radiator impacts the inner sensor. But yes you can link the temp in automation to trigger another device

[@mbwahaha]

Thank you

[@notenoughtech]

You're welcome

[@squalazzo]

is there a way to use, together, the zbdongle-e and the zbbdridge-pro? i've both, the latter came free gift buying 6 trvzb valves, and i already set them up inside ewelink and paired with the bridge... but i can connect the dongle to my minipc which is an other room... is there a way to use one to extend the network of the other one, and in case, which to use to pair and which as mesh member? i'd like to keep the ewelink app because i bought the valves so i can remotely close them when someone is not at home in their rooms... thanks in advance!

[@alexskyer7542]

Is it work with tuya hub?

[@kennethojeke5119]

Do you have some used smart for sell

[@kennethojeke5119]

Nice Tshirt

[@notenoughtech]

Thanks :) although i swear i remain unbiased until they send socks 😂

[@horatiuslavescu]

Here is double as price...

[@notenoughtech]

I hate when that happens. Sometimes is best to bundle up stuff and go via AliExpress