All Sections

IFTTT channel arrives for Honeywell’s Evohome smart heating system

Honeywell’s smart zoning thermostat Evohome now works with IFTTT, giving you even more ways to control the heaters in your home. 

Using a variety of triggers and channels you’ll be able to program Evohome to start kicking the heat if it starts raining or snowing or automatically give you an hour of hot water at sunrise every day. 

Given that a cold snap is threatening to bring Britain to its knees any day now, you’ll be pleased to know that IFTTT can also make Evohome pop the heating on should the outside temperature drop to a certain level. 

Honeywell's Evohome can be controlled by setting up recipes on IFTTT
Honeywell’s Evohome can be controlled by setting up recipes on IFTTT

You’ll also be able to get text alerts sent out instead of having to keep an eye on the Honeywell iOS and Android apps. 

Jeremy Peterson, general manager of Honeywell’s EMEA Home Comfort and Energy Systems division, said: “We are really excited to expand the level of control that users can have with our smart thermostat by making evohome even more connected – and this is just the beginning. 

“Over time IFTTT support will enable us to have even deeper integration, and use Evohome as the trigger for other channels. For instance, users will be able to dictate: ‘If evohome says that it is above 22 degrees Celsius in the nursery, then send me a text message.” 

An example of an IFTTT trigger: You can program the heat to come on at sundown
An example of an IFTTT trigger: You can program the heat to come on at sundown

IFTTT – short for If This Then That – is a free service that lets you string together a series of context-based actions and commands for a variety of products or like Philips Hue, Manything, Parrot Flower Power and Nest. It can be configured so that you can control things with texts, Tweets, times and dates

In Evohome’s case, you can use IFTTT to enable something that Honeywell doesn’t currently offer – geolocation support. With the iOS and Android location triggers, you can make Honeywell start heating up your home when you’re on your way home from work and turn it off when you leave home. 

If you’re planning to go on holiday to escape the miserable British weather, you’ll also be able to set up an IFTTT recipe that shuts Evohome off completely for the dates you’re away.  

Geolocation isn't a native feature of Evohome, but you can add it with IFTTT

Honeywell’s Evohome system costs around £250 for the basic kit, not including installation. While the initial price is higher than most smart heating systems, a key advantage of Evohome is that you can, with extra radiator valves, control the temperature in multiple rooms and therefore heat your home more efficiently. Nest offers multi-zone heating but extra Evohome heating modules cost around £60-£70 – buying a second Nest thermostat will set you back £179. 

Last week, Honeywell announced its new Voice Controlled Thermostat, which lets you turn up the heat just by talking to it. 

Honeywell has confirmed that this single-zone solution will get IFTTT support in the future but hasn’t confirmed a date. The Voice Control Thermostat goes on sale later this month for £229. 

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *