The difference between remote, zoned and smart control
A typical setup for a modern central heating system (before the Genus Starter Kit is added), is to have the boiler run on a schedule using a 7-day programmer, a manual thermostat in a hallway, and Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs) on each radiator. In this configuration, the boiler will switch on and circulate water according to the 7-day programmer until the manual hall thermostat registers a temperature above the temperature which it set to. Each TRV will allow its radiator to heat up until the individual room is warm enough, and then the TRV will close. The boiler will continue to run until either the timer finishes or the hallway manual thermostat senses the temperature is satisfied in the hallway, not in the rooms.
Wireless Room Thermostat - Remote control
The simplest combination is a Wireless Room Thermostat, sometimes known as the 'house thermostat', an Electric Switch and a Genius Hub. A heating schedule can be created on the app, and the Room Thermostat will be used to determine if the property is cool enough to bring on the heating.
The Electric Switch will ensure that the boiler runs only when you set a target temperature on the app that is warmer than the temperature that is being measured by the Wireless Room Thermostat. This means that hot water only circulates through the pipes in the property and heats the radiators when you set the property to be warm on the app. If you have manual Thermostatic Radiator Valves these will control the room temperature as they would do normally.
Wireless Radiator Valves - Zoned control
With a Genius Hub system, on top of the 'Starter Kit' mentioned above, a number of heating 'zones' can be created, where one or more Wireless Radiator Valves can be assigned. Now you can set varying temperatures throughout the day for each room that you put a Wireless Radiator Valve into.
The Wireless Room Thermostat can now be used to manually override all the rooms in one go, to override a group of rooms, or it can be assigned to one room so it only controls that room individually.
Wireless Room Sensors - Smart, zoned control
Adding a Wireless Room Sensor to a zone allows the Genius Hub to react to when you use a room and it also remembers when rooms are used so it can turn them on before you use them. This saves more energy as it turns rooms off when it sees that they are not being used. See chapters about Sense Mode and Footprint Mode.