Search the forum,

Discuss Salus iT500 Internet Thermostat - Wlliams & Co. in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

TBServices

Salus iT500 Internet thermostat.

Utilized my day off work today fitting the iT500 after servicing my boiler for the first time since i bought the house 3 years ago. I know, i'm ashamed.

Anyway, onto the stat.

It's been installed to work with a WB 35CDi, replacing a Honeywell mechanical stat that has ALWAYS been in the wrong place (bottom floor hallway in a 3 story house, on the internal garage wall. Coldest room in the house by far). I positioned the receiver in the same place as the existing stat, and modified the wiring at the boiler to give me permanent live, neutral and SL. Wiring was dead easy although i have 2 complaints about the receiver:

1. To wire in the manner i have, requires a link wire from L to COM, but the connector blocks are realistically a bit too small to accept 2 wires that aren't of the flexible variety.
2. The receiver only accepts wires fed through from one position, almost at the bottom, so if like me, you had 3+E coming though the plaster at the top of the existing stat with fairly short wires, you will have to extend the wires to get them in. A small pain in the bum but not the end of the world.

The Router "Gateway" was plug and play. Ethernet and mains power plugged in and it sprang into perfect working order. All cables supplied which is good.

The Wireless stat itself feels like a much better quality affair than the other Salus tat I've seen. Good quality plastic and a nice LCD touch pad. Again, installed the batteries, followed the syncing instructions to pair with the receiver and it worked straight away. Easy peasy.

Now you have to go online, register an account and the serial number of your device, then confirm your email address with a link. Then you can download the smartphone App and enter your registration details in there. Once i had done all that, it worked flawlessly. In less than a second, i had a wireless stat, an internet Tab, and a phone screen all showing me the temp, design temp, program and boiler status etc etc. When i changed a parameter on one device, the others visibly updated. So far so good! Very impressed.

Its now 8.13pm. My stat is telling my phone that the living room temperature is 23 degrees and the boiler is off. Yesterday my heating would have been on, and id have been sat on the sofa sweating my balls off because my room stat was in the wrong place and 15 degrees downstairs equates to 25 upstairs. I'm expecting this thing to save me a bucket in gas.

Complaints. While i cant really fault the quality, operation or ease of installation, i have a couple of gripes, which i would appreciate the rep seeing.

1. The instruction manual for programming the stat leaves a lot to be desired, there's a whole load of pictures but no text. Oh well, you'd expect there to be some better instructions on the web app? Wrong. It would be nice if there was some technical help for programming the stat online. Perhaps in the form of pop-ups when you hold the mouse over an icon/right click.

2. There's a function called Energysave. The official line is "energysave will use the lowest set temperature on your daily schedule". What the f does that even mean? It wouldn't make sense to 100% of my customers. Turns out its an OVERRIDE function, so if you're gonna be late home from work or whatever, you can press the button and it will keep the heating at your lowest set temp until you switch back to auto, in my case 10 degrees.

3. Lack of features. I find this majorly annoying with many stats - there's no manual override/constant, without pressing the up key, half a degree at a time until you get to your desired temperature. There's no option to change the parameters to go up in 1's instead of .5's of a degree, and there's no advance button. There's also no COPY DAY option to copy your programs over to the next day. Seriously no excuse for leaving these functions out. I'm hoping that since the stat is internet based, we may get an updated app/firmware to include them.

4. The app and the web app are seriously basic. I would've thought that a bit more thought and a lot more features would have gone into it considering the possibilities. Unfortunately Salus have limited this stat to having the same basic functions as their ordinary ones, and that is a shame, as its one of the main reasons i don't fit them for my customers.

If anything else springs to mind or rears its head in the future, ill be sure to report back.

All in all, i'm fairly impressed. Especially with the leap in quality over other salus products and how easy it was to fit and get working, considering they're the first mainstream manufacturer to internet enable a stat, make it widely available and affordable. However, i wont be recommending them to my customers until there are a few more features. They've made a step into the future of home automation, with a product that somehow feels a lot more dated than a CM927 or a MiStat.

Hope this helps anyone thinking of buying one.

P.S. Thanks to Ray and Williams, for the freebie and the Wine Gums, they went down a treat at the cinema last night.
 
Im gunna get one of these for my new house. Will it control two heating zones?
 
Complaints. While i cant really fault the quality, operation or ease of installation, i have a couple of gripes, which i would appreciate the rep seeing.

Tom, thanks for such a detailed, thoughtful and balanced review.

Journalism's loss is plumbing's gain.

I can't promise that the rep will read it, but you can be damn sure that the MD of Salus UK will, since he was keen to get this product out on review.
 
Im gunna get one of these for my new house. Will it control two heating zones?

Yeah mate it will do 2 CH zones or CH and HW.

No problem Ray, glad to be of help and glad to be back in the running for more freebies :D
 
Bad start with the it500. Thought i would prepare by installing the app on my phone. Cant install the app for some reason. Gives me an error and kicks me out. Doesnt even point me in a direction for a fix. Not the greatest of beginnings.
 
Bad start with the it500. Thought i would prepare by installing the app on my phone. Cant install the app for some reason. Gives me an error and kicks me out. Doesnt even point me in a direction for a fix. Not the greatest of beginnings.

I wonder if this from Tom's review gives a clue?

Now you have to go online, register an account and the serial number of your device, then confirm your email address with a link. Then you can download the smartphone App and enter your registration details in there. Once i had done all that, it worked flawlessly.

Would you like me to get Salus tech to give you a call Simon?

Ray
 
No you should still be able to download the app regardless. iOS or android simon?
 
It was android Tom.

Well, just spent half an hour with the it500 and it's all up and running.

For one it definitely looks the part. Can't say much about the switch box on the wall except the terminal connections are small and it makes a very high pitch buzz. The internet bit is smart and easy to set up. The little remote is good looking, well I like it, and I like the fact that it can be wall mounted or a little stand on the back for standing up where you want. They can drop the little spirit level in the wall mounting plate though as it's about as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

Installation wise it was nice and straight forward, a few more words in the instructions wouldn't go amiss but plenty of pictures. Plenty of info for different configurations. Mines simple, combi boiler and heating on and off. Again a criticism of the terminal connections. Had to link the common to live but the terminals are tiny.

Registration on the web site nice and straight forward and once registered the app downloaded a treat :)

For using the beast it does what it says on the tin. But I do like the fact that you can set your times and dates on the laptop, nice big screen to see what you are doing rather than fiddling about pushing multiple buttons.

The unit replaced a salus programmable room stat.

For ongoing use time will tell, but will be adding it to the list of optional extras.

Thanks to Ray and Williams.
 
It was android Tom.

Well, just spent half an hour with the it500 and it's all up and running.

For one it definitely looks the part. Can't say much about the switch box on the wall except the terminal connections are small and it makes a very high pitch buzz. The internet bit is smart and easy to set up. The little remote is good looking, well I like it, and I like the fact that it can be wall mounted or a little stand on the back for standing up where you want. They can drop the little spirit level in the wall mounting plate though as it's about as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

Installation wise it was nice and straight forward, a few more words in the instructions wouldn't go amiss but plenty of pictures. Plenty of info for different configurations. Mines simple, combi boiler and heating on and off. Again a criticism of the terminal connections. Had to link the common to live but the terminals are tiny.

Registration on the web site nice and straight forward and once registered the app downloaded a treat :)

For using the beast it does what it says on the tin. But I do like the fact that you can set your times and dates on the laptop, nice big screen to see what you are doing rather than fiddling about pushing multiple buttons.

The unit replaced a salus programmable room stat.

For ongoing use time will tell, but will be adding it to the list of optional extras.

Thanks to Ray and Williams.
Hi Simon

does this unit allow the user to turn on either hot water or ch via the Internet??
 
Mines just a combi, but there did seem to be the function. Also multiple zones with an extra stat.
 
2 zones max i believe, either 2 x heating or heating and hw.

To get the second zone you need a ti300 thingy
 
Sorry Guys for the delay i finally finished my review.

Salus It500

Just would like to take this time to thank Ray at Williams & Co and the rep at Salus for given me the opportunity to test their product as a freebie.

I have been put off Salus items in over the years but the it500 has regained my faith.
I decided to fit it into my sister’s house which has a Worcester 37 cdi as they only had digi stat from Worcester. (Which I don’t like I even changed my own one)

Once a received the it500 from williams next day may I add (really fast turnaround with you guys) I opened the box to have a look at the product, Liked the look of the controller (stat) after emptying the box found there was no installation instructions or user instructions which I was very disappointed. I have never fitted one these before so was looking for some guidance. Even tho it’s the same as most on the market I was not sure about the Wi-Fi ECT, after I posted on Plumbers forum I found out that the it500 does come with the instructions but mine must have been missed.

Fitting into a worcester 37 cdi which was replacing the worcester dt20 range (Which was not best) Started of fitting the receiver unit to the boiler, normally I would take supply from the spur to the unit then to the boiler but block connecters was really tight to fit the two cable in and my fat finger could not push the two cables in the slot at the same time, So I ran a fresh supply from the spur to the receiver then to the boiler, Just means there is two cables going to the boiler, easy to wire Live neutral Earth call and com, the two cables to connect to the boiler, even with any other boiler I don’t think this would be a hassle to fit.

Second part is fit the Wi-Fi receiver which was easy plug and play into a router or a hub my sister has the virgin hub 2 which automatically installed no need to go into any settings on the virgin hub so this was a big plus. Only bad thing I would say was the cable was short but I am just being fussy.

After working out the awful pictures from the online instructions I was ready for the next step MAKE SURE YOU WRITE THE SERIAL CODE DOWN I must of missed that page lol .It’s time to set up the room stat, stick the battery’s in and it runs tho is software configuration ready to be set up this part was great I never knew you can have it two zones and also have timed hot water for some reason I just thought it was for combi boilers, Setting up the controller was the easy very basic but easy for both installer and owner.
The receiver and room stat automatically paired without me needing to pair them. Registering the Salus product was a bit of a pain there were no clear instructions here. We tried to do this on my sister phone as the internet was down. But it never worked so we has to wait until the internet came back on to register the product. Then all you need to do is go to the app store and download the app login and register. This is where you will need the serial number.

Once we got everything sorted we were able to access the app which is very basic but maybe Salus will upgrade the apps with extra features. The big one I found was there was no on or off button which means you need to run programs all day after spending abit of time what I managed to do was set the timing form 5am-5.01am ect which means the boiler does not fire on and my sister can just adjust the temperature when she needs to as they both work shifts We installed the app on three phones mine included just to test the product which was not hassle and found no problems so there is nothing stopping your family having the app to control the heating.

Customers review
Do you like the product: - Yes it’s very easy to use, I like the fact I can be on the bust home and jump on the app turn the heating and by the time I get home the house is nice and warm.

Do you like the look of the product: - Yes I like the room stat as its black which blends in with my home furnishing.

Would you buy the product :- I have seen similar products on TV which I thought was been a month fee which put me off.

Would you recommend this product: - Yes I would I have already showed my friends that I can control my heating tho wifi and an app.

The only thing is when I told my friends the cost of the unit they were kind of put off.

My thoughts on the Salus IT500

I liked the product for many years I have been put off all the Salus stuff this has changed how a feel about their products.
I would say Salus have taken a big leap into the future and I am sure other companies will follow shortly. Yes the app is very basic but its work able.
Easy to install easy to set up from an installers view these could be a nice wee money earner. You will spend more time showing the customers how to register and how to work the app than installing the product so remember that when you are pricing to fit them. Would I recommend them yes, I will start putting them in my quotes and see if anyone wants them.

Bad Points :- these will not work with the plug in worcester front panel programmer these must be removed as the Salus gets confused, the app is very basic and hope this will change at some point eg ON/ OFF or always on. Manuel’s why were these not in the box? That was a kick in the teeth to start.

Hope this review helps customers buy the product

Thanks Steven
 

Attachments

  • IMAG1913.jpg
    IMAG1913.jpg
    93.4 KB · Views: 47
  • IMAG1908.jpg
    IMAG1908.jpg
    119.4 KB · Views: 44
  • IMAG1906.jpg
    IMAG1906.jpg
    92.4 KB · Views: 46
  • IMAG1903.jpg
    IMAG1903.jpg
    95.5 KB · Views: 42
  • IMAG1911.jpg
    IMAG1911.jpg
    89.4 KB · Views: 43
Apologies to Ray for the delay in getting this review sorted. I literally have not had a spare moment, and as the van is in for a service and MOT today I thought I would put my spare time to good use.

My first impression of the unit was it was definitely a step in the right direction for Salus. The quality of the Thermostat is good and it looks smart, modern and quite expensive which is good. The receiver unit still feels a bit cheap much like other Salus controls. The terminals are quite small, especially when you need to link two together for installation to a combi which is what mine is fitted to. It makes it quite fiddly, but not really the end of the world.

Installation was pretty straight forward, I cant say I was overly impressed with the level of detail in the instructions but in all honesty you could probably work it out without them any way. It probably took about an hour to install and get up and running at a leisurely pace. When registering the unit online with the serial number, be aware it is case sensitive as I was wondering what was going on for a couple of attempts when it kept saying it didn't recognise it.

Actually using the thermostat and the app is very straight forward. It is quite basic and much like any other programmable stat, in my eyes that is a good thing. I don't like fitting overly complicated thermostats for my customers as it generally results in phone calls, emails and some times visits to explain how to use it again. I can confidently say I can explain exactly how to use this in about 15 minutes to anyone. The only negative is that the load times on the app can be quite long and it has timed out a few times on me. Whether that is due to my signal strength or not I don't know, but it could do with being faster to make it more fluid and less frustrating when trying to alter time and temperature etc.

All in all, I am more impressed with it than I thought I would be and wont hesitate to fit it for customers.
 
Apologies Ray for the late review, but as others been very busy, so when van got done the other week, utilised the 2 days without work to fit the It500 at home.

On first Impressions the unit definitely looks a lot better than previous Salus stuff, which tbh I didnt think was that bad, just a bit out dated when looking at other manufacturers.

On opening the box, looking for fitting instructions, to find there was none in the box. No problems, as easily downloadable from the Salus site.

Found the registering, fitting, and setting up with the app very straightforward, and would say it took less than 40 minutes from start to finish.

The app works well, as does the thermostat.

I would have no hesitation in fitting one for a customer.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Reply to Salus iT500 Internet Thermostat - Wlliams & Co. in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

Creating content since 2001. Untold Media.

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock