Install the device in horizontal position only!

[neco 0]

Why Fibaro Heat Controller can't be installed vertically? I would like to install it on a collector of water-heated floor.

 

 

[petergebruers 1,264]

It messes with the temperature sensing. There are 2 sensors in the FGT, one to measure the valve and one to measure ambient temperature. Even when you buy the "external probe" the FGT still uses the 2 internal sensors, so it cannot be used for underfloor heating. And it also cannot be mounted in vertical position.

[tinman 1,025]

4 hours ago, neco said:

can't be installed vertically? 

 

not with this firmware version, but soon it will be possible

[petergebruers 1,264]

2 hours ago, tinman said:

not with this firmware version, but soon it will be possible

 

Good you mention this is dependent on the firmware version! It certainly is not OK with 4.3. Now 4.4 was released, and I can confirm, it still uses the internal (head) sensor for the control loop when you have an external probe. @tinman have you got any more details to share? And are we talking about "underfloor heating" or "vertical position" because in my humble opinion those two are related, but quite separate things...

 

EDIT: I contacted support and the FGT definitely is a "radiator" thermostat, not for underfloor heating (because that type of heating differs a lot from radiator systems).

Edited September 4, 2018 by petergebruers

[jimicr 89]

Vertical placement would be a lifesafer for my hallway 

[petergebruers 1,264]

1 hour ago, jimicr said:

Vertical placement would be a lifesafer for my hallway

Indeed, and as @tinman said... not with 4.4 but it is on the todo-list. I wanted to point out, radiator = OK but underfloor heating = NOK.

 

There is no ETA for vertical support, ..........., as implied by the word "soon" used by tinman.

 

[tinman 1,025]

well, there is for sure ETA, but just be patient

[jakub.jezek 350]

19 hours ago, tinman said:

not with this firmware version, but soon it will be possible

You mean, that Heat Controller will have possibility to ignore internal temp. sensors?

[marcwau 30]

I have 18 FGT's mounted horizontally and 3 FGT's mounted vertically on convector panels that are in a floor duct below a walk-on grid in the living room.
This is not by choice, it was the only way to mount them due to limited space; they are mounted with the LED ring upwards.

All three FGT's are paired with one shared BLE temperature sensor in the room.

 

I used them on firmware 4.3 during last spring, and I did not notice any different behavior from the other FGT's. They seemed to do their job most of the time, except for all the bugs in 4.3 that were described at length in other posts.

 

Of course, as vertical mounting is a non-intended use of the product (up to now), I don't think it's good practice if there is any other way to avoid it.

[petergebruers 1,264]

Thank you for chiming in , @marcwau!

 

2 hours ago, marcwau said:

They seemed to do their job most of the time, except for all the bugs in 4.3 that were described at length in other posts.

There are probably a few more factors besides the vertical mounting...

 

It will be interesting to see how well it works on fw 4.4... The algorithm in general was improved and bugs have been fixed (it says so in the release notes). But the weather in Belgium is fine at the moment, so no testing possible...

 

2 hours ago, marcwau said:

Of course, as vertical mounting is a non-intended use of the product (up to now), I don't think it's good practice if there is any other way to avoid it.

Indeed. When Fibaro supports vertical mounting on radiators, it will be announced on the forum.