A story about home automation and poor support.
I am writing this, because I am annoyed. But also, to document it and maybe help others that are googling for similar issues.
Last year, I upgraded my radiators with Resideo / Honeywell smart thermostats. These thermostats are designed to provide better control over heating systems, primarily by measuring the temperature in each room and adjusting the radiator valve accordingly. A central control unit connects to the radiator valves and allows for basic zone programming.
It’s a neat gadget - not particularly accurate, not cheap, but it works.
Now, after ten months of use, the stepper motor in one of the radiator valves is slowly failing. I opened a warranty claim with the vendor - a large, jungle-named online retailer. It turns out that the control unit and the radiator valves are no longer sold. At least, not this exact model (HR92 valves with the ATC928G3000 control unit). There are newer models (HR93) available that look almost identical.
The vendor offered to refund what I had paid for the valve, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted a working system. I wanted a replacement. Instead, the vendor suggested that I simply order the newest model which costs roughly twice as much.
Yeah, not going to do that.
After some back and forth, they agreed to give me a price reduction on the new model. I ordered it, tried to connect it - and failed. Binding just didn’t work. The valve was in binding mode, the control unit too - nothing happened. Over and over again I tried. By that point, I was already getting a little upset. Honeywell’s support options for private customers are also terrible (by which I mean, it is near impossible to reach somebody in person), which didn’t help.
After some digging (I was close to giving up and sending the new valve back), I managed to find a local Resideo representative and got in touch. He was able to clear up my confusion. It turns out that Honeywell had to change the communication protocol. Systems already deployed in the field are not compatible with the new one. And because this change was apparently required by an EU regulation (according to him), the old system is no longer available for purchase. Well, almost: I found some electronics dealer offering the HR92 for about 3 times the original price.
Just great.
“But,” he said, “if your control unit is new enough, we might be able to update its software remotely to support both the old and the new protocol - so for both HR92 and HR93 valves. Just send us an email with a photo of your model ID and MAC address, and IT will patch your system within about two working days.”
Finally some good news: my almost-new heating system isn’t broken, and I don’t need to replace everything. However, despite the control unit claiming that it always auto-updates as long as it’s connected to Wi-Fi and the internet, these updates do not enable compatibility with newer devices by default. If there are any updates applied in the first place. This behavior is not documented anywhere. The differences between the valves, or the need for a manual update, are not explained. Heck, the large vendor does not even show the model on the store pages. You basically have to catch one of their employees off guard to find out.
This is horrible support and horrible customer relations. I know my dad wouldn’t have gone through this hassle - he would have just replaced all the devices. At considerable cost. That’s probably the outcome they’re aiming for.
Shame on you, Honeywell and Resideo.