I have been using electric radiators and convectors as additional heating for a very long time, but they are not smart, but very simple, which in fact can only turn on and off, they can still maintain a certain temperature there, not very related to the temperature in the room, but more related to the temperature on the case, well, it is also mainly dual-mode, which have two options, there is half power or full.

Of course, I would like to manage these convectors and radiators in a more reasonable way, but I'm looking more towards convectors now, because they are more convenient, they look better and they can really be installed near the window, you can put them under the windowsill, attach them to the wall there and there, this is quite convenient such devices, and of course the advantage of convectors is that they heat up very quickly and cool down quite quickly, because of this, it is quite possible to maintain the temperature in the room very accurately.

For example, if you use an oil cooler, then first of all, the heating time is very long and the cooling is also decent, and it can even, and if the room is small, for example, my balcony is also used, then it overheats very much because of such a radiator, but in general from the fact that there are several modes and they are physically switches on this radiator itself switches, then I basically use this, I just put the minimum mode, for example, I have a convector for one and a half kilowatts, then I just put it on 750 watts of power and in this mode, in fact, it basically works for me, and if for example there if it is cold enough, for example, in winter, or at some other time of the year, then sometimes it can simply take a very long time to heat the room to the desired temperature, or its power may not be enough to maintain a comfortable temperature in principle, then it will be clearly lower than the target set, because of this I have to either there to put two radiators, and control each one separately, or even there if they are both, well, in principle, then it turns out that I need to turn it on or off more often, which is also not very convenient, and in general, it can be annoying if it's still at night, then clicking this smart socket is also not very pleasant.

Of course, now there are inverter convectors that advertise the fact that they are there, firstly, do not click, secondly, they can maintain the target temperature there, which is set on them, and even if you buy an additional module there or immediately buy a device that can still connect via wi-fi to a proprietary application, it is even possible you can integrate it into a smart home system, some open source, then yes, you can really set the temperature and as you approach this temperature, the power will gradually decrease, basically it is used in 5 different ranges, for example, 2000 watts is the maximum, and for example the minimum there is 300 watts, and in this range with certain gradations, there is a change in this power consumption.

But such convectors also have a lot of limitations, many of them are almost all, do not have to maintain a low temperature, that is, if you need to maintain 10 degrees, for example, then you can not do it on them, only 18, you will still need to put a separate outlet there, put a separate temperature sensor, and control more separately with this convector, but not all of them can turn on if you just turn on the power supply, for example, you also need to check whether the convector can do this.

Well, because of this, I had an idea maybe just to remake the usual simplest convector two-mode in the control option for both heating elements that are inside, but I have the simplest convector used, there is a stitch heating element, that is, it's just a spiral that heats up itself, it's not very like, it's considered a good option, but of course it also has a plus, first of all, it heats up and cools down very quickly, that is, it can also be used in certain scenarios, and it costs significantly less.

But it suits me quite well, it is clear that there is once a burning smell when you do not turn it on for a long time, and there apparently dust accumulates and starts to smell for a while, but it passes quite quickly, this does not cause me any special problems, but in the end there are two switches on this convector that are responsible for turning on one or the conclusion of these two spirals, but in fact these heating elements are there of the same power, there are 750 watts each, and as a result, it turns out that one is almost never used, and the second is used all the time, and at the same time even if they are swapped, that is, turn one on and the other off, on some convectors this allows you to do, that is, not in series, and they can still be swapped when turned on, even in this case, the power will still be fixed at 750 watts, and this is not very convenient.

I also considered what other option to change this power is, but in order to control it separately, I found a good option, this relay is from Aqara, it is two-channel, quite large, it does not fit into the usual socket, but it will probably fit into the square ones, but such a relay can be installed somewhere near this one, well, or most likely on the body or in some specific place on this convector, and just connect the wires to this regulator and then you can use the relay to turn on one or the second or both of these heating elements at once.

Of course, the general temperature sensor that stands on the case still needs to be left in the circuit, because it also performs a protective function, that is, if the convector overheats, for some reason, something got on it or it fell, for example, there is still a sensor that has a position, then in this case, it will at least also protect against some kind of fire or other problems, but I usually set this regulator to maximum power, just so that it does not limit the operation of the convector when it is not needed, and accordingly does not cause any additional clicking.

Well, in general, it works well, that is, the convector there is clear when it is turned on, it starts to warm up at full capacity and when the desired temperature is reached, it turns it off using the temperature sensor, this converter, through a smart outlet, is now mine, but I want to do this so that it works through the relay.

The temperature sensor itself, it also has some special feature, it only sends a value when changing by half a degree, it's my sensors from Xiaomi that are used, there is also the same sensor from Aqara, but they work the same in fact and because of this it turns out that I can't set there up to tenths of degrees with accuracy, that is, I still get it or it will be more and I will have to turn off the relay, and if it is less, then turn on the relay, that is, such a difference of about half a degree, it still turns out, but this is not very critical, because it feels like it is practically not felt in the room.

But in order to convert this converter into a smarter one, there are several schemes where you can put a powerful diode on one of the heating elements, and then it will only work out half the time, because of this, the powerful one will be twice as low, that is, it will be possible to provide, for example, about 320 watts on such a heating element, and the second use it as 700 watts, and then it turns out that there will be several modes, that is, when everything is turned on and when it is turned on only at 700 watts, and when it is turned on at 300, that is, three modes, this is basically quite normal, because in reality there are two kilowatts, one and a half kilowatts, they are not actually needed, this is a very extreme case, when, for example, at some dacha you need to warm up the house from 5 degrees or from 10 degrees as usual, to a comfortable 25 or 20 degrees at least, then of course you need maximum power, or you will have to turn it on in advance and of course the house will warm up for a very long time.

In the apartment, of course, there is no such problem, that is, it still needs to be increased there only by a few degrees or reduced by several degrees, I sometimes have 15 graudos on the balcony, and I want to raise it to 25, but the balcony is only a few square meters, and of course such a converter at any power is almost instantaneous.

it will warm up and because of this, in this mode it will certainly be much more convenient, firstly, when the desired temperature is reached, you can limit the power automatically, that is, turn on only the relay that is responsible for less power, and if there is a large temperature difference from the target, it is clear to turn on everything as much as possible, this will essentially be the same smart inverter convector, which costs much more than this kit, and at the same time, even on inverter converters, the sensor itself stands on the wire of this convector, and the convector itself affects it, and if it is located near the window, then even cooler air, that is, it is no longer the real temperature in the room where the person is, this is in a completely different place near the floor, and the difference between the top of the room and the bottom of the room in terms of temperature in reality is very large, and of course this value will very conditionally show something there, this is if you use two such convectors, then you can just connect them in series, of course, you need to understand a little bit about electrics, but in fact, if you connect them in series, the power of each will decrease by half and then it will also be possible to limit the power of each of them in this way, for example, if there are two windows if you put two convectors, then they will actually work in pairs, first at a lower power each of them, and then, accordingly, if you need to turn on the second circuit, then you can take it differently and turn it on as you need in order to ensure fast and comfortable heating, but as an option, of course, you can do so that on the timer, turn it on and off with a certain frequency, for example, it works for a minute, it doesn't work for a minute, and then the average temperature will be more comfortable, of course, it will still click more often, and in general, the network load will be quite large there.

Automation in a smart home should be useful and create additional comfort, but sometimes everything goes wrong… The reasons for this, and how to configure everything, see on my channel.