A heat pump measures the temperature up by the ceiling, right next to itself, so the rest of the room often ends up colder or warmer than you asked for. Sensible brings the logic of a Sensibo with a room sensor to the heat pumps you already have in Homey, without buying extra hardware or building advanced flows.
Sensible is built first and foremost for heat pumps. Instead of switching the heat pump on and off, it works out how far off the heat pump's own sensor is compared to the room sensors, averaged over time, and corrects the setpoint by exactly that. The heat pump keeps regulating on its own, just towards the real room temperature, so it can run steadily at low power where it is most efficient. It works just as well with panel heaters, floor heating and other heaters with their own thermostat, and with panel heaters on a smart plug that is marked as a heater.
To get started, add a new device, choose Sensible heating, tick the heaters and room sensors, and optionally humidity sensors, window and door sensors and a power meter for the heat pump. With several sensors, Sensible uses the average. A power meter, for example a switch or plug in front of the heat pump, lets Sensible know for sure when the heat pump is running. Then use the new device like any thermostat.
Sensible only ever changes the temperature. Fan speed, swing and operating mode stay yours. If the heat pump is switched off with its remote while Sensible is on, Sensible switches it on again when heat is needed; this can be turned off. A heater is switched off only as a last resort, when even its lowest setpoint would keep heating a room that is already warm enough. If the heat pump can cool, an Allow cooling switch appears; Sensible then works like the auto mode of a heat pump and keeps the room in a small comfort band around the target. For rooms with a fireplace, Sensible notices by itself when the fire is lit and lets the heat pump rest, optionally helped by a sensor near the fireplace.
Like a Sensibo, it also handles the everyday comfort features. Away mode can switch on automatically when nobody is home, using presence from Homey, Smart Presence or both. Night temperature follows separate times for weekdays and weekends, vacation mode heats the house up again before you come home, and frost protection keeps the room warm enough even when the thermostat is off. Comfort mode takes humidity into account, Soft adjustment lets the heat pump ramp up gently, and heating pauses when a window is opened.
The app's configuration page has an overview of all rooms with the status of each heater, the night program, vacation mode, the presence choice and shared defaults. Use Repair on the device to change or add heaters and sensors, and the device settings to fine-tune the regulation.
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