New York – Aqara, a provider of smart home products, introduced its Radiator Thermostat E1 to automate hydronic radiators including wall-mounted radiators, towel warmers and even warm floors, making the heating systems smarter for improved energy efficiency and comfort. This radiator thermostat supports most radiator valves with its M30*1.5mm thread connection and the provided adapters for RA, RAV and RAVL valves. The Aqara Radiator Thermostat E1 is now available on European Amazon stores (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK), as well as via selective Aqara retailers in Europe.

Based on the Zigbee 3.0 protocol, the Thermostat is expected to support the future-proofing Matter standard via an OTA update of the compatible, Zigbee 3.0-based Aqara hub. The device is also compatible with major ecosystems and voice assistants such as HomeKit/Siri, Alexa, Google Home/Google Assistant, IFTTT, Home Assistant and more. Users can be reassured that the Thermostat works with their smart home setups of today and tomorrow.

Unlike many thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) that rely solely on an internal sensor to measure the room temperature, which can be inaccurate due to the sensor’s proximity to the radiator, the Radiator Thermostat E1 can receive the temperature readings directly from a connected Aqara temperature sensor (including in HomeKit), and regulate the radiator based on the actual room temperature to increase comfort. Moreover, when connected to an Aqara Door and Window Sensor, the Thermostat can be configured to stop heating the room when any door or window is left open, in order to reduce energy waste. With the wide range of Aqara devices, users are able to create customised home automation that heats their homes only when it’s needed.

The Aqara Home app also offers various options for radiator automation. A smart schedule can be configured, allowing users to set the desired temperatures for different periods of time throughout the day, for example to set it to 5℃ during the daytime of weekdays when no one is at home, 25℃ for a relaxing evening after work, and 20℃ for a night of comfortable sleep. Geofencing is also possible, so the radiators will heat up the home before the family arrives. Another option is to automate the radiators based on local weather, and the heating will turn on automatically when the local temperature drops below a certain threshold.

Other features of the Radiator Thermostat include:

• Device grouping: multiple radiators in one room can be synchronised so that they work in a more efficient way, and make it possible to set different temperatures for each room;
• Multi-home management: in the case of having more than one home, users are able to manage the radiators in each home separately and set up individual automation such as geofencing-based automation;
• Anti-freeze mode: users can preset a temperature between 5℃ – 15℃ for this mode, and activate the mode easily when they are out of town to conserve energy while reducing the risk of pipe freezing;
• 12-month battery life: thanks to the Zigbee protocol and the energy-efficient hardware, 2 AA batteries will power the Thermostat for up to one year of use.

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