Devolo Home Control Review

I was excited to have a go on the Home Control Starter Pack from Devolo,which is everything you need to make the jump into a smarter home. It contains a the central unit, a sensor for a door or window and a smart plug. It’s also a great for expanding with other smart products by Devolo and Z-Wave products.

Set up was a breeze. All I had to do was plug in the smart hub into a wall socket and connect it to the internet, sadly this isn’t via wifi. Then you set up an account at mydevolo.com/en, the website can then pick up the Central Unit connected to your network and all I had to do was press a click the button.

When it’s all up and running, you can select the additional devices you have and connect them one by one. I found the instruction video made the process incredibly simple, I can’t say the same for the written instructions, which were a bit pants.

The process of installing the accessories allows you to give them serious or comical names, and also set the location of the device. Due to the use of Z-Wave the accessories act as signal boosters, allowing you to get complete coverage over your home.

One that I was excited to test was the door/window sensor. As I tend to be walking to the station and wonder if a window is closed, or if i’m in bed and think the kitchen window is option. But the main use is on a door, allowing the unit to know you are home and to do a task set.

Installation was easy and uses adhesive strips, though I did use some glue to secure it in place.

The smart plug, allows you to turn off and on anything plugged into it. So you can set a scenario where the door sensor is open, the lamp by the door will go on. Something like that which is relatively simple, but is wicked cool.

The web interface is incredibly easy to use and allows for some very complex scenarios. Basic tasks allow you to turn devices on or off when a trigger is activated. But the more time you spend looking, the more thing syou can do.

Devices can be grouped, so only things in the hallway can be turned on, as opposed to whatever is connected to the power plug. Schedules can be set to have lights go on at certain times. Scenes allow you to set a number of devices to work together, so around sunset the lights may get brighter, whilst having the heating slowly kick in. Lastly rules are for the true nerd in us, this is all if statements.

DEVOLO RADIATOR THERMOSTAT

This was slightly more complicated, as the dial the radiator was using had to be taken off and replaced. Though it was easy to remove and the adapter provided could be put in its place. Like other accessories, all it takes to connect is the press of a button and it’s connected to the network.

 

Now the only negative is that they cost £57 each, as I have 5 radiators, thats £285 for each one to have a thermostat. It’s tempting, but a lot of money to do it right.devolo.co.uk/article/radiator-thermostat-devolo-home-control/

DEVOLO MOTION SENSOR

The motion sensor is similar to the door sensor, though instead of a connection breaking, it will be activate by any movement. Very good for the security conscious.

devolo.co.uk/article/motion-sensor-devolo-home-control/

There are also other products like the Key Fob, which allows you to program any of the 4 buttons to do whatever you want on the system. The Wall Switch is the a non portable version of the key fob, I tended to use it more for lights.

 

 

There is a mobile app, though I found it to be incredibly painful to use, as it was a reduced version of the web site. So I ended up loading the full site on my phone and doing it that way.

So the question is should you buy it? I The starter kit will set you back £179.99 which contains the “brain” of the system so is needed. Then additional accessories can be bought, but this will increase the overall cost.

 

devolo.co.uk/article/starter-pack-devolo-home-control/