Effect of electrical work on wireless thermostat signal

[talktalk]

I have WB combi boiler controlled by a Danfoss wall-mounted wireless thermostat. I recently had some electrical work done as follows:

1. New mains distribution board in hallway
2. New cable from distribution board to double oven in kitchen
3. New isolation switches to bathroom extractor fan and toilet extractor fan

About 4 days later the boiler stopped responding to the thermostat. I called the company which services the installation. He tested the thermostat and confirmed that the boiler wasn't responding. He took the thermostat off the wall in the hall and took it into the dining room where he found that the boiler was responding to all on and off signals from the thermostat. The thermostat is now in the dining room a few feet nearer the boiler. I would prefer it if it would work in its previous position on the wall in the hallway.

My question is this. Is it possible that the signals from the thermostat are being affected by the electrical work? The new cable to the double oven comes within about 9 feet of the boiler and the new cables to the fan isolation switches come within about 6 feet of the boiler. When the system was installed 4 years ago it was difficult to find a position in the hallway where the signals from the thermostat could be detected by the boiler. The house is 1900 vintage so it has sturdy walls. The Danfoss has new batteries.

 

[Murdoch]

You talk about the distance from the new cables to the boiler but.....

How far are they from the room stat?
Are they between the room stat and the boiler?

I think a question or 2 directly to Danfoss technical is on the cards .... we can only speculate

 

[Brambles]

Whilst power cables can and do impact RF transmission paths, the more usual problems are receivers mounted too close to large metallic objects. Another issue is two or more RF receivers mounted closer than 600mm to each other.

In short, move the receiver rather than the transmitter

 

[Chuck]

About 4 days later the boiler stopped responding to the thermostat.

This delay suggests to me that the new wiring is not the cause of the problem. If it were, the problem would have occurred immediately.

Are the 'new' batteries definitely genuine good quality ones? E.g. Duracell, bought from a reliable source such as Sainsbury's or Tesco.

Have you tried resetting then rebinding the transmitter and receiver to each other?

 

[Murdoch]

Wonder if the OP has been changing their light bulbs to LED's too? - these can and do affect digital radio signals, as do lots of 230 - to 12 v or 5v chargers / transformers

 

[talktalk]

You talk about the distance from the new cables to the boiler but...

How far are they from the room stat?
Are they between the room stat and the boiler?

I think a question or 2 directly to Danfoss technical is on the cards .. we can only speculate

The new double oven cable is routed up to the main loft in a two-storey house then through the loft then down through a cupboard on the landing to the ground floor kitchen/double oven. As a rough guess the distance from the cable to the thermostat transmitter varies between 20 and 30 feet at various points. So the final bit of the double oven cable is between the room stat and boiler because the cable runs above the kitchen ceiling. then down the wall. Because the boiler is in the loft above a single storey ground floor bathroom the new double oven cable is about 10 feet from the boiler receiver. The short cables for the two fan isolation switches are taken off a spur in the bathroom loft so are only a few feet from the receiver. The only metal between the thermostat and receiver is copper cables in the house wiring. The thermostat is supposed to have a range of 30 meters.

 

[Murdoch]

^^ can Danfoss technical support .....

 

[talktalk]

This delay suggests to me that the new wiring is not the cause of the problem. If it were, the problem would have occurred immediately.

Are the 'new' batteries definitely genuine good quality ones? E.g. Duracell, bought from a reliable source such as Sainsbury's or Tesco.

Have you tried resetting then rebinding the transmitter and receiver to each other?

The batteries are good, Duracell Industrial alkaline. I will do a reset/rebind. It was done about 6 weeks ago when the thermostat was playing up then but I have had the electrical work done since then.
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Wonder if the OP has been changing their light bulbs to LED's too? - these can and do affect digital radio signals, as do lots of 230 - to 12 v or 5v chargers / transformers

I haven't got any LED light bulbs, the only electrical changes recently are the new distribution board and some new cables which didn't cause any immediate problems. I can trying switching off the circuits for the new double oven cable and the new fan isolation switches and check whether that makes any difference.
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^^ can Danfoss technical support ...

I will try phoning them next week.

 

[talktalk]

Danfoss technical support confirmed that the new cables could affect the signal and recommended fresh batteries and move the thermostat nearer the boiler. The batteries were fresh so I moved the thermostat and that cured the problem. Although a 30 metre range is claimed it is more like 10 metres in our case.

 

[oz-plumber]

The range of the thermostats depends on what walls and types of wall are between the thermostat and the receiver.

30m range is probably direct line of sight with nothing obscuring the signal from each of the units

 

[Ben-gee]

You stated that initially it was a struggle to find a position in the hall where the stat would work - this suggests that you had a borderline situation. The new cabling was just enough to push you to the other side of the work/doesn’t work line.
As stated above , thick old cottage walls affect this ( how is your WiFi?)
Do Danfoss make a “signal booster” or relaying unit? Ie to break the journey into two parts?