Rules and Guidelines
Want to participate in the discussions? Please read our Community Rules and Guidelines. Need some help? Visit Support and Answers.

  • State Not Answered
  • Locked Locked
  • Replies 27 replies
  • Subscribers 32 subscribers
  • Views 1899 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
You may also be interested in
This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Modern Eco-Storage Heaters are Not Fit for Purpose. Discuss.

Zoomup
Case 1. Heater provided with no operating instructions in box.


Case 2. Heater could not be programmed. Reason: it was factory set in "Eco-mode" where programming was not possible.


Case 3. Too complicated with layers of programming needed. The A4 sized instructions are many pages long covering many settings and day options.


Case 4. A recent heater seen has a very small window screen where the writing is about 1mm tall and is very difficult to read when programming it.


Case 5. They are too complicated and not easy to use. Over engineered and liable to failure due to complicated P.C.B.s inside. Perhaps that is the plan. If you can't easily use them they save energy as one of my customers found out after spending many hours over the phone speaking with the maker's tech. dept. The heater is now cold and has stopped working.


Z.
  • 0
    mapj1:

    There is a general problem of letting software people write software for controls, in that the result is typically just awful. For some reason working with computers for a long time seems to addle the brain, and leave people with a very odd sense  of what type and layout of control is  intuitive.

    (it also affects the speech centres, folk talking about MMI (Man Machine Interface) or ergonomics, or 'human factors' (unless you make equipment for aliens there are no other factors), have probably passed the point of no return.)


    If anyone has ever used the manual controls on a Votsch lab oven they will understand. Siemens mobile phones made the same mistake.

    Where are they now ?

    To be successful the controls on any piece of equipment need to be quite intuitive-  and that means  being able to go back when you have made an error,  increasing things being clockwise, or perhaps up, and to have some sort of overview of what has been programmed - a simple clock face with segments in different shades and a key showing that pale is set to 20 degrees, and dark is 15  or whatever is a lot simpler than a line of semicolons and << >> signs.

    Anything requiring a handbook of more than one sheet of paper has probably already failed, and will not be understood or used correctly once the enthusiastic fool who fitted it has left the property.

    Mike.



     


    A superb observation Mike! Copy it to an email and send it to every manufacturer in the country, I think it would put Britain back on the map!


  • 0
    Can you tell us which type so we can avoid it?
  • 0
    Some years ago one of my customers was somewhat bemused to come home and find his Russian mother-in-law who cannot speak English using the state of the art kitchen appliances I had just got working.


    When I got back the next morning he said he had not been able to understand how she was managing so well with appliances like these, then he realised I had left all the displays giving instructions in Russian, just one of the thirty seven languages the appliances could display.


    With the Dimplex storage heaters and a lot of other appliances there’s engineers menus that a locked, preventing people other than manufacturers service and repair guys from resetting error codes, which is an issue for independent service and repair guys who find they cannot clear the fault code from the display panel.
  • 0
    Did you know, did you know that some storage heaters do not work properly if they sense a draught of air coming under a door?

    I gather some have "open window detection" - I guess that's what you're referring to - after all there's little point in trying to heat the outdoors. It must be a pretty poor fitting door if the draught can be confused with an open window.

     
    There is a general problem of letting software people write software for controls, in that the result is typically just awful.

    I agree about the interfaces. Some years ago my parents started feeling the cold a bit at night and decided they wanted the heating on overnight as well as during the day - but at a lower level than daytime. My first thought was - easy - I'll just swap the room 'stat for one of the (then) new programmable thermostats. Second thought dismissed that idea pretty quickly - as even adjusting the temperature would have been beyond them. The final solution was just to add a 2nd old-fashioned rotary dial stat wired across the timeswitch and original thermostat - with a label of "NIGHT" - the original 'stat  got a "DAY" label. Together with the existing (analogue) timeswitch it did everything they needed and Dad had no problems making adjustments when needed.


    I guess one of the stumbing blocks in having a good interface on equipment is the cost of a decent sized, probably colour, display - a small even custom LCD display probably comes in a lot cheaper and probably easier to fit in. That's perhaps one advantage on using an app' on a 'phone as an interface - you get a decent screen for free (even if it does add a lot of other complexity). Alternatively (as above) some nice chunky physical knobs and switches can sometimes more than suffice.

     
    folk talking about MMI (Man Machine Interface) or ergonomics, or 'human factors' (unless you make equipment for aliens there are no other factors)

    Ah, no - your typical computer has lots of interfaces and most of then don't have a human on the other end at all - everything from RS-232 to disc interfaces to WiFi.


       - Andy.
  • 0
    They don’t sense a draught, they react if there’s a sudden drop in room temperature, as it’s probably due to someone opening a window.
  • 0
    I tried very hard to find an intelligent thermostat that was easy to use. I did not succeed. Nothing appears to offer the ease of use of an analog timer with pegs although all offer greater functionality which may or may not be useful.  All the modern controllers I have used have thick instruction manuals  which I forget within a few seconds of reading, usually downloaded from the internet as the customer will have lost theirs. None seem to have a simple extra hour button. I have forgotten all the different time slots and temperatures I set up on my thermostat and while I can change the temp I have no idea for how long the current time period it will last. I have no intention of using a phone related App to control the thermostat that is in the next room.


    For many customers I recommend the old style analogue time clock as they are usually very easy to use without referencing the manual. 


    On a slightly different but related topic I occasionally drive my daughters BMW Mini, I have yet to work out how to turn the radio off!  What looks like the volume control changes the frequency, the volume control is one of the up down buttons on the steering wheel, I usually have to try them all to find which pair changes the volume. I know that if I read the manual I would have forgotten by the next time I drive it. But despite pressing every button I have yet to find one to turn it off!


    Progress?
  • 0
    Hello Zoomup. Thank you for posting this! I sometimes think I'm going mad dealing with modern gizzmos; now I realise it probably isn't me!  I look for "old"analogue gear for first choice every time.
  • 0
    kfh:

    On a slightly different but related topic I occasionally drive my daughters BMW Mini, I have yet to work out how to turn the radio off!


    It may not be possible.


    My 15 y.o. M-B has a "COMAND" system which includes satnav, phone, radio, TV, reversing camera, etc. It is either all on or all off. If one does not want to listen to anything, there is the option of the "mute" button.


  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    That will be the "Open Window" setting which can be disabled.
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    lyledunn:
    mapj1:

    There is a general problem of letting software people write software for controls, in that the result is typically just awful. For some reason working with computers for a long time seems to addle the brain, and leave people with a very odd sense  of what type and layout of control is  intuitive.

    (it also affects the speech centres, folk talking about MMI (Man Machine Interface) or ergonomics, or 'human factors' (unless you make equipment for aliens there are no other factors), have probably passed the point of no return.)


    If anyone has ever used the manual controls on a Votsch lab oven they will understand. Siemens mobile phones made the same mistake.

    Where are they now ?

    To be successful the controls on any piece of equipment need to be quite intuitive-  and that means  being able to go back when you have made an error,  increasing things being clockwise, or perhaps up, and to have some sort of overview of what has been programmed - a simple clock face with segments in different shades and a key showing that pale is set to 20 degrees, and dark is 15  or whatever is a lot simpler than a line of semicolons and << >> signs.

    Anything requiring a handbook of more than one sheet of paper has probably already failed, and will not be understood or used correctly once the enthusiastic fool who fitted it has left the property.

    Mike.



     


    A superb observation Mike! Copy it to an email and send it to every manufacturer in the country, I think it would put Britain back on the map!




    Yes they use the term "Comfort On" for On.


Community Rules & Guidelines