Is my heater / AC compatible?

Is my heater / AC compatible?

This article is for:
All Polare products
Our service works by applying external smart controls to your heater or air conditioner. If the built-in smart controls of your device conflict with ours, then the service will not work well. Therefore you need to have a device that can either:

1.       Have the smart controls turned off (sometimes referred to as 'always on' instead)
2.       Allow external software to be installed and control the device (smart thermostats, whole-house heating or AC systems)

THE MINI

This explanation is for a 'heater' but applies equally to a plug-in air conditioner.

Compatability Test

There is a simple compatability test for your plug-in heater and the Mini.
  1. Ensure the thermostat and timer features are set to OFF or ALWAYS ON (the thermostat/timer should be off; the heater should be always on)
  2. Plug the heater in and turn it on.
  3. Unplug the heater from the wall.
  4. Plug it back in again.
If the heater self-restarts heating when plugged in without you pushing any button or taking action, it is compatible with the Polare Mini.

What's going on here?

Newer heaters and air conditioners in Europe are required to have a certain set of smart functions to save energy. These 'smart' features are actually quite stupid - they follow basic rules such as "turn the heater off at this temperature". These features have been around for decades. The Polare Mini has all of these basic smart features, but connected to an AI which implements advanced rules such as understanding the cheapest time every individual day to use electricity; what the weather is like where you are; and how quickly your property loses or gains heat. For the Mini to work, we require the heater smart features to be turned off. For example, the Mini includes a thermostat and a timer, so having a thermostat and a timer operating on the heater will create conflicts. This means putting the heater in 'always on' or 'dumb' mode.

The Mini works by cutting your heater's power supply with a relay switch, like a smart plug. Some products, mostly digital display heaters, have included a (not required) feature to turn the heater off and keep it off when there is a power cut. This means the Mini cannot restart the heater when it restores the power. If your heater has this feature, and it cannot be turned off (see the user guide) then it will not work with the Mini.


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