Netatmo upgrades its smart heating system: new thermostatic valves, Zigbee, Matter, and room-by-room control

Although temperatures are staying mild for the season, winter will eventually arrive. And with it, the same question as every year: how can you keep your home comfortable without running the boiler all day for no reason? Netatmo has chosen this moment to complete its new ORIGINAL connected heating range.

The ORIGINAL Thermostat came out at the start of the year, but on its own, it didn’t reveal much about what Netatmo had in store. Half the ecosystem was missing. So here is the new ORIGINAL Smart Radiator Valve, an additional thermostat, and a range of accessories for building a more modular setup.

The idea: start with a simple thermostat, then move to room-by-room temperature control, or even several independent zones if the home allows for it. It all now runs on Zigbee, with support for Matter. On paper, that sounds like a technical detail. In practice, it’s the biggest change.

A smart radiator valve that heats only where needed

In my opinion, this is the most interesting new product of the season. The ORIGINAL Smart Radiator Valve replaces the head on a hot-water radiator and lets you set the temperature in each room separately.

In a house with several bedrooms, an office, and a living room, the benefit is obvious. Why keep a bedroom at 20 °C all day if you only go in there in the evening? Conversely, a home office can be heated during the day while the bedrooms stay cooler. Each room has its own schedule and target temperature.

The valves also handle preheating. The system takes into account how the home responds and starts heating earlier so that the target temperature is reached at the scheduled time. If you want 20 °C at 7 a.m., it doesn’t start at 7 a.m.: it makes sure the room is at 20 °C by 7 a.m.

It includes the usual features for this type of product. Open-window detection switches off the heating when the temperature drops suddenly. The lock prevents children from playing with the temperature setting on the radiator. And the anti-seizing function moves the valve from time to time when it isn’t in use.

One detail I appreciate: you can adjust the measured temperature in the app if a thermometer placed elsewhere in the room shows a different reading. For a smart radiator valve, that’s far from a gimmick, since its sensor is right next to the radiator, and therefore the heat source.

Up to 24 smart radiator valves per installation

Netatmo has also paid close attention to installation. Six adapters are included for different valve bodies, including Danfoss and Giacomini models. A small tool in the box helps you find the right one, which should save you a few minutes of puzzlement while kneeling in front of the radiator.

On a compatible thermostatic valve, Netatmo says installation takes less than ten minutes, without touching the water circuit. If the radiator only has a manual valve, however, you’ll need to call a plumber.

The display can be flipped in the app depending on whether the valve is mounted horizontally or vertically. The motor has been redesigned to be quieter, which matters in a bedroom, and the stated battery life is around a year and a half.

Up to 24 valves can be used in the same installation. Even a large home should be well covered.

The Thermo Hub, the brains of the heating system

The real change in this generation lies elsewhere: in the architecture.

Everything now goes through the Thermo Hub. This small mains-powered gateway communicates over Zigbee with the ORIGINAL Thermostat, the smart radiator valves, and the additional thermostats.

Zigbee isn’t a surprising choice. Netatmo belongs to Legrand, which already uses this protocol in a good number of its connected products. So, over time, we can expect more interaction between heating, lighting, blinds, and the rest of the home.

Above all, the Thermo Hub is Matter-certified.

One small caveat, though: the valves and thermostats don’t speak Matter themselves. They communicate with the Thermo Hub over Zigbee, and it acts as the bridge to Matter. For the user, it amounts to the same thing: the system can be added to Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, or Samsung SmartThings.

For equipment that’s meant to stay in place for many years, that’s reassuring.

One thermostat, several rooms… or several zones

This architecture allows Netatmo to cater to several different setups.

The simplest option: the ORIGINAL Thermostat directly controls a boiler, an air-to-water heat pump, or another compatible heat source. It can be wired, or it can work wirelessly with the Thermo Link installed by the heating system.

You can then add smart radiator valves for room-by-room control.

The Additional Thermostat takes things a step further. A house with several heating circuits can have several thermostats and control each zone separately. One circuit for the ground floor, another for the upstairs, each with its own temperature control and schedule: this is exactly the kind of setup the previous range struggled to handle.

Central thermostat, room-by-room control, several circuits: everyone can put together the setup that suits their home.

There’s even an option for apartments with communal heating. Since residents don’t control the boiler, they can do without the ORIGINAL Thermostat and pair a Thermo Hub directly with their radiator valves. A nice touch.

Home + Control brings together heating, lighting, and blinds

With this range, Netatmo is replacing the Netatmo Energy app with Home + Control, the app shared by Legrand and Netatmo.

The entire heating section has been redesigned to make temperature settings, schedules, and energy monitoring easier to understand. It includes activity charts and monthly reports to help you see how your heating is running.

Eco-Assist uses your smartphone’s location: if you leave home while the heating is still on, a notification suggests turning it off. AutoCare monitors certain malfunctions and sends alerts, for example, when the system can no longer heat properly or when the batteries need replacing.

The big advantage of Home + Control is that it lets the heating work in tandem with the rest of the home. The “Arrive” and “Leave” scenarios are accessible directly from the ORIGINAL Thermostat. When you leave, the same scenario can control the heating, lights, and compatible blinds.

Now we’re talking about home automation, not just a thermostat you control from your phone.

Matter and Zigbee, at the cost of breaking with the previous range

If you already have Netatmo Energy equipment, read this carefully: the new ORIGINAL valves aren’t compatible with the previous generation.

The previous range used a proprietary radio protocol, while the new one uses Zigbee. Netatmo chose to start from scratch to align more closely with the Legrand ecosystem and support Matter.

In practical terms, if you have an older Netatmo thermostat and a few older valves, you can’t simply buy an ORIGINAL valve and add it to your setup.

Netatmo says the previous range will continue to be supported and will keep working. So there’s no rush if you’re happy with your current setup. But switching to the new generation will mean replacing the thermostat, the gateway, and the valves.

That’s the main drawback of this transition, and it will frustrate those who fitted a lot of radiators.

What types of heating does it work with?

The ORIGINAL Thermostat is primarily designed for hot-water heating: gas boilers, air-to-water heat pumps, and some stoves equipped with a thermostat input or a dry contact. Netatmo offers a tool to check compatibility before you buy, and it’s worth using it.

It doesn’t directly control electric radiators, however. Netatmo and Legrand offer other solutions for those, notably the “with Netatmo” ecosystem and partnerships with electric radiator manufacturers.

Regulations are driving the move toward room-by-room temperature control

Netatmo’s timing is good. French regulations provide for the gradual rollout of automatic heating controls.

It’s often said that a “smart thermostat” will become mandatory. That’s not quite right. The Energy Code refers to automatic temperature control by room or, where justified, by heating zone, with scheduled temperature settings. For existing buildings covered by the regulation, the deadline has been pushed back to January 1, 2030, subject in particular to technical and economic feasibility.

With its smart radiator valves and multi-zone control, the new Netatmo range ticks those boxes.

Beyond the law, there’s the bill. According to Netatmo, heating accounts for around 66% of a household’s energy costs, and smart scheduling could save up to €250 a year. This figure comes from a user study conducted by Netatmo in July 2023. It’s an estimate that depends greatly on the home, the heating system, and individual habits.

Accessories to suit your home

The range comes with a fairly comprehensive selection of accessories.

The tabletop stand lets you place a wireless thermostat anywhere in the room. A small USB-C module can power it continuously: no more batteries, and the screen can stay on. A light sensor still turns it off at night.

The wall plate hides marks left behind by a larger, older thermostat.

For larger homes, there’s also a Zigbee repeater, and it could come in handy. The valves run on batteries, so they don’t act as routers in the Zigbee network. The repeater steps in when some radiators are too far from the Thermo Hub.

How much does the Netatmo ORIGINAL range cost?

The ORIGINAL Smart Radiator Valve costs €59.99 each. Packs with several valves are also available.

The wired ORIGINAL Thermostat Pack with Thermo Hub costs €139.99, while the wireless version costs €149.99. For an apartment with communal heating, the ORIGINAL Smart Radiator Valve + Thermo Hub pack costs €119.99.

For the modules, expect to pay €99.99 for the Additional Thermostat, €39.99 for the Thermo Link, €19.99 for either the tabletop stand or the Zigbee repeater, €14.99 for the wall plate, and €11.99 for the mains power module.

For the launch, Netatmo is including a smart radiator valve (worth around €60) with certain packs. A professional installation service is also expected to arrive in the Netatmo store, starting at €99.99.

A much more compelling foundation for the smart home

On its own, the ORIGINAL Thermostat unveiled in January looked mostly like a modernized version of Netatmo’s classic thermostat. With the smart radiator valves and various modules, it’s finally clear where the brand was headed.

The LED display and new design ultimately matter very little. What changes is the architecture: Zigbee throughout the setup, Matter via the Thermo Hub, room-by-room control, support for multiple zones, and integration with the rest of the home through Home + Control. The foundation is more modern, and, above all, it can grow with your needs.

The sticking point is still the incompatibility with older Netatmo valves, which is hard to swallow if you already have a complete setup. For a first installation, however, the ORIGINAL range makes much more sense today than it did when the thermostat launched.

And winter is approaching. Turning down the heat by a few degrees in unused rooms is still one of the easiest automations to set up, and one of the few whose impact you can see directly on your bill.