Great, modern look with advanced features available via free app with no adverts.
About the Smart Home App: We use the free App on iOS – it does not display adverts at the time of writing this review and is fairly easy to use on a basic level. The app controls all of the Smart Home equipment that has been sold for a few years via DSE/Kogan and now MightyApe – so I don't think it will disappear anytime soon but you never know. If you're interested the App also integrates with voice services like Amazon and Alexa, but not directly with Apple's Siri. It does support HomeKit and Apple Watch though, so you could probably rig something up if you know what you're doing.
Using the heaters without the app The heaters themselves are very easy to use via the front touchscreen area without needing the app. The settings here can be locked off via holding a combination of icons I think, and via the app, so to avoid wandering unauthorised fingers from changing them.
How the heaters work Worth mentioning the glass front does not radiate any heat, so it remains cool enough to touch. Most of the heat comes out of the vents at the top rear, pulling air in through the bottom vents via natural convection – there is no fan installed. So they can attract dust underneath and on top – best to vacuum them every now and then, or give them a good wipe down.
How we use these heaters – 7 installed We have one of these heaters mounted on the wall (two screws is all it takes) in every room, and being glossy white they blend in really well with our slightly off white semi-gloss wall. Easy to install as you just plug them into a standard wall socket via the attached cable, that's about 1.5 metres or so long, so fairly flexible on where you can mount them. But if you don't fancy screwing the supplied screws into your wall and joist (i.e. Not just gib), then they also come with easy attachable smart aluminium cast feet, so you can just use them on a stable floor. You might need to add little rubber bits or tape to avoid scratching wooden floors with these feet, and also check clearances if using on deep shag pile as the feet are shallow, maybe 10–12 cm high overall.
Setting them up Adding the heater to your wifi is simple once you know how – FYI it only works on 2.4Ghz so you will need that older/slower signal being broadcast from your router – we linked ours to a guest network but it can only handle basic security protocols. Plus you will need the Smart Home app installed on your phone beforehand of course. Then it is a press and hold the wifi LED icon on the front panel for 5 seconds until it starts to flash. The app may then pick it up automatically or you can manually add it as a small appliance (heater). The app then shares your wifi password with the heater, so if you change this or your broadcast name then you will need to reset each heater up again. If scheduling to come on automatically then one little tip to remember is don't turn more than one on at once automatically as they are powerful enough to trip domestic circuit fuses if coming on at high in a cold room. We solved this by staggering the switch on at night by a minute between each, plus making sure that one mains socket ring main did not have the entire load.
Safety first Also remember to read the manual of course, so you know to allow space (10cm?) either side and have nothing directly above them for at least 2 metres due to the heat emission – so no curtains or furnishings should be above or near by. But there is not much heat projected directly from the rear metal panel itself, so ours are just mounted on standard gib board without problems. Our mounted ones are 9.5 cm deep, so project from the wall that far – which is only a little further than the 2/3 cm wide skirting boards in our place.
Ideal usage In terms of use I'd say they are ideal for long all day/night use rather than quick boost as they don't have that fan heater function that some heaters do. But IÂ grew up with hot water central heating so to me they are similar in function and mounting to the old radiators, but much more efficient and actually green if we keep using renewable electricity in NZ. On low setting they provide plenty of gentle warmth to keep all our villa rooms comfortable at 20Â deg or so in winter.
Why we choose these We bought these as we wanted something that could come on and off to a schedule (to use free overnight power) but also react to temperature changes and look nice. They do have an inbuilt room temperature sensor but this is not directly accessible to the app –
Optional extras you might consider We also purchased the little Smart App bluetooth hub and a couple of sensors to go with that (door and temperature). These broadcast via the bluetooth hub to the Smart home app, via the cloud/internet of course, so in simple terms the app can then tell the heaters you choose to come on/off at different ambient temperatures. There is also an estimated outdoor temperature via weather reports linked to the app that is pretty close to actual temps where we live.
Final considerations and conclusion: So these heaters like all the Smart Ape things give best value for money if you use the app. If you don't use the app or it or your network become unavailable, then you can still use these heaters to heat a room manually and still with a few functions like countdown to power off. Plus they still look great!
If you do use the app then I'd say it is relatively simple to use, but it gets complicated if you start using schedules, countdowns, and smart scenes, as these all offer similar controls and may conflict. So best to plan out what you want first and keep it simple before you setup schedules. We have a modern power board and wiring here – I would worry using these heaters if it was still the old copper wire fuses. If you are comfortable with the standard of your home power cabling and supply board then you can also switch these on remotely so you can come home to a warm room or two.
Lastly worth mentioning the price here is unbeatable compared to what we saw available in a big orange branded store the other day. The big box store had inferior heaters in terms of power, looks and function that started at $50 more than this. Also if you have other Smart Ape items like plug sockets or sensors, then these are a great addition. We always found MightyApe provide a fast and affordable delivery to our regional town, and offer easy payment options with no additional charges for debit/credit cards that IÂ remember.
Overall highly recommended heaters for unobtrusive, efficient and cost effective heating, especially for any white walled place with a few handy spare plug sockets. Only minor concern is the app advanced functions can be confusing or duplicated by different ways to achieve the same thing.