If you are using one of our battery powered thermostats that sends a radio signal to one of our wiring centres or receivers.
When failsafe is enabled on the thermostat, it is designed to send a signal to the wiring centre/receiver once every 20 minutes. The wiring centre, in turn will expect this signal every 20 minutes.
If, for whatever reason, the wiring centre fails to pick up 2 signals in a row, in other words after 40 minutes. That zone will come on for 12 minutes every hour until the signal is resolved.
It will only apply to the zone in question. In other words zones that the wiring centre/receiver can communicate with will not be affected.
Common Causes
- Low batteries in the thermostat
- Due to the fabric of the building or distance, the signal is not getting through to the wiring centre or receiver.
- The aerial is not pointing upwards on the wiring centre
- Dead batteries in the thermostat
- The thermostat has lost pairing to the wiring centre or receiver
- Physical objects in the way between the thermostat and the receiver, for example an ironing board leaning against the wiring centre.
What is the purpose of Fail safe?
Due to the zone unable to pick up any instructions, the heating comes on for the 20% of the time to keep the heating ticking over. This can be important, for example if you were away and the batteries failed in the middle of winter, it would at least keep heating ticking over in the room and to potentially prevent frost damage.
Can Fail safe be turned off?
Fail safe can be turned off, however it is not usually recommended.
- Turning failsafe off will not resolve a signal issue.
- Be aware that if the batteries fail or a poor signal, the heating could remain on or off.