Smart Home Integration for Radiant Heaters: How to Automate Your Heating System

The architecture is layered, and that's deliberate. Smart control isn't built into the heater chassis; it's added at the wall. That decision keeps the heater hardware simple, robust, and replaceable independently of the control layer, and it lets you start with a basic Wi-Fi install and grow into ZigBee accessories later without re-buying anything.

Layer one is a Wi-Fi wall switch, the Dual R3, which becomes the entry point for app and voice control. Layer two is an optional ZigBee accessory family, orchestrated through a ZigBee Bridge, which adds motion sensing, wireless remotes, and the kind of mesh networking that scales across a commercial venue without leaning on Wi-Fi for every device.

Smart compatibility across the lineup of Heatscope radiant heaters looks like this:

Before any of this, a safety note worth repeating. Always isolate at the breaker before opening any wall switch. The relay carries mains voltage, and an unfamiliar terminal block is not a place to discover that the circuit is still live. If you are not comfortable with mains wiring, this step belongs with a qualified electrician.

The eWeLink app is free, has no subscription, and is available on the App Store and on Google Play. You'll need it on the same Wi-Fi network the heater will eventually run on.

Voice control adds a layer on top of eWeLink rather than replacing it. Inside the Alexa app or Google Home app, link eWeLink as a smart home skill. The voice assistant then discovers every device already paired in eWeLink and exposes them under the names you assigned. An internet connection is required at the time of the command; a momentary outage stops voice from working, even though the heater itself keeps running.

The voice grammar maps to the same two-stage logic. "Set to low" means 50%. "Set to high" means 100%. There is nothing in between, and asking for a specific percentage will either be ignored or rounded to the nearest stage depending on which assistant you use.

A handful of phrasing patterns and what they do:

• "Alexa, turn on terrace heater" activates Channel 1, defaulting to 100% output

• "Alexa, turn off terrace heater" cuts Channel 1

• "Hey Google, set terrace heater to low" drops Channel 2 to 50%

• "Hey Google, set terrace heater to high" pushes Channel 2 to 100%

• "Alexa, turn on terrace evening" triggers an eWeLink scene that moves several heaters together

Voice control is available across the smart-capable models in the range. The Spot 1600W is the exception; without the Dual R3, there is no path from a voice assistant to that particular heater.

The Heatscope ZigBee Motion Sensor activates a paired heater the moment it detects movement, routed through the ZigBee Bridge. It's the same logic you've already met in terrace lighting, applied to overhead heat: the space wakes when it's in use.

In a residential pattern, a terrace heater set to 50% on motion after dusk turns the back garden into a usable extension of the house from the moment someone steps onto the deck. The heater is up to temperature in seconds because radiant heat doesn't have to warm the air; it warms the people and the surfaces directly. By the time the door has closed behind a guest, the seating zone is already comfortable.

In a commercial pattern, the same automation drives operational efficiency. Across hotel and restaurant heaters, a courtyard zoned into three sensor-mapped tables can wake heaters only over occupied seats and shut them off when guests leave. Over a season, that means a venue isn't paying to heat empty seating during shoulder periods, which is one of the most consistent operating costs in al fresco dining.

Sensor placement deserves real thought. The motion sensor needs line of sight to the area it covers, a sensible mounting height that catches torso movement rather than ankle traffic, and a distance from the trigger zone that lets the heater warm before the guest sits down. Heatscope offers extension rods in 100, 300, and 500 mm lengths to drop the sensor to the right height under an awning or pergola; choosing the right length is usually a question of the soffit depth and the height of the seating below.

A clean automation rule has three parts. Trigger: the sensor detects motion in zone X. Action: the heater paired to zone X moves to its assigned output stage. Fallback: if no motion is detected for a defined window, the heater returns to OFF. A thirty-minute idle window is a sensible default for residential terraces. Commercial sites often run tighter, fifteen minutes or less, on the assumption that staff will reset the zone if a table turns over.

The accessories that make this work are inexpensive relative to the heater itself, and the ZigBee Bridge only needs to be specified once even if you scale to a dozen sensors. The motion automation is compatible with the Spot 2800W, the Vision 3200W, the Pure+ 3000W, and the Next 3000W; the Spot 1600W stays outside it.

A single eWeLink account can run as many heaters as the home network and the ZigBee Bridge between them will hold, and scenes are the mechanism for moving groups of them at once. Where individual controls are useful for a single heater over a single seating area, scenes earn their keep the moment a space has more than one zone.

A typical residential setup might define three zones: north terrace, south terrace, pergola. Each zone has one or two heaters mapped to it. A "Terrace evening" scene activates all the units across the north and south terrace at 50%, leaving the pergola untouched. A "Full house" scene brings every heater up to 100%. A "Goodnight" scene closes everything down at midnight in one tap or one voice command.

The directional swivel joint on certain models in the lineup adds another lever to zoning. Where a heater can be aimed at a specific seating cluster, the zone definition becomes a question of aim as much as power. A pair of directional heaters over a single banquette can deliver more usable warmth than four omnidirectional units spread evenly across the same footprint, which is a useful planning point for venues optimising for cost per heated seat.

A simple scene table sits behind every well-planned installation:

A few questions come up often enough on the design and specification side that they're worth answering head-on.

Can I use a standard dimmer switch on my Heatscope heater?

No. The two-stage IR elements are not phase-cuttable in the way an incandescent lighting load is. A standard wall dimmer will damage the heating elements rather than smoothly adjust their output. The only stages available are 50%, controlled by powering one element pair, and 100%, controlled by powering both. Channel 2 of the Dual R3 is how the smart system selects between those stages.

Does the Heatscope heater have a built-in room thermostat?

No. The range is designed primarily for outdoor use, where ambient air temperature is constantly changing and a fixed room sensor doesn't apply the way it does in an enclosed space. For indoor installations in the EU, an external thermostat can be added to bring the system into ecodesign compliance, which is covered in the next section.

Can I add smart control to the Spot 1600W?

The Spot 1600W operates via infrared remote only. It is not compatible with the Dual R3 or the ZigBee accessory family. It is the single model in the lineup that sits outside the smart ecosystem, and that's a deliberate position; it's the simplest entry point in the range for buyers who don't need app integration.

Do I still need a physical switch if I have the app?

Yes. The isolation switch on the installation side provides a physical power cut that no app can replicate. Before any maintenance, always isolate at the breaker, even if the app shows the heater as off. A scheduled automation or a missed trigger could re-power the circuit, and the breaker is the only state that's guaranteed.

If you already own a Heatscope heater on a manual switch, the smart layer can be retrofitted in three patterns, each of which builds on the last.

The first pattern, and the simplest, adds a Dual R3 in place of the existing manual switch on a single heater. The outcome is full app control and voice integration through eWeLink, with no change to the heater itself. This is the right starting point for a homeowner who wants schedules and voice triggers but doesn't need multi-zone behaviour.

The second pattern adds the ZigBee Bridge on top of an existing Wi-Fi install where multiple heaters are already paired. Scenes that previously had to run device-by-device now move groups together, and the Wireless Switch and Motion Sensor become available as triggers. This is the pattern for a venue that has grown from one zone to three.

The third pattern adds a ZigBee Motion Sensor to the existing Bridge for hands-free, occupancy-driven heating. The outcome is a system where the space heats itself when a guest enters and stands down when the seating empties.

All three patterns involve mains-side electrical work at the wall switch, and that work belongs with a qualified electrician. The cost of the retrofit hardware is small relative to the heater; the installation labour is where the line gets drawn between a DIY-friendly accessory swap and a job that needs a trade.

Smart control is easiest to deliver when it's planned at the drawing stage rather than retrofitted afterwards. A few specification points are worth carrying through into the documentation set.

Cable runs to the wall switch position should be confirmed at the rough-in stage. The Dual R3 lives in or near the power box that serves the heater, and adding it later means opening a finished wall. ZigBee Bridge placement is the second consideration; it sits indoors, near the router, with a reasonably central position relative to the ZigBee mesh. Coverage radius is generous in a residential setting and can need a relay device in a larger commercial footprint.

Motion sensor sight-lines should be considered alongside soffit details. Where an awning, pergola beam, or recessed ceiling detail can hide the sensor neatly, the architectural elevation stays cleaner; the extension rod options give the installer the height adjustment they need without requiring a custom mounting solution. The Lift System available on certain models adjusts heater angle through a motorised mechanism, which pairs naturally with the cable planning conversation and is worth noting at design stage rather than discovering on site.

A useful specification checklist for the documentation set:

• Switch cable run from heater to Dual R3 position confirmed at rough-in

• ZigBee Bridge location specified indoors, within router range

• Motion sensor sight-lines clear of permanent obstructions

• Heater IP rating matched to exposure (covered, semi-open, or fully exposed)

• Isolation switch position accessible without removing finishes

The Pure+ 3000W, IP65-rated and a 2018 Red Dot Design Award recipient, is a frequent indoor-outdoor specification because it sits comfortably under covered terraces and inside high-spec sunrooms. The Vision 3200W carries the same IP65 rating with a commercial-grade build. The Next 3000W brings the directional swivel joint into the mix at a different IP rating, which makes it the right pick for sheltered, focused-coverage installations.

Automated control changes how the heater is triggered, not how the heater behaves once it's on. Every clearance requirement, every electrical protection requirement, and every supervision rule applies to a smart-controlled heater exactly as it applies to a manually controlled one.

A short checklist for any automated installation:

1. Maintain all manufacturer clearances regardless of how the heater is controlled. An automated heater can be triggered when nobody is watching, which is precisely why clearance discipline matters more, not less.

2. Avoid automated schedules in spaces with vulnerable occupants who cannot reposition themselves away from the heat field. The system has no occupancy intelligence beyond a motion trigger.

3. Isolate at the breaker before any maintenance. The app shows the heater's current state, not a guaranteed disconnect; a scheduled automation could re-power it during a service window.

4. GFCI or RCD protection is mandatory on the electrical circuit feeding the heater. This is independent of smart control and applies to every installation.

5. The NTC sensor and the latching temperature limiter built into the heater provide overheat protection as a safety fallback. They are not the primary safeguard; specification, installation, and supervision are.

A small aside: one of the quieter benefits of smart control is the audit trail. Every state change is logged in the app, which is genuinely useful on a commercial site when a maintenance question lands on the manager's desk a fortnight after the fact. That kind of operational visibility is hard to retrofit later, and worth turning on from day one.

The architecture comes down to three layers stacked at the wall: the heater itself, the Dual R3 Wi-Fi switch that brings it onto the app, and the optional ZigBee accessories that extend the system into motion-triggered, multi-zone, and scene-based automation. The two-stage logic stays the same throughout; what changes is who or what is doing the triggering.

The eWeLink app costs nothing beyond the hardware, which keeps the entry point low for a residential setup and the running cost predictable for a commercial one. The same architecture scales from a single back-deck heater to a thirty-table restaurant courtyard without changing the underlying components, and that's the design point worth holding onto. Outdoor heating used to be a fixed cost on a wall switch. With the smart layer in place, it becomes a responsive, schedule-aware, occupancy-aware part of the way the space actually behaves.