Digit wrote:Hi Jelle,
The docs I read are a bit "blurry" to me, in a way that I will only know if "without Portal" will work is when I see it for myself
It's all commercial talk... commercial = blurry

And what do you mean with "isn't as widely adjustable as the FHT stuff"?
I think you mean that FHT has features MAX! doesn't have; which?
Yeah, I'm missing the KEY feature you need to make it a good product: a device that switches on/off your central heating system.
Overview of MAX! devices on sale:
elv.de/MAX!-Funk-Heizungsregler-System/ ... tail2_1872It's got a room on/off switch, a lan gateway, a radiator valve and a window sensor.
So the radiator valve is a smart system keeping track of the temperature and is coupled with a windows sensor and a room switch. So you can:
1. manually switch off the valve when you leave the room. (or turn it on on entering)
2. it'll get triggered by a window sensor, preventing the valve to be opened when a window is open.
3. only opens up when the temperature setting indicated additional heating is required.
But there's no link to turn your central heating system on / off.
the extra part of FHTThis is the part where the FHT system excels in. It's also linked to a device that controls your central heating. This device works both on district/city heating and or regular central heaters. And this is where you save your money. Controlling the device that burns all the energy and money.
So MAX! might be a viable system, but I'm sceptical about it's advantages in a situation where it's dependent on central heating devices. I see it being a viable alternative for central building heating (flats/appartments) or district heating where there is no on/off switch to cut off the flow of heating into your house and you only have control of the heating through the radiator valves.
about my caseIn my personal case, I have district heating as well. But I have a honeywell flow-valve mounted on the primary lead into the house. That way I have control at the source of the energy cost. I have a FHT80b (thermostat) in every room. The radiators have FHT8v (radiator valves) on them and the windows are mounted with FHT80TF (open/close sensors). The honeywell flow valve is connected to a FHT8w, which has the basic function a regular thermostat has, except for the temperature measurements. It only connects the blue/red wires when required. This requirement is send by the individual FHT80b devices. So each room has the power to individually turn on / off the honeywell valve allowing heating to flow into the house.
District heating works in a star-network rather then a RING circulation network the normal central heating works. To show an example, here's a picture:

(Forget about the circulation pump part, that's a long term idea). As you can see, each radiator has it's individual pipe for the upstream of hot water and off stream for cold water. So when a radiator is shut-off, no heating is lost because there is no flow from the source to that specific radiator.
FHT and InterpretThe FHT system can be couple with a lan/internet gateway as well. Either through the ELV supplied FHZpc hardware and software solution. Or by a open source initiative which the majority of FS20/FHT users on this forums seem to embrace. It's a device called CUL or CUNO made by Busware. Software for it is made by various initiatives amongst them FHEM. And there are rumors flying by a dutch developer of a dutch domotics program got a development cuno as well.. but those haven't been officially verified.