What is the EcoEdge ECO1624?

The EcoEdge ECO1624 is a 16-port 24V DC controller designed specifically for Home Assistant users who want reliable, local-first hardware for underfloor heating, irrigation, HVAC zone control, and custom automation. It communicates over WiFi using MQTT with auto-discovery, which means your Home Assistant instance detects all 16 switch entities automatically — no configuration files to edit and no cloud account to create.

Unlike generic relay modules that require manual MQTT topic configuration or complex integrations, the ECO1624 announces itself to Home Assistant through the standard MQTT discovery protocol. Within seconds of connecting to your network, you see a device with 16 individually controllable switches ready to use in automations, scripts, and dashboards.

The controller mounts on a standard 35mm DIN rail, fits inside any residential electrical enclosure, and uses screw terminal connectors for professional-grade wiring. It is rated for 85–265VAC input, making it compatible with both European and international electrical systems.

Home Assistant Integration — How It Works

ECO1624 uses the Home Assistant MQTT integration with auto-discovery. Here is the exact setup sequence:

1. Connect ECO1624 to power — wire to 85–265VAC using the screw terminals on the left side of the DIN module.
2. Open the web UI — connect to the device's access point on first boot, then enter your WiFi SSID and password. The device joins your local network and gets an IP from your DHCP server.
3. Configure your MQTT broker — enter the IP address of your MQTT broker (usually the Home Assistant host running the Mosquitto add-on), broker port (default 1883), and optionally a username and password.
4. Home Assistant discovers the device — within seconds of saving the MQTT settings, Home Assistant receives the discovery payload and creates a device with 16 switch entities named switch.eco1624_port_1 through switch.eco1624_port_16.
5. Wire your actuators — connect 24V NC or NO actuators (underfloor heating, solenoid valves, relays) to the output screw terminals. Each port handles up to 1.7A at 24V DC.
6. Build automations — the switch entities work with any Home Assistant feature: automations, scripts, scenes, dashboards, thermostat integrations, and Node-RED.

The MQTT broker can be the official Mosquitto add-on for Home Assistant OS, a standalone Mosquitto instance, EMQX, or any standards-compliant MQTT 3.1.1 broker on your local network.

Underfloor Heating Zone Control with Home Assistant

The most common use for ECO1624 is controlling a multi-zone radiant floor heating manifold. A typical 10-zone underfloor system uses 10 thermostatic actuators on the manifold — each actuator opens or closes a circuit to let hot water flow through that zone's floor loop. ECO1624 drives each actuator directly: one port per zone.

In Home Assistant, each ECO1624 switch entity pairs with a generic thermostat (or climate entity from a temperature sensor):

climate:
  - platform: generic_thermostat
    name: Living Room Floor
    heater: switch.eco1624_port_1
    target_sensor: sensor.living_room_temperature
    min_temp: 15
    max_temp: 28
    cold_tolerance: 0.3
    hot_tolerance: 0.5

Repeat this block for each zone. Home Assistant then manages heating independently per room — setback during sleep, boost before wake-up, presence-based control — all running locally with no cloud dependency. The ECO1624 simply opens or closes the actuator port as directed.

ECO1624 supports both NC (normally closed) and NO (normally open) actuators. Most standard 24V underfloor heating actuators are NC (open when power is cut) or NO (close when powered). Both types wire directly to the same output terminals — the firmware handles the logic direction.

Irrigation Control with Home Assistant

ECO1624 is equally suited for garden irrigation with 24V solenoid valves. Each valve connects to one output port. Home Assistant's irrigation integration (or a custom automation) opens and closes valves on a schedule, based on soil moisture sensors, weather forecasts, or manual triggers.

A simple automation to water a zone for 10 minutes every morning:

automation:
  - alias: Water Zone 1 Morning
    trigger:
      - platform: time
        at: "06:30:00"
    condition:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: binary_sensor.rain_today
        state: "off"
    action:
      - service: switch.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: switch.eco1624_port_3
      - delay: "00:10:00"
      - service: switch.turn_off
        target:
          entity_id: switch.eco1624_port_3

Because ECO1624 is fully local, the irrigation schedule executes even when your internet is down. The automation runs in Home Assistant on your own hardware, communicates with ECO1624 over your WiFi network, and opens the valve. No cloud server is involved at any point.

HVAC Zone Control and Other Use Cases

Beyond heating and irrigation, ECO1624 drives any 24V DC device within the 1.7A per-port limit:

• HVAC zone dampers — open and close duct dampers to route conditioned air to active zones only, reducing energy waste.
• Fan coil units — control 24V fan coil contactors for multi-zone cooling or heating.
• Motorized valve actuators — for hydronic systems with zone valves on the supply or return manifold.
• Pump and circulation starters — activate zone pumps on demand rather than running continuously.
• Gate and garage door interfaces — trigger 24V control inputs on gate controllers.
• Custom relay boards — drive 24V coil relay modules that switch higher voltages for lighting or equipment.

All 16 ports are individually addressable and can mix device types freely. You might run 8 heating zones, 4 irrigation valves, and 4 HVAC dampers from a single ECO1624.

ECO1624 vs Generic Relay Modules

Technical Specifications

Frequently Asked Questions