new baby = tado? or hive, nest or another?

[bob999]

been getting some great help here on my broken thermostat.
heating/boiler advice, honeywell thermostat - what is my state?

i've been trying to sort out my heating system and need a new receiver and thermostat so may as well go smart.

Im thinking i have 2 main requirements

1)control thermostat remotely away from home
2) control temperature specifically in Nursery/ our bedroom

The house is not greatly insulated, windows need sorting, so thermostat location in the hallway might be generally lower than everywhere else hence additional requirement to make sure specific rooms are up to scratch.

Tado V3
Tado on paper seems to be the only one where i can achieve both 1 and 2 as it has radiator thermostats to effectively just micro control those 2 rooms.

However it seems much more expensive than the others and see lots bad reviews that they now have a mandatory monthly sunbscription or most of the features don't work! is it worth it?


Hive
Maybe i could go hive but have tado raditator valves? 2 systems to manage? might be painful!

any other ideas or alternatives to make sure some of the rooms are warm enough?

thanks

 

[bob999]

or maybe im being an insane new parent, and geo fencing /zoning is overkill?

 

[Harvest Fields]

Look at the Drayton wiser

 

[bob999]

Look at the Drayton wiser

Ah this actually looks good and reasonable price! i guess the only negative is it might not have some of the fancy features like knowing when i'm in the house or not, but not so important?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drayton-Wiser-Thermostat-Kit-Heating/dp/B075GRPZQ1

 

[bob999]

Ah this actually looks good and reasonable price!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drayton-Wiser-Thermostat-Kit-Heating/dp/B075GRPZQ1

Looks like its between Drayton wiser, Tado or Netatmo?

by the way do the radiator thermostats need a battery?

 

[Harvest Fields]

The Drayton ones need battery’s yes. I would go Drayton all day long. Or Honeywell evohome(but that is expensive)

 

[AMGasServices]

I’d say no to any smart thermostat. Why give the data of my heating etc... some third party.

 

[bob999]

The Drayton ones need battery’s yes. I would go Drayton all day long. Or Honeywell evohome(but that is expensive)

Thanks yeah I’m thinking that way at the moment for sure to go with Drayton.

One question, how does the smart try thermostat accurately know what the room temperature is when it is so close to the radiator? Does it just estimate?

I presume if you really want to be accurate you can get additional wireless thermostats?

 

[bob999]

I’d say no to any smart thermostat. Why give the data of my heating etc... some third party.

I wouldn’t say it’s too sensitive, except if they can tell if you are at home or not!! The classic argument of covenience vs safety I suppose.

 

[Welder]

Firstly. Stop nattering. Your child is more at risk from overzealousness than anything else

Sorry, but if you are concerned about:

• heating performance
• money wasted
• the environment or
• your childs future

then you are starting from the wrong place. When you have a bucket with holes in you DO NOT pour ever more water in. You fill the darn holes!

Get some decent insulation installed in your home instead of throwing it away on 'thick' users who think controls are Smart. FYI, NONE do a better job than someone who thinks and is not too lazy to do so.

BTW. I have Tado. It's the least crap of all of 'em (performance wise) but it will being ripped out shortly...

 

[Tim Watts]

been getting some great help here on my broken thermostat.
heating/boiler advice, honeywell thermostat - what is my state?

i've been trying to sort out my heating system and need a new receiver and thermostat so may as well go smart.

Im thinking i have 2 main requirements

1)control thermostat remotely away from home
2) control temperature specifically in Nursery/ our bedroom

The house is not greatly insulated, windows need sorting, so thermostat location in the hallway might be generally lower than everywhere else hence additional requirement to make sure specific rooms are up to scratch.

Tado V3
Tado on paper seems to be the only one where i can achieve both 1 and 2 as it has radiator thermostats to effectively just micro control those 2 rooms.

However it seems much more expensive than the others and see lots bad reviews that they now have a mandatory monthly sunbscription or most of the features don't work! is it worth it?


Hive
Maybe i could go hive but have tado raditator valves? 2 systems to manage? might be painful!

any other ideas or alternatives to make sure some of the rooms are warm enough?

thanks

 

[Tim Watts]

One more option (that I use):
Home - Genius Hub

Battery radio radiator valves so this will do your 1+2 too. Usual affair to fit: put radio boiler relay in place of hall stat or programmer (it has the standard plug on base - your plate will require a neutral wire)

Hub plugs into your network and can go anywhere - needs a 13A socket for that too.

Valves are replacement TRV heads so take a minute to fit if you have a TRV base (they have adaptor rings to several of the more common bases).

 

[bob999]

Firstly. Stop nattering. Your child is more at risk from overzealousness than anything else

Sorry, but if you are concerned about:

• heating performance
• money wasted
• the environment or
• your childs future

then you are starting from the wrong place. When you have a bucket with holes in you DO NOT pour ever more water in. You fill the darn holes!

Get some decent insulation installed in your home instead of throwing it away on 'thick' users who think controls are Smart. FYI, NONE do a better job than someone who thinks and is not too lazy to do so.

BTW. I have Tado. It's the least crap of all of 'em (performance wise) but it will being ripped out shortly...

Haha I’m working on getting my windows sorted from my council as I’m only leaseholder! Why you ripping tado out?

 

[bob999]

One more option (that I use):
Home - Genius Hub

Battery radio radiator valves so this will do your 1+2 too. Usual affair to fit: put radio boiler relay in place of hall stat or programmer (it has the standard plug on base - your plate will require a neutral wire)

Hub plugs into your network and can go anywhere - needs a 13A socket for that too.

Valves are replacement TRV heads so take a minute to fit if you have a TRV base (they have adaptor rings to several of the more common bases).

Thanks mate looks good but this seems the most expensive option that does TRVs.. each one 89.99 plus 250.00 for starter kit...

 

[Tim Watts]

Thanks mate looks good but this seems the most expensive option that does TRVs.. each one 89.99 plus 250.00 for starter kit...

You should try kitting out a whole house with per-room zones!

There's a certain element of you get what you pay for. They're a small British company and this is (to my knowledge) all they do. They've used existing ZWave parts - the rad valve is a Danfoss LivingConnect, the boiler relay is a Horstmann. The hub is their own creation.

What I can say is that it's very very stable. AA batteries last a year or more in the rad valves. Very occasionally in the course of a year, a rad valve might get stuck and you need to pull and reinsert the batteries. But I have 2 very crowded ZWave networks running in my airspace which might make life harder for it. I've done a lighter install (4 valves) in a flat and had almost no problems at all.

There are regular updates and a slow and steady evolution of the product feature wise (I've had it for about 3 years).

If you do get a problem, the company are very responsive and can remote-fix stuff.

That's a pretty honest and balanced appraisal.

Now you can build it cheaper if you cut it to the bones:

The starter pack includes a 13A socket adaptor. That's used to act as a relay for the ZWave radio (perm powered ZWave devices can act as nodes in a mesh network, battery devices cannot).

IME you can usually do without the 13A socket if your devices are not too far apart (normal house). If you can put your hub between the rooms with rad valves in and the boiler relay, you'll improve matters so that's an option (needs wired networking and mains power).

You can grow the system as you wish anytime by buying another rad valve too (done that).

You do not need the wall stat in the bedrooms unless you want a user friendly adjustment point or better measuring if the rad valve is subject to window draughts. The rad valves can act as the primary sensor and will in the absence of any other. Manual override is possible by poking the +/- buttons on the rad valve too.

You will need (recommended) one wall stat though to act as your "general house sensor" and you can put this in the kitchen or living room - whatever you want to be right most of the time.

The only main missing part is there's no user panel. Apart from poking the wall stat or rad valve for a fixed time override, the rest has to be managed through a phone app or website.

By all means of course, consider all systems and choose what fits your bill. I have no connection to Genius, just a happy customer. I can only talk about that as it's the only one I know.

 

[gmartine]

Weather comp sensor about £50
Ability to set TRV's = free

 

[Murdoch]

Loft insulation is the cheapest way to make your home more efficient .........especially if you do it yourself ...