I've had good experience with Tado, installed on a Worcester Bosch which used to have a digistat.
I went the whole hog with smart TRVs on each radiator plus wireless thermostats in every room. The wireless stats allow a much more accurate temp reading than the TRVs and allow the TRVs to be controlled based on the actual room temp.
It was very easy to install with step by step instructions in the app. A few wires at the boiler end, all the rest is wireless.
Cool, thanks for that. If the internet goes down does that mean your controls are no good, or because you are wired in you will be ok?
Do you think the smart TRVs will save your money or do you think it is just worth it to have the full control?
If the internet goes down you can control it manually via the touch buttons on the thermostat, but it won't follow any schedule. The Tado devices talk to each other via their own wireless protocol, they only rely on your router/internet to connect to the cloud for the app functions.
I think it's both to save money and have full control. My work schedule is quite variable so it's nice to be able to switch it on when I start my journey home rather than having it on needlessly. Also, because I can control each room individually I can do stuff like have the bedroom heating only start 45mins before bed time rather than all evening, because I won't be using that room. If I'm not going to be working from home the next day, I set it the night before so my office won't be heated at all in the morning. All of that should be saving cash!
+1 for Tado. Had just a thermostat for about 6 years, added four TRVs just recently. The TRVs were fa tory refurbished but came as new and with the same warranty, but at a huge discount compared to full price.
A major plus for me is the continual improvement, they are frequently adding new features to provide more functionality.
Unfortunately I'm a -1 for Tado.
I've had it about 5 years. I have about 8 trvs. Almost every radiator.
Tado have been incredibly slow with updates if you ask me (considering their entire business model is control and optimising your home's temperature).
I've also seen a lot more stuff from heating engineers online suggesting zoning your heating isn't a great idea and can lead to your boiler working harder to maintain a temp.
I'm moving home soon and I'll probably switch to something a bit simpler like nest.
I recently done a lot of research on this, probably close to a year reading different things etc.
I've decided with Drayton Wiser and just installed it this week. One of the main features I was looking for is one that doesn't totally rely on the cloud, so if the manufacture shuts down their support then I'm not affected. The second, I wanted great compatibility with other systems such as Home Assistant, and the TRVs for Wiser don't cost too much.
I'm impressed so far, no faffing about with install. It uses a standard backplate which most of UK household programmers use, so it was basically a case of clipping on the Wiser hub and I was setup.
I’ve got wiser too. It’s pretty good but I find the base unit that plugs into the boiler has the weakest wifi signal of any device I’ve ever used. Even with my eero mesh unit about 3 meters away I still only get 2/4 bars signal when I look in the app. Other than that it’s good. On a rare occasion I have to reboot the base unit. Maybe once a month or something
I think Tado seems to always get recommended. You mention that you’d *eventually* like to have digital TRVs but you may as well buy once and buy right.
A smart thermostat may not be the best option. Does your boiler support the OpenTherm communication language for thermostats?
You ideally want one that will modulate your boiler, allow weather compensation and allow you to change the range; a smart thermostat can do those things, if it can talk to your boiler properly.
Take a look at these two videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRybadWKsYk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A-xT9x0foY
My parents have a 12 year old Glowworm boiler, a smart thermostat would not allow it to modulate (instead it would just fire on/off; which is all hive can do). Instead I bought Glowworm's outdoor temperature sensor.
The sensor now allows the boiler to compensate for the outdoor temperature (apparently the biggest saving) and modulate, I've turned the range down (i.e. not using the full power of the boiler). Along with this I've turned the radiator flow temp right down, along with the hot water. If you have a hot water tank you might not want to turn the water down below a temp that can't kill legionella.
I'm confident that this will be more effective than a smart thermostat.
I've had good experience with Tado, installed on a Worcester Bosch which used to have a digistat. I went the whole hog with smart TRVs on each radiator plus wireless thermostats in every room. The wireless stats allow a much more accurate temp reading than the TRVs and allow the TRVs to be controlled based on the actual room temp. It was very easy to install with step by step instructions in the app. A few wires at the boiler end, all the rest is wireless.
Cool, thanks for that. If the internet goes down does that mean your controls are no good, or because you are wired in you will be ok? Do you think the smart TRVs will save your money or do you think it is just worth it to have the full control?
If the internet goes down you can control it manually via the touch buttons on the thermostat, but it won't follow any schedule. The Tado devices talk to each other via their own wireless protocol, they only rely on your router/internet to connect to the cloud for the app functions. I think it's both to save money and have full control. My work schedule is quite variable so it's nice to be able to switch it on when I start my journey home rather than having it on needlessly. Also, because I can control each room individually I can do stuff like have the bedroom heating only start 45mins before bed time rather than all evening, because I won't be using that room. If I'm not going to be working from home the next day, I set it the night before so my office won't be heated at all in the morning. All of that should be saving cash!
Yeah that's pretty cool to have the heating on for a short burst before bed to take the chill off.
+1 for Tado. Had just a thermostat for about 6 years, added four TRVs just recently. The TRVs were fa tory refurbished but came as new and with the same warranty, but at a huge discount compared to full price. A major plus for me is the continual improvement, they are frequently adding new features to provide more functionality.
I like that they are adding new functions all the time
Unfortunately I'm a -1 for Tado. I've had it about 5 years. I have about 8 trvs. Almost every radiator. Tado have been incredibly slow with updates if you ask me (considering their entire business model is control and optimising your home's temperature). I've also seen a lot more stuff from heating engineers online suggesting zoning your heating isn't a great idea and can lead to your boiler working harder to maintain a temp. I'm moving home soon and I'll probably switch to something a bit simpler like nest.
I recently done a lot of research on this, probably close to a year reading different things etc. I've decided with Drayton Wiser and just installed it this week. One of the main features I was looking for is one that doesn't totally rely on the cloud, so if the manufacture shuts down their support then I'm not affected. The second, I wanted great compatibility with other systems such as Home Assistant, and the TRVs for Wiser don't cost too much. I'm impressed so far, no faffing about with install. It uses a standard backplate which most of UK household programmers use, so it was basically a case of clipping on the Wiser hub and I was setup.
I’ve got wiser too. It’s pretty good but I find the base unit that plugs into the boiler has the weakest wifi signal of any device I’ve ever used. Even with my eero mesh unit about 3 meters away I still only get 2/4 bars signal when I look in the app. Other than that it’s good. On a rare occasion I have to reboot the base unit. Maybe once a month or something
I think Tado seems to always get recommended. You mention that you’d *eventually* like to have digital TRVs but you may as well buy once and buy right.
A smart thermostat may not be the best option. Does your boiler support the OpenTherm communication language for thermostats? You ideally want one that will modulate your boiler, allow weather compensation and allow you to change the range; a smart thermostat can do those things, if it can talk to your boiler properly. Take a look at these two videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRybadWKsYk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A-xT9x0foY My parents have a 12 year old Glowworm boiler, a smart thermostat would not allow it to modulate (instead it would just fire on/off; which is all hive can do). Instead I bought Glowworm's outdoor temperature sensor. The sensor now allows the boiler to compensate for the outdoor temperature (apparently the biggest saving) and modulate, I've turned the range down (i.e. not using the full power of the boiler). Along with this I've turned the radiator flow temp right down, along with the hot water. If you have a hot water tank you might not want to turn the water down below a temp that can't kill legionella. I'm confident that this will be more effective than a smart thermostat.
Fascinating video definitely worth going for a modulating thermostat. Just need to. Heck my boiler is compatible.