Tado

fredallo

Just a heads up really.

The taco is on sale until the end of the month. I think I am going to take the plunge but I'm still slightly unsure about thing. Mainly the self install and what happens if I decide I don't like it.

I love feedback from other Msers who have experience of this.

Cheers


https://www.tado.com/gb/?gclid=CJCirNKHs8ACFYzHtAodgUMA4g

Smiley_Dan

I wonder how well these systems work when people are always at home. I understand they might save money for those that go out to work, school etc, but for homeworkers... not so sure.

Someone just posted this in another forum which is a comparison of a lot of these systems: http://smarthomeenergy.co.uk/smart-energy-systems-nest-vs-hive-vs-evohome-vs-heat-genius-vs-owl-vs-tado-vs-salus-it500-vs-cosy-vs

fredallo

bump

offer runs out on 31/8

1jim

Have ordered but went for the installer at £50
TopCashBack and also a discount code from tcb.
Rent option for me as a lowcost trial and will buy if it works well

System

As I mentioned on a previous thread, I looked carefully at all these systems and I came to the conclusion that remotely-operated wireless controls were only part of the answer. There is no doubt that the ability to keep the heating low if you are late in the office will save money. As stated above, not everyone is in that situation.

I went for the more expensive Honeywell system because (a) it is produced by a company with a long-standing record of excellence in this sector; (b) it has a hot water kit and (c) additional controls, such as zone valves, can be added.

The EvoHome controller is simplicity itself and the HW kit is already saving me 25% in gas consumed (but sadly, not in money paid out because of SCs). The 'payback' on the £91 for the HW kit will be about 2 years.

I am now looking at wireless radiator valves for the rooms that we do use frequently. The occasional use rooms can stay on the old TRVs. At this point, the ROI becomes more difficult to quantify.

Smiley_Dan

Hengus wrote: »

I am now looking at wireless radiator valves for the rooms that we do use frequently. The occasional use rooms can stay on the old TRVs. At this point, the ROI becomes more difficult to quantify.

These make sense, but the trouble is to have this work properly you need *every* rad with a smart TRV right? Otherwise, if one room demands heat, all the others without smart TRVs will also get it because they don't know they should be shut down.

That's quite a lot of money. We have twenty one radiators... for the entire system you're talking the best part of £1k which is just about one year's cost for space heating, for us.

Given our heating system may be in flux over the coming years (I want to insulate and tighten first and see where that gets us) that's quite a lot to speculate on.

System

Smiley_Dan wrote: »

These make sense, but the trouble is to have this work properly you need *every* rad with a smart TRV right? Otherwise, if one room demands heat, all the others without smart TRVs will also get it because they don't know they should be shut down.

By leaving manual TRVs in the rooms that you only use occasionally you are no worse off than you would be with manual TRVs and a standard hallway thermostat. The HR92 auto TRVs have an off/frost setting of 5C. Manual TRVs appear to have a frost setting of 6C. Yes, to work properly the house needs to be fully zoned and at £50 to 60 per HR92 this is not a cheap option.

When 'designing' my system, I had to take into account the fact that we installed a wood-burning stove 4 years ago. These does a brilliant job of keeping the rooms that we use warm but it has left the heating system unbalanced. Previously, to warm our bedroom up at night, I had to turn all the rads on: EvoHome gets around this particular problem. That said, my investment may well be on the basis of 'nice to have' rather than 'MSE spend to save'.

Smiley_Dan

Yeah - no worse off. But to really get the benefits you have to really invest.

I'm also a little perturbed at the hijacking of the term "zoning". Zoning used to mean physical zoning so even the pipes in certain rooms weren't heated. Now these companies seem to want us to believe there's no heat loss from pipes. Not convinced...

jayson043

I recently installed tado myself. The online temperature charts are cool, it shows you the effect on leaving the curtain wide open during the day, letting the sunshine in, and opening doors to warm up the rest of the house.