Smart heating - what set up should I have?

hoth0416

Hi all

I am looking to get either Hive/Tado/etc.. but want to know whether what I want is possible.

Essentially I want to control the temperature in every room. Ideally, I would want a smart TRV on every radiator to control when each radiator is on or not.

I currently have three thermostats - 1 for the downstairs heating, 1 for the upstairs heating, and one for the hot water. More detail on the current set up below.

The issue I face is, for example, the upstairs thermostat is in the master bedroom. Therefore, if I want the radiator on in another bedroom and NOT the master, that is not possible. 

Can one of the smart heating solutions solve this? If so - what sort of set up would I need.

Would appreciate any recommendations!

Thanks

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Current Set Up:

Downstairs: Thermostat in hallway / 2 Radiator in Living Room / 1 Radiator in hallway (no TRV) / 3 Radiators in Kitchen/Diner

Upstairs: Thermostat in master / 1 Radiator in Master (no TRV) / 1 rad in each bedroom x 3

Hot water tank room: Thermostat for hot water

john.h

https://getconnected.honeywellhome.com/en/evohome

clueless_but_curious

Yes, they all do this.  You name the room, and set a schedule for that particular room.  Better for landlords are systems that detect whether the room is empty and refrain from heating an empty room even if it is on schedule to be heated

hoth0416

john.h said:

https://getconnected.honeywellhome.com/en/evohome

Thanks - this looks good! Though the system I want seems like the older version (that's not compatible with Apple HomeKit) - their new thermostat (which is HomeKit compatible) isn't compatible with their other system or the TRVs!

clueless_but_curious said:

Yes, they all do this.  You name the room, and set a schedule for that particular room.  Better for landlords are systems that detect whether the room is empty and refrain from heating an empty room even if it is on schedule to be heated

Thanks! How would they work in the rooms that currently have a thermostat?

southcoastrgi

The house bashers that fit the upstairs stat in the bedroom are idiots, I have also seen them fitted in the airing cupboard with the hot water cylinder, the easiest thing to do is fit a trv to that bedroom rad & then set the stat to the highest temp you want upstairs & let the trv's in the other rooms look after themselves 

Grumpy_chap

Drayton Wiser may be worth considering.

hoth0416

southcoastrgi said:

The house bashers that fit the upstairs stat in the bedroom are idiots, I have also seen them fitted in the airing cupboard with the hot water cylinder, the easiest thing to do is fit a trv to that bedroom rad & then set the stat to the highest temp you want upstairs & let the trv's in the other rooms look after themselves 

Would keeping the thermostat on full cause any issues even if all the TRVs are set to a low temp so the radiators aren't on? Not sure exactly how it works but I wouldn't want a situation where the thermostat is asking the boiler to heat water where its not needed (sorry if this isn't at all what happens - I'm not quite sure!)

ic

I recently moved house and went with Tado with smart TRVs.  I'm very happy with it, the app works well, and after tuning over a couple of weeks it now runs itself.  In my previous house I had the Bosch Easycontrol with smart TRVs, and we found those TRVs far noiser when opening or closing - the motor on Tado TRV is much quicker and quieter, and seems to adjust less often - so much so we're fine with it on the bedroom radiator.  The Bosch TRV was too noisy for the bedroom.

If you were to fit it you'll need to hard wire your existing stats so they're on all the time - you won't need to put the wireless stat where they are.  The wireless stat just works as a more accurate thermostat in one of your rooms in tandem with the smart TRVs you put in that particular room.

Things to note with Tado:
* geofencing, where it automatically turns itself off when the house is empty, and turns back on as people head home is a subscription service.  If you don't pay the app will simply prompt you to switch mode if it spots everyone has left or it thinks a window is open.
* tado supports a max of ten rooms, and 25 devices - sounds like it'll be plenty for you.
* if you lose internet, the system will stop where its at on the schedules until the internet returns.  You can still adjust temps manually via the TRVs and wall panel.

A Tado starter kit with 8 TRVs is on offer at Costco from Monday 25th - https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/tado-whole-house-starter-kit-3652838.  You'll need membership, which you can purchase for £15 if you don't already have it.

hoth0416

ic said:

I recently moved house and went with Tado with smart TRVs. 

This seems great and exactly what I’m after!! Just a few quick questions:

1) On my existing hard wired stats. If they’re on all the time does this impact the work my boiler does? 

2) Do I get rid of my existing upstairs/downstairs thermostat? It do  they become redundant when Tado gets working?

2) How does Tado interact wi tv my hot water thermostat (again, currently hard wired)

Thanks!

clueless_but_curious

If you are going to wire it yourself, disconnect the existing thermostats, they are serving as an unnecessary switch which you are forcing to always be 'on'.  If you do not understand the circuits, don't try it yourself

hoth0416

Certainly won’t be trying it myself and will likely get someone in if it needs the expertise! Tado looks good though and seems to solve the problem I had with the master always needing to be on!

Now to work out if my current master bedroom radiator that doesn’t have a TRV can be converted!! And to see if Tado will can replace my bathroom towel rail TRVs!