Tado or not Tado...

garion

Hi everyone
Hoping you can give me some advice. I'm looking a SMART Thermostats & struggling to identify which product is best for what I need.

What I have:
- Oil Central Heating (Sime Rondo 7)
- 2 zones (upstairs & downstairs) + Hot Water
- 1 triple relay programmer (ChannelPlus H37XL) + 2 "dumb" thermostats controlling the zones.

What I want:
- Obviously an ability to remotely control my heating
- I'd also really like to be able to control each room (or as many as I can) so that's the main I've been looking at Tado & their Smart Radiator Thermostats.

What I'm confused about:
- I've spoke to Tado & they've said there is no way for them to replace my triple relay controller as the most they do is dual relay. So I would need 2 smart wall thermostats but my hot water would be still be controlled by my existing ChannelPlus programmer. I can then obviously add in as many radiator thermostats as I want.
That's OK I guess, but it will mean that on my ChannelPlus programmer I will need to keep the 2 zones constantly "on" so that the Tado thermostats can control their zones/radiators.
What I'm confused about is whether keeping the zones "on" will mean the boiler is also constantly "on"? Or will the pump be "on" aswell/instead? Or do the smart thermostats fire the boiler/turn on the pump only when they are required to do so (i.e. when I ask for one of the kids bedrooms to be heated)?

I want a smart heating system but also obviously want it to as efficient as possible and it doesn't sound like having the boiler/pump potentially on 24/7 is the right solution.

Would other solutions like EvoHome, Nest or Heatmeiser work better for my setup?

Many thanks

reni10

I have something very similar to what you are asking but it is gas with 3 zones.

I got 2 Netatmo thermostats for €99 each and now have them both controlling the 2 heating zones with the water heating still using the existing controller.

The 2 heating zones are set to always on in the controller and the boiler only switches on when the smart thermostats tell it to.

The good thing also about the netatmo is I am now also able to use the thermostats wirelessly so now no longer have to heat the hall or the spare bedroom as that is stupidly where the existing dumb thermostats were placed!

Pitcairn

Hi reni10
I have the same home set up as yourself.
Did you simply replace the two (2-wire) wall thermostats with two Netatmos?

Did you install any relays?

reni10

I had an electrician wire the relays into the boiler and disconnect the 2 dumb thermostats.

I now just use the wireless thermostats and all works well.

Pitcairn

reni10 wrote: »

I had an electrician wire the relays into the boiler and disconnect the 2 dumb thermostats.

I now just use the wireless thermostats and all works well.

Thanks. I think I could have handled swapping the existing wall thermostat for the Netatmo but messing with the boiler is beyond me.

garion

reni10 wrote: »

I have something very similar to what you are asking but it is gas with 3 zones.

I got 2 Netatmo thermostats for €99 each and now have them both controlling the 2 heating zones with the water heating still using the existing controller.

The 2 heating zones are set to always on in the controller and the boiler only switches on when the smart thermostats tell it to.

The good thing also about the netatmo is I am now also able to use the thermostats wirelessly so now no longer have to heat the hall or the spare bedroom as that is stupidly where the existing dumb thermostats were placed!

Thanks reni10, I actually hadn't looked at Netatmo too closely so wasn't aware they had recently launched a radiator valve. That's interesting.

I'd love to replace the controller with whatever solution rather than having the 2 smart termostats and then something else controlling the hot water.

Nest seems to be the be nearly exactly what I want, except they don't have any radiator valves. Does anyone know if they're rumoured to be adding it to their product list any time soon? If it is I'd definitely go with Nest I think.

Think I'll just give Nest (and Honeywell) a call to see what they say.

Thanks again for the input. Loving this new forum, didn't know I was interested in HA until I seen it! :P

dloob

I have a similar setup to reni10 but with tado.
I have an oil boiler, it had a 4 channel controller with 3 heating zones with analog thermostats and one zone for hot water.
I replaced the analog thermostats with tado's and the heating zones are now "always on" on the controller.
You can still turn the temperature up and down on the tado's themselves.
The hot water is still on it's own analog cylinder thermostat and the controller timer settings.

The way it's wired pretty simple, basically wire goes from controller though thermostat relay to zone valve to boiler.
Boiler is only on if the thermostat relay is closed.

garion

dloob wrote: »

I have a similar setup to reni10 but with tado.
I have an oil boiler, it had a 4 channel controller with 3 heating zones with analog thermostats and one zone for hot water.
I replaced the analog thermostats with tado's and the heating zones are now "always on" on the controller.
You can still turn the temperature up and down on the tado's themselves.
The hot water is still on it's own analog cylinder thermostat and the controller timer settings.

The way it's wired pretty simple, basically wire goes from controller though thermostat relay to zone valve to boiler.
Boiler is only on if the thermostat relay is closed.

Thanks dloob, Tado was my first choice but when I called them last week the guy I was talking to indicated that the pump would be on 24/7 if I set the zones "always on" which obviously doesn't sound right.

Can you explain what you mean by:

dloob wrote: »

Boiler is only on if the thermostat relay is closed.

Do you mean that with the zones "always on", the boiler/pump only come on when the tado calls for extra heat (i.e. the temperature in the room with tado thermostat is cooler than what is set on the tado thermostat itself)?
Sorry that's a mouthful but hopefully it makes sense!

I'm OK with controlling the hot water from the existing controller, just want to make sure that using the tado thermostats as required while the zones are "always on" isn't going result in a burnt out pump or a boiler that is also "always on".

Thanks!

dloob

garion wrote: »

Thanks dloob, Tado was my first choice but when I called them last week the guy I was talking to indicated that the pump would be on 24/7 if I set the zones "always on" which obviously doesn't sound right.

Can you explain what you mean by:


Do you mean that with the zones "always on", the boiler/pump only come on when the tado calls for extra heat (i.e. the temperature in the room with tado thermostat is cooler than what is set on the tado thermostat itself)?
Sorry that's a mouthful but hopefully it makes sense!

I'm OK with controlling the hot water from the existing controller, just want to make sure that using the tado thermostats as required while the zones are "always on" isn't going result in a burnt out pump or a boiler that is also "always on".

Thanks!

Yes that's correct boiler/pump only come on when the tado calls for extra heat.
After all even with your current setup, imagine that everything is up to temperature in your house, you would not expect the boiler and pump to keep running.

As a way to test you could wait until your house is warmed up, set the two zones to constant on and hot water off, turn the dumb thermostats all the way down.
Then if you check your boiler and pump then they should be off.

garion

dloob wrote: »

Yes that's correct boiler/pump only come on when the tado calls for extra heat.
After all even with your current setup, imagine that everything is up to temperature in your house, you would not expect the boiler and pump to keep running.

As a way to test you could wait until your house is warmed up, set the two zones to constant on and hot water off, turn the dumb thermostats all the way down.
Then if you check your boiler and pump then they should be off.

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks alot dloob!

sharkman

Has anyone connected the Tado Extension Kit to a DANFOSS HPA2 2 PORT VALVE ACTUATOR attatched to hot tank . I want to control flow of hot water . The Danfoss controls the flow of Hot water . Position one HOT WATER ONLY , Position two HOT WATER and HEATING . This is controlled via a two way rocker switch .

Any ideas Guys ??

Argo foc yourself

I wanted to control my heating via app on phone. I also want to control my immersion hot water tank via same. What so I need? Do I need two thermostats? Ivan currently considering the tado

Argo foc yourself

Argo foc yourself wrote: »

I wanted to control my heating via app on phone. I also want to control my immersion hot water tank via same. What so I need? Do I need two thermostats? Ivan currently considering the tado

Anyone? discount on the product today - just wondering if anyone can tell me if I need two thermostats?

1 to control heating and 1 to control immersion?

john_doe.

Argo foc yourself wrote: »

Anyone? discount on the product today - just wondering if anyone can tell me if I need two thermostats?

1 to control heating and 1 to control immersion?

I don't think you need two thermostats with Tado.
You need the extension kit to control the hot water .

https://www.tado.com/ie/products/extension-kit

Argo foc yourself

john_doe. wrote: »

I don't think you need two thermostats with Tado.
You need the extension kit to control the hot water .

https://www.tado.com/ie/products/extension-kit

is the extension kit not to have a thermostat/control in a room of your choice rather than where the controls are currently wired - in my case the utility

bk

Argo foc yourself wrote: »

is the extension kit not to have a thermostat/control in a room of your choice rather than where the controls are currently wired - in my case the utility

It allows you to do that, but also control hot water zone.

Argo foc yourself

bk wrote: »

It allows you to do that, but also control hot water zone.

ok thanks for the info