Options to save on bills, Smart Thermostat do they work ?

[mid_gen]

So the tado does same.
How good is your 'open window'?
Mines a bit of a gimmick.
It detects drops in temp/rapid humidity changes. But only turns the boiler off for 15 mins?

So obviously if the window is left open, it just stays on.

The rest is great.

Seems to keep the radiator off in the room with the window open for me.

I won't pretend the Bosch EasyControl app is great. It works though. I would have looked at a different solution, but when I moved in there was a brand new Bosch smart boiler installed recently, so it was just a case of buying the TRVs and connecting them.

 

[413x]

Seems to keep the radiator off in the room with the window open for me.

I won't pretend the Bosch EasyControl app is great. It works though. I would have looked at a different solution, but when I moved in there was a brand new Bosch smart boiler installed recently, so it was just a case of buying the TRVs and connecting them.

Ah yes sorry this is the same. That trv will turn off only. (obviously if its the only one demanding heat the boiler will turn off).

I guess anything else would be impossible to implement with window opening

 

[robj20]

I don't think so. I'm gonna have a look now.
It's no big deal as it's a bit niche scenario.

The geofencing however. Yes. That's amazing.

Edit. Just looked. You can extend the time. That's all.

I used Geofencing briefly but ditched it, just doesnt work for our situation.

The downside to doing it that way if you have smaller radiators is that in the depths of winter it might struggle to even warm the house up or certainly be slow. The perk of opentherm is the system asks the boiler for a specific flow temperature to achieve the goal, rather than ask for a heat demand which just means the boiler turns on and off at intervals. The goal of opentherm is to keep the boiler on permanently or at least on as much as possible.

For instance in winter my boiler basically almost never turns off but the flow might only be maintained at 25c to keep the house at 20c. In warmer weather though it might turn off for 20 minutes out of an hour, but you can set a cycle rate and minimum on time to suit the boiler.

To save money you basically want the flow as low as possible while having the boiler on as much as possible. But that means big radiators or wet underfloor.

The other perk because of all that is rooms stay at a steady temperature, mine never fluctuate by more than 0.5c, unless you open a door for instance.

 

[413x]

I used Geofencing briefly but ditched it, just doesnt work for our situation.

Quite good for us. If we both go out it goes into away mode. Come back. And it comes back on

 

[robj20]

Quite good for us. If we both go out it goes into away mode. Come back. And it comes back on

Yes that worked like that for us, issue being when the grandparents were round looking after the children it meant repeatedly turning it back on. I could though fit motion sensors, but then the pets would keep it on, or give my mum a fob to act as a presence.
Just have it on timer now to work around or work pattern, and my mum knows to just turn the top of the radiator thermostat to what ever temp she wants.

 

[413x]

Yes that worked like that for us, issue being when the grandparents were round looking after the children it meant repeatedly turning it back on. I could though fit motion sensors, but then the pets would keep it on, or give my mum a fob to act as a presence.
Just have it on timer now to work around or work pattern, and my mum knows to just turn the top of the radiator thermostat to what ever temp she wants.

Ah yes. That completely borks it. Because it's just me and the gf we both have the app. So it's fine.

Definitely loses value more independent people who access the property regularly

 

[Richie]

The Nest Learning one senses if people are still at home which should help prevent that

 

[Psycho Sonny]

Yes that worked like that for us, issue being when the grandparents were round looking after the children it meant repeatedly turning it back on. I could though fit motion sensors, but then the pets would keep it on, or give my mum a fob to act as a presence.
Just have it on timer now to work around or work pattern, and my mum knows to just turn the top of the radiator thermostat to what ever temp she wants.

Nest can sense when someone is at home especially if you also use their smoke/carbon monoxide detectors.

You don't need to use phone app to turn it on and off. Geo does that in combination with sensors in all their products

 

[robj20]

Nest can sense when someone is at home especially if you also use their smoke/carbon monoxide detectors.

You don't need to use phone app to turn it on and off. Geo does that in combination with sensors in all their products

But Nest cant do much else that Evohome can. I can make Evohome work, that's the beauty of it, but that particular function isn't so important to me. Like i say i could fit motion sensors, or i could trigger it via a door sensor, or use key fobs.

 

[nox_uk]

You really need one with zoned heating, otherwise you are missing out on the main benefits. We went with Tado years back, there were only really two options then, and it’s certainly functional. It has stopped our combi being on even when not needed. Batteries cost, I don’t know how much it saves even though the reports are pretty.

 

[Bluecube]

I have a Hive set up which was really useful last winter with home working as I only needed one room heated during the day.

 

[Smrtka]

I have read that TADO is not implementing subscription plans ? Is there any "Smart" valves that dont need and account with email address and the location ? Id like to get some that just implement to the Home assistant and dont need any extra apps, my date of birth, copy of my dental records, pin code for all my cards and so on ? If not I will just get manual TRVs with temp Sensors in the room

 

[Semple]

So the tado does same.
How good is your 'open window'?
Mines a bit of a gimmick.
It detects drops in temp/rapid humidity changes. But only turns the boiler off for 15 mins?

So obviously if the window is left open, it just stays on.

The rest is great.

It's funny how something a bit gimmicky could be resolved with some very basic home automation. I.e. i could easily set up an automation that if the window sensors are open then switch off / turn down the TRV.

 

[413x]

It's funny how something a bit gimmicky could be resolved with some very basic home automation. I.e. i could easily set up an automation that if the window sensors are open then switch off / turn down the TRV.

Got to have window sensors for that!
Can't be that common?

 

[Bluecube]

You can get window sensors quite cheaply on Amazon. If you have a Home Assistant type set up then it’s quite straight forward to make an automation to tie the TRVs to the window sensors. If you don’t - that’s where it gets difficult!

 

[dirtychinchilla]

That depends entirely how the system is setup, crap setup then yes what you say is true, but still depends on the amount of time its on and off. A properly setup modern opentherm system should never not be condensing.
For instance, mine it would make no difference, its always in condensing mode only time it isn't is when its producing hot water.

Depends on your return temperatures. Condensing happens at < 54C, so if your return temperatures are higher than that then it's not going to be condensing. Most people's return temperatures are very high, so very few boilers are going to condense. I set my flow temp as low as I can, normally 60C to try and achieve this.

Edit: sorry just got further into the thread and you've already said this.

I had a new Worcester boiler installed a couple of years ago. You can adjust the temperature for the boiler and there’s a label next to the knob that states the most economical temperature is 62C. From what I’ve read above, I should be able to drop this temp to 45C with no ill effect?

I think this is unlikely to work. Your radiators are probably not sized for such a low flow temperature.

 

[2013]

Reading everything thing I can tell im not as knowledgeable as you guys, So I have a few questions.

1. do I need and should I get a smart thermostat?
2. Which should I get google nest, tado or something else?
3. What is the difference between google and tado?
4. which one would be more useful?
5. does google have the open window and other options?
6. will google work with smart valves and would I need them

google also offer a heatlink do I also need to get that or is it a part of the package


also just a side note I have an ideal combi boiler I got 4 years ago can I do much to make most of that?
My bathroom is always freezing I only have a towel rail what should I switch this with?

 

[413x]

Reading everything thing I can tell im not as knowledgeable as you guys, So I have a few questions.

1. do I need and should I get a smart thermostat?
2. Which should I get google nest, tado or something else?
3. What is the difference between google and tado?
4. which one would be more useful?
5. does google have the open window and other options?
6. will google work with smart valves and would I need them

google also offer a heatlink do I also need to get that or is it a part of the package


also just a side note I have an ideal combi boiler I got 4 years ago can I do much to make most of that?
My bathroom is always freezing I only have a towel rail what should I switch this with?

Google and tado are very different.

Google is smart as in it learns. But at present I don't think they have individual radiator control.
That's what I needed so choice was tado or hive. Went tado I believe that's a bit better from reading reviews.
Google would be useless for me.

All you need with tado is tado. No 3rd party links or anything. Just a starter kit and whatever you add.

My set up cost me 100 for the starter kit including hot water control.
And 40 for each trv.

So just under 400 pounds I guess. (7 radiators are tado controlled)

Is it worth it? Not sure. Not been through a winter yet.



What it absolutely does help with is balancing heat around the house. No longer are there hot and cold spots. And as I need ad hoc hot water it's much easier to turn that on when needed rather than mess around with a clunky timer.