* Tado Mini Review *

NightShadow · 19 Oct 2014 at 10:25

So, I had some issues wit my Tado after tuning my heating back on for winter. It worked earlier this year but wasn't turing the boiler on anymore. Presence detection was working and Tado "though" it had tuned the boiler on but it would only come on if I then pressed the home button on the boiler.

After numerous emails with support and sending pics of old and new wiring it is now resolved. Turns out it had always been wired wrong and I need to power my unit using USB, not the power form my old programmer! Not sure how or why it ever worked but I suspect an update has changed how it functions at some point and brought my wiring errors to light.

Support were reasonably responsive but didn't shed any light on how it ever worked if I wired it wrongly.. never mind though, all working now.

Has anybody that is renting upgraded to the Gen 2 Tado? Looks like there is now info displayed and controls on the controller part of Tado, looks quite good actually. Also, price has been reduced to £5 a month.

wonder_lander · 19 Oct 2014 at 10:42

I enquired about the upgrade to v2 last week and was told that to keep my current functionality you now need the extension kit so it would cost more to have the fancier thermostat!

V2 also means locked into a 12 month min contract where as v1 was a rolling 1 month, albeit paid 12 months up front.

For those on the rental model you should have had an email about the reduced price adding additional months onto the end of your current pre-paid rental to give you the same effect as the reduced rental.

Pabl0 · 19 Oct 2014 at 21:29

I actually ordered a day before the upgrade and was offered the new system should I wish.

I was all set for swapping but as above to have the system like for like I'd need to pay extra for the extension kit so decided to keep this version for the 14 months (12 paid for 2 free) then cancel and get the newer system..

davidja · 30 Oct 2014 at 18:27

Tado confusion

I ordered Tado today. After trying to reach their telephone number for the past two days I eventually got an answer (little bit worrying as this is sales call, what will tech be like?).
Ok the query for me is that in my environment my programmer is a long way from the boiler (doubt that's an issue) but it has three channels, two heat (one for underfloor in new part of home, the other in the rest of the property), each is controlled independently as underfloor works by needing to be kept on longer.
As I understand it. Tado do not currently support zones therefore I guess I will maintain the existing programmer for the underfloor heating and will use Tado to control the remaining heat and hot water channels.
THe question is how will my wiring cope with two systems? Any one else dealt with this issue?

R B Customs · 30 Oct 2014 at 19:11

davidja said:
I ordered Tado today. After trying to reach their telephone number for the past two days I eventually got an answer (little bit worrying as this is sales call, what will tech be like?).
Ok the query for me is that in my environment my programmer is a long way from the boiler (doubt that's an issue) but it has three channels, two heat (one for underfloor in new part of home, the other in the rest of the property), each is controlled independently as underfloor works by needing to be kept on longer.
As I understand it. Tado do not currently support zones therefore I guess I will maintain the existing programmer for the underfloor heating and will use Tado to control the remaining heat and hot water channels.
THe question is how will my wiring cope with two systems? Any one else dealt with this issue?

I can answer your first question about phone support exactly!
their phone support for tech is excelent. I rang them on a sunday afternoon and got straight through, was given a contact to speak to when I had to call back after I had made some changes... When I called back I wrongly memorized the numbers you had to press to skip through the options on the phone to get to tech, turns out I hit the option for sales instead and was put on hold almost indefinetly - it was half an hour before I got my GF's phone and called from that (without hanging up on my phone) and realised I had pressed the wrong option - I got through to tech instantly!

If you want to speak to someone, you could try that, if not their email support has been excelent to me while a still in pre-sales.

I'm not certain enough about your next question to answer it, you will have to speak to them about it - they seem to have a way around most things though.

Zatoichi.uK · 26 Jan 2015 at 11:03

For Tado does the location/gps need to be constantly turned on your mobile? Could be a deal breaker that's all.

Shelster · 26 Jan 2015 at 11:06

Zatoichi.uK said:
For Tado does the location/gps need to be constantly turned on your mobile? Could be a deal breaker that's all.

You can get away with course location services, which is by wifi / mobile network. This was what I used and had no issues with it at all.

Zatoichi.uK · 26 Jan 2015 at 11:14

Shelster said:
You can get away with course location services, which is by wifi / mobile network. This was what I used and had no issues with it at all.

Brilliant thanks that's good to know. To rent or to buy I guess....

Shelster · 26 Jan 2015 at 11:19

I went with rental and had to end early as moved house and was not sure if the system was compatible with new boiler.

Get a refund from them for the unused months too, which was nice.

Turns out that Tado is compatible with my new system, but as it is split thermostats (one upstairs one downstairs) I have to decide on which one to replace. Will be going back to the rental side so that I can see how it goes in teh 1st year and then look at purchasing when that is up and have some stats to hit the Mrs with. Will be the downstairs one that I replace btw.

I did ask them if there was any plans for dual thermostats and was told it was coming in late 2015 as part of Tado 2, so that is one of the other main reasons I wil be going for the renatl too....rent unti the dual comes out then return it for that and get refund on unused portion.

R B Customs · 26 Jan 2015 at 11:57

ah this thread is back!

mines still running very well. no issues at all. not even bothered if it's saving or costing me money any more as it just works so well.

Ive emailed support a few times with suggestions and feature requests so hopefully they will see the light of day. they have always replied with a workaround though - nothing serious; just enhancements that I would find useful.

Strikeforce · 26 Jan 2015 at 20:23

I'm quite interested in this but I've got a question that I cant seem to get a clear answer to from the Tado website.

We've currently got a wireless thermostat and I've noticed that on the Tado website it says we need the Extender Kit if we dont have a wired stat currently, is this just to extend the range? I'm just wondering if this is actually required? I was think that the Tado Smart Thermostat would just replace the wireless receiver that is connected to the boiler?

Shelster · 26 Jan 2015 at 20:56

The extension kit takes the place of the wireless receiver.

It was like this with the beta version I had as that had a wireless thermostat with it. You whip out the receiver and then wire in the extender.....seemples

Zatoichi.uK · 26 Jan 2015 at 22:38

Shame in a way that the solar receiver has gone with 2.0 as I'm stuck with the thermostat in a fixed position for now if I buy one. Not a problem now but am looking to get a wood burner in the future so having a thermostat in the same room isn't ideal.

enigma27 · 27 Jan 2015 at 14:44

Installed mine on Saturday.

So far so good... although its suppose to be automated you feel more in control.. think I will just leave it for a week and see how it gets on as our schedule changes day to day..

Can't really see if its saving as the measure on the App says how much compared to the previous years bill its saving BUT that cant be accurate as it includes gas used for the cooker where as Tado cannot take that into account.

Strikeforce · 27 Jan 2015 at 20:26

I cant decide between the Tado or Nest. Is there any massive differences?

Deus Ex · 27 Jan 2015 at 21:10

Interesting concept, but I cant help but think that its a long road to making ones money back.

enigma27 · 27 Jan 2015 at 23:31

Strikeforce said:
I cant decide between the Tado or Nest. Is there any massive differences?

I believe one of the main differences at the moment is that nest does not have geo location using GPS on your phone..

Zatoichi.uK · 28 Jan 2015 at 07:30

With Nest, it uses previous patterns to essentially guess when have left the house, along with a motion detector in the thermostat itself to see if there has been no activity. This apparently means that heating can stay on for an additional two hours when not needed after you have left the house, if its an out of your usual routine.

I don't understand why Nest doesn't have an option to turn off your heating once all the WiFi devices attached to Nest are out of range? It seems like that would plug the hole.

Vanquish-Storm · 28 Jan 2015 at 09:55

Zatoichi.uK said:
With Nest, it uses previous patterns to essentially guess when have left the house, along with a motion detector in the thermostat itself to see if there has been no activity. This apparently means that heating can stay on for an additional two hours when not needed after you have left the house, if its an out of your usual routine.

I don't understand why Nest doesn't have an option to turn off your heating once all the WiFi devices attached to Nest are out of range? It seems like that would plug the hole.

Nest is connected to works with google so it should pick up when your away from your house now if you connect it up. I have only just setup the works with google so I can't say if it does work properly yet.

Zatoichi.uK · 28 Jan 2015 at 10:37

Ah okay that's good then. Though I wouldn't be happy with Google watching my every move tbh.

*** Tado Mini Review ***

* Tado Mini Review *