Tado or Hive?

Draeger

Draeger

Draeger

Soldato
Joined
4 Feb 2004
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Écosse
Looking at having one of these fitted shortly. Have watched various Youtube videos and Tado would appear to be the more simplistic of the two. I assume with both you need to have new thermostatic valves or similar fitted to all your radiators in order to control individual room temps?

Who has one fitted and what are your thoughts/experiences? I'll probably not DIY it and pay to have someone fit one so 'ease of fitting' isn't really a consideration.

Interesting to hear owner/user feedback :)
 
I use Hive but this forum is a Tado camp. Super simple to setup. I use it mainly to keep the nursery warm enough.
 
I use Hive but just the thermostat at the moment, thinking about getting the TRV's but still not sure. Very easy to use and set a schedule etc works well enough for what I need it for and integrates with Alexa fine too
 
It's going to be a popularity contest between the two in here, they are much the same thing.

Check what features they don't share and decide if they are something you'd like, also see what GUI you prefer of the two then you can make your decision.

I have a two zone Hive setup and looking to add some TRVs in the future but it gets quite expensive if you're planning on kitting out the whole house with them.
 
Mysterae_ said:
It's going to be a popularity contest between the two in here, they are much the same thing.

Check what features they don't share and decide if they are something you'd like, also see what GUI you prefer of the two then you can make your decision.

I have a two zone Hive setup and looking to add some TRVs in the future but it gets quite expensive if you're planning on kitting out the whole house with them.
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I kitted the whole house in TRVs but quickly came to realise I only needed it in rooms that mattered (nursery, bedroom). The ones in 5he living room and kitchen ran out of battery months ago, inconsequentially.
 
I've had both (currently have tado) and the ui of hive is more intuitive/easy to use. If I wasn't planning on using 10 controlled TRVs Id go with hive, but tado is easier as the TRVs control is just an add on head.
 
dLockers said:
I kitted the whole house in TRVs but quickly came to realise I only needed it in rooms that mattered (nursery, bedroom). The ones in 5he living room and kitchen ran out of battery months ago, inconsequentially.
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Thanks for the tip, I'll bear that in mind. You bring up a good point - when the battery runs out what are the TRVs fail-state? From what you say it must be fully on, otherwise the room would be cold then you would change the batteries!
 
Mysterae_ said:
Thanks for the tip, I'll bear that in mind. You bring up a good point - when the battery runs out what are the TRVs fail-state? From what you say it must be fully on, otherwise the room would be cold then you would change the batteries!
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Yeah they fail open. I've heard folk chase the Tado TRV batteries constantly (413x) but the Hive ones seem to last a good year or two.
 
dLockers said:
Yeah they fail open. I've heard folk chase the Tado TRV batteries constantly (413x) but the Hive ones seem to last a good year or two.
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Since the first set of batteries they've been really good. I know I contacted tado about it and they said they changed some settings thier end with sensitivity or something. But since then they have been great. I haven't touched a battery in months (except one of the gen 1 trvs. That's noticeably worse).

Quite happy with it now. But for big rooms it's not as good. The trv is simply too local. Or if it's tucked away. But this obviously can't be helped. But you can get stats if you need that. But that would be buying 2 units for those rooms. Which seems over kill

I have 10 control points
7 trvs
2 wireless stats (bathroom and hall)
And hot water.

Rechargeable batteries is a must!
 
Thanks, folks. Main thing I want to be able to achieve is have more flexible control over which areas of the house are heated rather than just have the entire CH system come on at programmed times. Currently got a Drayton LP522 control panel which isn't the most user friendly. I'd like to be able to for instance, have the main bathroom and the ensuite radiator towel rails come on so that the towels dry on them after the showers have been used. And also have a bit more control over heating individual rooms which I assume you can do with individual TRV's?
 
No reason why you couldn't do that. You'd need valves on rooms you really don't want on at the same time. I've been told not to "over the top the system" by valving everything to avoid stress on the system if just one valve is open. I think most systems have a permanently open rad anyway but that is typically the bathroom which sounds like you would be valving.
 
Draeger said:
Thanks, folks. Main thing I want to be able to achieve is have more flexible control over which areas of the house are heated rather than just have the entire CH system come on at programmed times. Currently got a Drayton LP522 control panel which isn't the most user friendly. I'd like to be able to for instance, have the main bathroom and the ensuite radiator towel rails come on so that the towels dry on them after the showers have been used. And also have a bit more control over heating individual rooms which I assume you can do with individual TRV's?
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With bearing in mind depending on your system so you might need some alterations of your pipework. For instance if you have any zone valves or of you don't currently have an automatic bypass valve.

You also have Dryton Wiser and Honeywell Evohome.
 
Thanks for all the replies, folks. Lots of good info and suggestions, much appreciated. Erring towards the Hive but will look at both the Drayton Wiser which looks interesting and the Honeywell EvoHome too, didn't realise they existed.
 
What about rooms with two radiators? Would you fit one or two of these smart TRVs?

It makes sense to only fit one because if one TRV is calling for heat then the other should be needing it too, however if one of the non-smart TRVs is set to fully open then heat will pass through it whenever another room's smart TRVs calls for heat, even if the smart TRV in the room is not requesting it. Probably overcomplicating it!
 
Mysterae_ said:
What about rooms with two radiators? Would you fit one or two of these smart TRVs?

It makes sense to only fit one because if one TRV is calling for heat then the other should be needing it too, however if one of the non-smart TRVs is set to fully open then heat will pass through it whenever another room's smart TRVs calls for heat, even if the smart TRV in the room is not requesting it. Probably overcomplicating it!
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You would actually probably want two. But seems overkill.
In my living room have 2 rads. But I don't have one on the small one. Which is no issue really. Just means a little bit of heat is supplied no matter what room is heating.
 
Have fitted Hive and Tado myself, in different houses. Would say Tado has seemed a bit less stable, never had any dropouts or issues with Hive but Tado has randomly poo'd the bed a few times for seemingly no reason. Would go back to Hive next time. Both very easy to fit, though that does depend on your existing setup. But I would say if what you have now isn't too ancient, then don't be scared to do it yourself.
 
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