What smart themostart are using?

Buffman said:
Supposedly tado has a PID controller with 4opening setting (0%, 33%, 66%, 100%) I believe is what I read.
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yes searching on that threw up this recent thread, suggesting 4 levels of wave demand which via 'fuzzy' logic, control valve, with benefits/caveats folks discuss

In what steps can the radiator valve regulate heat? And for the thermostat? - Page 2

So as a further update, I also asked Jurian if the wavy lines correspond to the valve position, or to heater demand. He’s saying this:
community.tado.com community.tado.com

( if you can buy remote control valves and remote temperature monitors .. you could DIY )
 
Grim5 said:
Stay away from smart thermostats unless you want to spend endless hours in diagnostics. And even when it works, later on if god forbid and you lose connection, or your network dies or your fibre dies then you're screwed

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That's a stupid video to link, all of Linus's problems are because he wants to stop the smart device sending data out.
Apart from the excellent wiring he's really made his smart house stupid.
 
Deep said:
That's a stupid video to link, all of Linus's problems are because he wants to stop the smart device sending data out.
Apart from the excellent wiring he's really made his smart house stupid.
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He just wanted to keep the control local so he wasn't dependant on the internet. That isn't a crazy ask --- although he has gone about it arse-about-face in some instances (e.g. buying smart thermostats to then just use the thermometer feature in combination with Home Assistant).
 
Sin_Chase said:
Im not saying systems are not compatible across different regions. I'm saying the manner in which Americans heat their homes are very different to the UK.

Radiator based heating represents a tiny fraction of domestic heating in the US with forced duct methods being the most popular. How many homes in the UK have you been in which used forced ducts?

This is why looking at Smart heating solutions for the US market isnt really a good place to start as a UK homeowner.
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It really doesn't make any difference what the heater is, and intelligent system is by design "intelligent". Boiler control, yes, building control, no.
 
Hive, just the thermostat.
Bought one of their TRVs to try out, but I just had problems with it, even in a simple setup.
 
dLockers said:
He just wanted to keep the control local so he wasn't dependant on the internet. That isn't a crazy ask --- although he has gone about it arse-about-face in some instances (e.g. buying smart thermostats to then just use the thermometer feature in combination with Home Assistant).
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I agree it's not a crazy ask but as you said he's done everything wrong.
None of what he's put in will make his home "smart", and TBH with his kids it's mostly going to be ignored or turned off as it's too confusing to use. I can't remember the exact scenario but I remember the lights he put in his kids bedroom were really stupid smart lights.

I like Linus but he's too smart for his own good.
 
SpellowHouse said:
It really doesn't make any difference what the heater is, and intelligent system is by design "intelligent". Boiler control, yes, building control, no.
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When looking for a domestic system in the UK its advisable to look at products which are available in the UK and reviewed/tested in a UK environment.

Nobody in this thread really cares about commercial HVAC *shrug*
 
Sin_Chase said:
When looking for a domestic system in the UK its advisable to look at products which are available in the UK and reviewed/tested in a UK environment.

Nobody in this thread really cares about commercial HVAC *shrug
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I wasn't talking about commercial HVAC, I was talking about domestic control systems. Within limits the principles are exactly the same in the US as the UK. I mean it's not like domestic is rocket science. And that's exactly why most of the systems in the UK are not designed in the UK. Anyway, I was just pointing out that there really isn't that much difference in a control sense between the US market and the UK market.
 
squerble said:
I believe on the Tado system that if you lose internet connection you do indeed lose control of the heating. On top of that, it won't even follow your schedule. Which is a shame because Tado is highly recommended in a few places.
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You can manually override the system.
besides, when does your internet actually go down for any length of time?
 
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Pentland said:
You can manually override the system.
besides, when does your internet actually go down for any length of time?
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Kind of agree. It's a non issue.. Most of the time.
Might be something to think if it's a critical system (ie someone vulnerable in the house)
 
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FWIW I think I have found the best use of Smart TRVs - I was finding the "over engineering" of them trying to hit a temp was causing balance issues, so I now have a pseudo "on-off" setup:

BMOzAZP.png


Rear bedroom is indicative of how the other bedroom is setup too; but basically in the morning it allows heat from 0630-0700. The TRV needs 5 minutes to open so the first 15 mins are just a buffer.

Hot water comes on at 0600-0700 and is demanded driven depending on how much water was used the day before.

Heating is scheduled for the morning only - and as the upstairs gets warm first but is then mostly unoccupied, it only allows 15 mins of heat. It then forces the water downstairs which means the rads downstairs warm up faster than if both upstairs and downstairs was open.

The rest of the day if the heating is boosted, it just does the occupied spaces. However I have found an oil filled rad + ceramic heater fan are much more effective as only 2 spaces need heating. Then when the little one comes home, the heating gets boosted and her room heats up and retains the heat pretty well till the next day:

yf2cpRz.png

As you can see, it heats up in the evening when I boost the whole house, and then turns off until it is allowed to heat up again at 1630 and the heating is boosted again. It then gets 15 mins of heat in the AM to take the edge off before stopping flow to allow downstairs to heat up quicker in time for breakfast.

Costs:

LH2jlAP.jpg


Edit: This is KWH usage. The boiler is a 22KWH boiler so looks like it is modulating its gas usage:

YUvynpN.jpg
 
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dLockers said:
FWIW I think I have found the best use of Smart TRVs - I was finding the "over engineering" of them trying to hit a temp was causing balance issues, so I now have a pseudo "on-off" setup:

BMOzAZP.png


Rear bedroom is indicative of how the other bedroom is setup too; but basically in the morning it allows heat from 0630-0700. The TRV needs 5 minutes to open so the first 15 mins are just a buffer.

Hot water comes on at 0600-0700 and is demanded driven depending on how much water was used the day before.

Heating is scheduled for the morning only - and as the upstairs gets warm first but is then mostly unoccupied, it only allows 15 mins of heat. It then forces the water downstairs which means the rads downstairs warm up faster than if both upstairs and downstairs was open.

The rest of the day if the heating is boosted, it just does the occupied spaces. However I have found an oil filled rad + ceramic heater fan are much more effective as only 2 spaces need heating. Then when the little one comes home, the heating gets boosted and her room heats up and retains the heat pretty well till the next day:

yf2cpRz.png

As you can see, it heats up in the evening when I boost the whole house, and then turns off until it is allowed to heat up again at 1630 and the heating is boosted again. It then gets 15 mins of heat in the AM to take the edge off before stopping flow to allow downstairs to heat up quicker in time for breakfast.

Costs:

LH2jlAP.jpg


Edit: This is KWH usage. The boiler is a 22KWH boiler so looks like it is modulating its gas usage:

YUvynpN.jpg
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I'm kind of thinking the same.

Currently have the entire house (all TRVs) aim for 20c for an hour in the morning. After that allow the upstairs (where I am during the day) to hit thier target (21c) for blocks of time.


This seems to stop the boiler firing up for 1 trv. Then a few mins later firing up for the second.


Not sure of this is sensible but trying it.


Very annoying not having a smart gas meter trying to measure consumption
 
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Pentland said:
As I said, you can manually override the system if the Wi-Fi is down.
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You can override it by pressing a button manually and then waiting 30-60 mins for the hot water. That isn't a compensation to no hot shower in the AM :D
 
Got my Tado installed into the upstairs zone (just need a drill to get it installed downstairs), and I've already decided I don't like TPI operation of the heating system :D .

Running the boiler for just 5 minutes a couple of times an hour is absolutely horrible for wear and tear. I've sent a help request in with them to ask if either TPI operation can be disabled at all, or change the settings so that there is a minimum on time of at least 20 minutes. If they can't, I'll just send these two thermostats back and go back to my simple ones.
 
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squerble said:
Got my Tado installed into the upstairs zone (just need a drill to get it installed downstairs), and I've already decided I don't like TPI operation of the heating system :D .

Running the boiler for just 5 minutes a couple of times an hour is absolutely horrible for wear and tear. I've sent a help request in with them to ask if either TPI operation can be disabled at all, or change the settings so that there is a minimum on time of at least 20 minutes. If they can't, I'll just send these two thermostats back and go back to my simple ones.
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As per my post 93, I think the only way to use these without grenading your boiler or stopping it from operating efficiently is consider them as remote on/off switches...
 
squerble said:
Got my Tado installed into the upstairs zone (just need a drill to get it installed downstairs), and I've already decided I don't like TPI operation of the heating system :D .

Running the boiler for just 5 minutes a couple of times an hour is absolutely horrible for wear and tear. I've sent a help request in with them to ask if either TPI operation can be disabled at all, or change the settings so that there is a minimum on time of at least 20 minutes. If they can't, I'll just send these two thermostats back and go back to my simple ones.
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I'm guessing there will be a minimum on time as well as I cycle rate setting somewhere, they're pretty important.
 
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