Which Smart Thermostat?

cuke2u said:
I'd have Tado's more sophisticated application of heat management combined with Wiser's spread of technology and with their practicality as well...
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You’ve had experience of both. I almost bought Tado before Wiser, but Wiser has been my only smart heating solution. Works really well for my needs. I also use one of their (silly expensive) smart plugs which flawlessly integrates into the app.

What is it that Tado does better with heat management? Intrigued now
 
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I was looking closely at Tado when I moved into my new place end of 2022, but I never took the plunge. The main issue was that the UK kit didn't support OpenTherm so I needed to try and source an EU kit which was awkward and left me with a lot of uncertainty on what was compatible.

Is this OpenTherm support in the UK now resolved?
 
poosemon said:
Think the thing I am seeing most is no to Google nest! I've just messaged the has engineer who services our boiler and he swears by hive compared to others but highlights nest particularly as one to avoid.
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I wonder why. I went from Hive to Nest and whilst Hive was 'fine' Nest is much better - part of that may be down to the use of OpenTherm tho, which if your boiler doesn't support then.. meh. Something I like with Nest is that the presences detection can use a sensor on the thermstat, rather than relying on the app being installed on each phone to work out geofencing. It's reliable in that if the house is empty, the heating goes off. I like that Nest knows how long it takes the house to warm up, so if you say you want 18c at 16:00 then it'll work out when to come on to ensure the house is that temperature at that time, rather than just kicking in at 16:00 as Hive does. The weather compensation works better on Nest for me, and it'll also compensate for the thermosat being in direct sunlight (as ours is, by the window in the hall).

The only critisism I've seen of Nest is that there's no button to boost your heating for an hour.... oh no *shrug
 
I’ve had the Drayton Wiser system for 4 years and very happy with it too.

Positives:
- Simple app to use
- Prompt responses from support
- Works with Google Home (e.g. hey google, what’s the temp in the kitchen? Or hey google, boost the temp in the kitchen)
- Works with IFTTT so you can implement your own geofencing. I actually use it to schedule away mode on/off when I go on holiday via a Google calendar.
- Has a growing Home Assistant community.
- It does support OpenTherm - see their FAQs.

Negatives:
- Pricey if you get a thermostat for each room for accurate temperatures
- Now that I’ve moved to an air source heat pump I actually run everything open loop so I’m not getting much value from it! It just turns the radiators off if an individual room is getting too hot (e.g. in the sun or my living room radiator is somewhat oversized!)
- In terms of zones, you can’t assign both UFH and a radiator to a single zone. I retrofitted UFH but didn’t remove the radiators. I’ve compromised by running a general UFH downstairs zone.

Side note - how do I do bullet points here? Not an option in the editor menu and the old * or # don’t seem to work. Looks like I could right align my whole post though, for your pleasure.
 
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I installed a Hive for our combie last year and wish I had done it yonks ago! Best addition ever, and as said by someone else backed by BG so going to be around for quite some time.
 
A bit of a counter view point to everything posted here - if your boiler supports weather compensation (you may need to add an external temp sensor if you don’t already have one), you should use the boiler manufacturers first party controls (most do ‘smart’ controls these days).

It will save you cash in the long run.
 
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I'm in with a Tado system that i put in last month and I am more than pleased with it. Not paying monthly for any of the "smart" stuff, as it comes out the box is doing everything I need.

I found it easy to fit myself and have been making changes to the schedule to fit our busy family movements, its all just right now. I might add a few of the rad thermostats for rooms that are only needed some days of the week.
 
I've had a Tado basically since it's been available in the UK and am very happy with it.

We bought about 13 smart TRVs when they were really cheap in black Friday sales a couple of years ago and they're good too.

Can't see me using anything else for the time being. We briefly tried a Worcester Bosch thing recommended by our heating engineer when we changed our boiler, and quickly ditched it - total rubbish.
 
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b0rn2sk8 said:
A bit of a counter view point to everything posted here - if your boiler supports weather compensation (you may need to add an external temp sensor if you don’t already have one), you should use the boiler manufacturers first party controls (most do ‘smart’ controls these days).

It will save you cash in the long run.
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Opentherm would be preferable, if the boiler supports it.
 
I am still pondering which to go for.
Has anyone self installed?
Or what are the charges for and install, my plumber is not keen on doing it.
 
Chabsy said:
I am still pondering which to go for.
Has anyone self installed?
Or what are the charges for and install, my plumber is not keen on doing it.
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Get a plumber who isn’t a goon then? From what I’ve seen online it’s literally a case of wiring in two wires. If he isn’t good on the app setup part maybe you could help?
 
Chabsy said:
I am still pondering which to go for.
Has anyone self installed?
Or what are the charges for and install, my plumber is not keen on doing it.
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Hive self install was super easy, most are similar 4-5 connection in the boiler.

FYI I am a qualified electrician and gas engineer...
 
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Chabsy said:
I am still pondering which to go for.
Has anyone self installed?
Or what are the charges for and install, my plumber is not keen on doing it.
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Wiser is very much in the self install territory. If you have a standard programmer backplate, no wiring required - just need to switch out.

I understand Tado is self-install too. Less sure on the others. Evohome felt a step up on the installation complexity, when I was deciding which to go for.
 
I prefer Hive,Ive got it in my house. Im a heating engineer and recommend that over Nest. Purely anecdotal but ive never had a total failure with Hive but ive had a couple of Nest Systems go down leaving the customer with nothing.
 
As above, Wiser is pretty much DIY. I’ve installed 2 - one with the standard backplate and one without. It was quite stress free both times. The install manual is really easily followed. If you’re any way handy, it’ll be an easy install.
 
silverblack said:
I've had Hive for just over 5 years never had a problem with it.However keep hearing they will switch off the Hub at some point forcing you to buy a newer one :confused:
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It made no sense other than a as a quick cash grab. I could understand them killing off internet connectivity but to completely write off the hub and all functionality was a nonsense. It left the system less functional than an old fashioned timer.
 
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