Two Devices in the same 'room' using different controllers

M111CJN
M111CJN
edited November 2021 in General Questions & Topics

In my Kitchen-Family Room I have UFH heating which is controlled by a Wired Smart Thermostat, however in the same physical room I also have a radiator that has a Smart TRV that connects via an Extension Kit to call heat directly from the boiler

 

To make this work I have had to set them up as separate ‘Rooms’ as they use two different Controllers as this is set at the 'Room' level but this means I also have to manage two separate schedules for the same physical room.

 

Is there a way of having both in the same ‘Room’ but using two different Controllers so that I can have a single schedule for the entire physical room?? 

Answers

  • You can have more than one device in a room but you will need to specify which is the master. In your case, I would assume you'd want the smart thermostat to control the room? This would open the TRV when the room needs heat but the temp would be measured by the smart thermostat

    I had something similar in that I have a wired smart thermostat in my hall and a radiator on the upstairs landing with a Tado TRV. I had them set so the smart thermostat was the master but as it was downstairs, I found that the landing would get too hot before the hall was up to temp so I split them into two rooms so each device could measure temp.

  • Hi David,

    But that only works if they are both devices are part of the same 'zone' i.e. heating circuit. 

    To help explain I've butchered one of Tado's diagrams to depict my setup.

    I have the original heating circuit which connects the radiators - This now has an Extension Kit so if one of the Smart TRV's call for heat the boiler is turned on.

    I then have a new secondary circuit in my Kitchen-Family Room which uses Wet UFH - To control this I have a wired Smart Thermostat which can call for heat independently to the radiators.

    The issue I'm trying to address is... in the Kitchen-Family Room I still have a radiator which is part of the original heating circuit along with the new UFH.

    To control the UFH heating and the radiator I have had to setup two 'rooms' within Tado even though they are actually in the same physical room so it is very cumbersome to have to control & manage two schedules.

    Because the Zone Controller is selected at the 'Room' level & not the Device level I cannot change the Controller as all that would happen is the underfloor heating would turn on instead of the radiator.

    To get round this issue, I have actually setup HomeKit Automation so I can group the two devices together in one HomeKit Room and automation working so if one triggers the other one is turned on but this not ideal and not a long-term solution.

    What I really want is one 'Tado Room' which can control devices from two different heating circuits, similar to what others have been asking for in terms of reworking the schedules so you assign devices to schedules or even the concept of zones, i.e. an Ground Floor, First Floor

  • Understood. Sorry, I'm not sure of the answer but it appears that Tado would need to do some development to support that. I suspect the number of users needing that functionality might be low so they will prioritise the change even lower

    I suspect they would point you down the IFTTT route which I assume is what Homekit is essentially achieving.

    Out of interest, doesn't the underfloor heating provide all the heat necessary for the room? Couldn't you just get rid of the radiator?

  • Hi, I have the same setup. Unless I missed something, this is really straightforward. In Setup, Rooms & Devices add both devices (wired thermostat and RTV) to the same room. Click on the Room menu, Measuring Device and choose the wired thermostat as measuring device. Underfloor heating and radiator will then both run on the same programme controlled by the wired thermostat.
  • This is not to do with choosing the measuring device, although being able to choose would be very useful.

    In the screenshot I attached you can see I have two Zone Controllers

    • Wired Thermostat (RU34...) that is connected to the UFH controller / manifold
    • Extension Kit (BU36...) that runs the Radiators

    Both controllers can call for heat from the boiler independently of each other as they are two completely separate circuits.

    If I moved the Radiator into the same 'Tado Room' as the UFH & use the Wired Thermostat (RU34...) as the Zone controller how does the Boiler know that I want heat on that specific radiator as it is the Extension Kit that communicates the heating instructions between the boiler & the Smart TRV valve.

    So the issue I face is you can only select the Zone Controller (i.e. the thing that tells the boiler to turn on & off) at the Room level, not the Device.