Does tado measure relative humidity?

Folkranger

Or does it just measure humidity?

etecka

It shows relative humidity in the app. If it's a measured value or a pseudorandom number IDK.

Folkranger

I was OK with " it shows relative humidity in the app"

I didn't understand "If it's a measured value or a pseudorandom number IDK."

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Folkranger

My readings are all around 70% whichi surprises me as we're a modern bungalow, well insulated, double glazed, only 2 people.

All advice is to run at between 30% and 60%. If tado readings are correct there is no way we can get to this at this time of year where it is 90% outside.

Folkranger

I doubt it affects how the system works but high humidity makes it use more energy to heat the room. Also, with high humidity you will feel colder for a given temperature so will be tempted to run the house hotter.

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cbd20

@Folkranger If you haven't already, it's probably worth reading up on relative humidity. If you know all this already then I apologise in advance...

Relative humidity changes with temperature. Warm air can hold more moisture than cold air so 90% relative humidity at 12 degrees outside, when that air is warmed to say 20 degrees the relative humidity will drop dramatically to around 55%ish (or thereabouts).

There are calculators online that can help with this, search for "relative humidity calculators" or similar.

Sadly a very well insulated house is your worst enemy for humidity. The people inside will add to the moisture content by breathing, and showering, cooking and drying clothes etc will all increase the moisture content in the house. A well insulated house then stops any air exchange with the outside air, so the humidity will remain high.

Best thing to do is open windows, understanding that high humidity cool air from outside, once moved inside and warmed will have a much lower relative humidity.

Folkranger

Thanks for that, yes I've recently read a fair bit about it and understand the theory. It's more the practical application that confuses.

We've not suffered from our house humidity levels and don't have any mould. I'm not sure whether opening windows would give a net benefit in terms of energy usage although I do accept it will bring down humidity levels.

Folkranger

This shows the temperature at 21 degrees ubtil the sun comes out pm and the temperature rises, even with a patio door open (max ventiklation). Humidity drops with the increased heat, but only to 63%. Outside humidity is 60% and temperature 15 degrees.

My point here is that in this situation I could not do any more to bring down humidity but it's still above the recommended max. I have a dehumidifyer but that consumes a fair amount of electricity.

johnnyp78

If you’re in the uk then it’s normal to have high humidity due to our damp climate. Don’t think there’s much that can be done about it short of sealing up the house and using constant dehumidifiers.

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Folkranger

Damp Climate?

Recent readings give 90% outdoors and temperatures down to 10 degrees.

My indoor readings give 70% and say 20 degrees.

Charts show that 90% at 10 degrees would equate to about 50% at 20 degrees.

All advice including UK authorities say that indoor humidity should be between 30 and 60%

To achieve say 50% we would need to replace all indoor air with outdoor air and then heat it to say 20 degrees.

As windows do little more than let in draughts, It probably needs an extractor fan in every room connected to a control device to regulate air flow. On this basis I would think it is totally impractical to try to achieve recommended humidity levels unless someone can tell me otherwise???????

In case anyone asks what this has got to do with heating and its costs: The science seems to indicate that the more humid the air, the more energy it takes to heat it. Also the more humid the air, the colder we feel for a given temeperature.

samd

Both TRV and Room stats measure relative humidity BUT because that data is relative to temperature and because TRVs themselves can be fairly inaccurate (and to a lesser extent, room stats) at measuring temperature, RH figures are a bit out! Around 3 percentage points difference at 60% in my experience with room stats when compared with a calibrated device.

Folkranger

Getting a new hygrometer tomorrow though I doubt 3% will bring me within recommended levels

Ade55

Just picking up on this thread in October 2023 - a year later. Have high humidity levels of 70-80% according to tado sensors. Agree with all the above - some useful discussion. I find this is the worst time of year as the outside temps are high, but humidity is high - so any fresh air just increases himidity in the home - as it does not need heating up.

I find as winter sets in and the air is gradually replaced through regular ventilation, then humidity on my tado drops to around 50% and stays at that through the winter. Great for drying clothes etc. in fact it can get close to being too dry in cold spells.

I have borrowed a dehumidifier this autumn and that has helped somewhat - but it does bounce slowly back up when you stop using it. Just need cooler fresher weather….

I hope this helps.

Folkranger

The degree of ventilation required throughout winter would cost a small fortune in additional heating for me. I tried to ventilate unused rooms by having wiwndows open a bit but without much success. I also tried a dehumidifier but as you say humidity quickly rises when stopped, and it cost quite a bit to run.

dilligaf

Interesting discussion going on here. I'm on a drive to improve (reduce) humidity in my home and arrived here wanting to know if tado measured RH or AH.

My perspective is that humidity's a problem if it's causing mould.

I'm insulating my window reveals and improving my cavity closures and mould growth seems to be restricted now to the caulking around windows at the contact line. Its messy and involves re-plastering locally.

And fitting MHRV to keep efficiency and get fresh air - dehumidifiers are too hungry for this day and age.

Both big projects though but both effective at improving air quality and effects without compromising on efficiency.

mistachesta

I've been monitoring humidity using the tado TRV's and, given the time of year and UK weather, I decided to take action and buy a dehumidifier given I'm getting readings of over 70% humidity in some rooms.

Dehumidifier in place, doing its job well... but I noticed the humidity reading on the dehumidifier is way lower than the readings I'm getting from the tado TRVs... tado says 78% humidity.... dehumidifier reads 55%.

I decided to buy three standalone sensors and stand them next to each other, they all consistently read closer to the dehumidifier (+/- a few %), all WAY lower than the tado TRVs.

I tested this in each room, and for each, the readings on the standalone sensors and the dehumidifier are within a few %, but the tado TRVs are reading so much higher. Something isn't right here... the same applies to the temperature reading. Looks like tado is way off compared to multiple external devices.

roger_Roger

Calculating relative humidity does not make sense if you do not know the altitude parameter.

Does the tado thermometer measure altitude (height over sea level) as well?

There is a big difference in humidity living at sea level and living on a plain in the mountains.

mistachesta

@roger_Roger - It's an interesting point, although when it comes to gauging humidity, (I'm pretty sure) altitude is not usually something that's taken into account with Tado devices, which are intended to monitor RH inside homes rather than for conducting in depth scientific analysis at different altitudes. RH measures how much water is in the air, compared to how much water it could hold at a particular temperature - the calculation doesn't require altitude, just temperature and moisture levels. I'm interested to know if you're also having issues with the humidity readings. I've since replaced a couple of TRV's and added another Wireless thermostat - the newer devices have up-to-date firmware, whereas the other 9 devices I have issues with are older, and I'm unable to update the firmware on those. Replacing them would obliterate any cost saving that Tado is supposed to provide…

roger_Roger

I do have issues with the humidity readings, but I'm not going to invest more money into new devices just for the sake of measuring humidity, for that I have used TFA analogue hygrometers for many years now.

The tado measurements, in the room where I am sitting, are 19% lower than the TFA analogue ones - 29% to 48%.

Edit. I was wondering if the tado thermostat contains an actual hygrometer or if the humidity values are calculated according to certain parameters? A search on the tado website does not bring a result when searching for "hygrometer".

Another thing I was wondering about is whether it makes a difference if there is an address or not, or even better - a geo location, in the "home details" of the tado app?