How does it work without auto assist?
Hi,
Struggling to understand what features I get with Tado without paying the monthly subscription.
My proposed set up is as follows:
- Smart thermostat
- Smart TRVs in some rooms (probably 3 or 4)
- Extension kit as my current thermometer is wireless.
I'll try and break this down into yes/no questions where I can:
- Can the system detect if I am home or away without paying the monthly subscription for "auto assist"?
- If I am away, will the system automatically change mode?
- If I am away can I set the system back into home mode, let's say if my parents come to stay and they do not have the app installed on their smart phones?
- If someone is at home and who does not have the app on their phones, can they just set a temperature by going to the smart thermostat?
- Can the system be controlled from a web site or only by a smart phone app?
I'm really trying to decide between this system and the Nest system. I like the idea of the TRVs but I don't want to pay a monthly subscription to be bluntly honest. These small amounts of money really add up over a 10+ year period.
Thanks in advance.
Answers
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Can the system detect if I am home or away without paying the monthly subscription for "auto assist"?
Yes, if you install the app on your phone, enable location services and give the app the required permissions. And if it works on your phone.
> If I am away, will the system automatically change mode?
No. It will prompt you after some time, and then you can manually enable away mode. Mind you, even for that the above requirements apply. There is no real manual way to set it to away mode if you are not away according to your phone.
> If I am away can I set the system back into home mode, let's say if my parents come to stay and they do not have the app installed on their smart phones?
No. Really, No. I couldnt believe that either. You can manually override the temperatures though.But you must do that for each zone.
>If someone is at home and who does not have the app on their phones, can they just set a temperature by going to the smart thermostat?
Yes. But what that does depends on how you configure it. It can override the schedule for x minutes/hours, or until the next scheduled change. If you use multiple zones, it must be adjusted in every zone.
>- Can the system be controlled from a web site or only by a smart phone app?
Yes, there is a web interface. But you wont find a home/away toggle there. You can manually adjust the temps, I never tried it, but I assume you would have to override the "away" temp.
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related question of my own; what happens when Im away, the system is set to away mode, and I lose my phone, or forget my phone at the office? I come home, and can no longer force the system to "home" mode ?
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Thanks for the detailed reply.
I really want to like this system but it feels like some of the basics are missing.
Plus I just don't want to pay a monthly subscription. Maybe if you could pay a one off fee that would be better.
Currently evaluating competitors solutions for balance.
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I think Tado made a huge mistake here. I understand they want to charge for extra services, but this is not one they should be charging for, and crippling the system by not providing a toggle button is unwise. Especially since even if you do pay for it, you still dont solve the problem for the baby sitter or the lost phone.
Geolocation automation is nice to have , I might even pay for it, but a manual home/away toggle should just be available, its a basic functionality that even my 30 year old mechanical thermostat had, and until its added, I cant recommend this system in good conscience to most people.
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As much as I like the design of this system, from what I'm reading it seems to have a fundamental flaw.
If my parents come to visit who do not have smart phones they have no way to control the system.
It would be fine if I could set it to home mode from my office but it seems like I can't do that. I don't really want to go through all of my zones from my office desk and set the heat for them. In the end I would have 8 or 9 zones to set.
Are you certain there isn't an option on the phone app to put it back into home mode?
How does it go back into home mode? Wait until I am at home and then give me the option on my phone app?
Sorry if I am misunderstanding something basic here.
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They can adjust the wall thermostat, and depending on how you configured your app, this override will last for a given amount of hours, or until the next scheduled change or indefinitely. If the wall thermostat controls most of the house, then this isnt too bad really. But if your parents want to heat all 8 or 9 zones, they would have to adjust the thermostats everywhere.
>Are you certain there isn't an option on the phone app to put it back into home mode?
Yep. If you are desperate, you can change the location of your home address in the app, thereby fool the system in to thinking you are home, but there definitely is no "Im back home" button. Well, there is one, but it doesnt appear until you reconnect to your home wifi or geolocation says you are home.
>How does it go back into home mode? Wait until I am at home and then give me the option on my phone app?
Yes :/
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I've had a look at the other options.
I think I will probably end up giving this a try. I can always return it.
Unless I get can something working with IFTTT I will have to pay for geofencing for 6 months of the year.
I just really object to this business model. It's software at the end of the day. Not like it costs a lot each month to maintain it.
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there arent many alternatives for systems that control both the boiler and radiator thermostats. I only know of one and that one is significantly more expensive. So yeah, if you understand the limitations/implications then go for it. I dont dislike my tado system. I just hate the restrictions their software imposes.
IFTTT wont be much help though. The tado API lets you read status for home/away, but not change it. You can change target temps, but if you are going to link that to your own geofencing system then you would need to do everything through IFTT, including scheduling and create your own "tado app". Given that the API is not officially supported and there is no guarantee it will still work tomorrow (especially if someone makes a beter tado app than tado which eliminates the need for active assist), not sure its worth the hassle.
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This has always been my complaint about the geo, if you bought the v1 or V2 version the geo was free and could stay on the V2 app, but even if you download the v3+ app, you had a option to pay a 1 off fee of £20 to have geo again with no monthly fee.
Now if like me you thought you would buy the latest V3+ edition, with the V3+ app the system would be better, but instead, I paid more for the V3+ than the V2, and now I have to pay £25 a year to use the geo!
Problem with success, people get greedy.0 -
If you have an iPhone and an Apple Tv or ipad or homepod you can create scenes and automations and have two big buttons: Home and Away, or make them switch based on your location0
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Ive just put in a suggestion they put a home and away button on full time just in case the wife leaves her phone at home and then i cant change it to away if i know she is not in all day.
Also said they shouldn't have put the home away automation as a subscription service as its the only bit that makes it smart . Its just a dumb thermostat if not but on a phone. We can all set a thermostat and do what tado give for free.
I bought tado but this bit leaves a nasty taste in my mouth.0 -
Steer clear. Glorified system that costs a fortune, requires serious time and effort to set to operate to give comfortable (& economical?) heating. Very dubious monthly ‘savings’ report! Monthly fee to get the only real benefit of this system to operate automatically.
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As a workaround, if you have an iphone and Homekit is enabled in your home, you could trigger this automations via Home app instead of tado. Like geofencing and if last person leaves and so on. Also using the home app you can manually adjust the temperature remotely and if in the tado room by room you select manual intervention until user ends it, you will have complete control not only by a certain amount of time. I setup automations in homekit for when i go out and nobody is at home anymore to lower the temperature to 20 degrees then when anyone came back put the temperature back to 22. This means you leave tado automations disabled and use homekit. This alone make me question the real reason to use the paid functions.1
