Why Does Tado Insist On A Room Thermostat?
In my previous house I installed the Drayton Wiser Smart system. Each smart TRV could demand heat from the boiler when necessary so we had no need for a wall thermostat. This setup worked fantastically. Not sure how accurate the thermostats in the Wiser and Tado TRVs are but the Wiser ones were good enough to keep the rooms at a good temperature.
New house so thought I'd look into Tado because reviews suggest it's somehow better (plus I like that the TRVs show the set temperature).
I used Tado's online chat to clarify a few things. A human replied saying their system requires their wall thermostat in order to work. Is this true and why?
Maybe I should just use Wiser again since it definitely works without a wall thermostat, they have UK phone support, their receiver connects to a home WiFi network so no extra Ethernet bridge is required and it's cheaper.
Answers
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I don’t think you need a room thermostat if you install a wireless receiver. However if you have a hot water tank and no wireless temperature sensor (room ‘stat) then control of hot water will have to be via the app. only as the room ‘stat makes local control of this available. I’m intrigued that you say the Wiser system is cheaper. When I installed tadoº, about three years ago it was the more economical option, had it not been I would have definitely opted for Wiser as it’s more robust RF wise, offers a repeater, and can, as I understand it, continue to follow a schedule when offline which tadoº cannot do . . .0
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Interesting, I thought the Wiser system was cheaper. I got it even cheaper by going on eBay and buying up unused components from kits that people had purchased. Saved a small fortune.
So the Wiser system is better except for lack of a display on the TRVs?
We don't have a hot water tank but using the app to make changes is fine. If you can alter the temperature of the various TRVs on the room thermostat then that would make it worth having. If not, pointless for us.0 -
With a wireless starter kit you can control CH and HW for typical heating systems. This replaces your timer/controller with the wireless receiver and the app. The alternative is the wired thermostat and app. Add-on TRVs can demand heat from the boiler; or 'independent' which is like a smarter dumb TRV. With TRVs, no you dont need the wireless room stat. However, the room stat is more accurate than the TRVs, +/- 0.1 vs 0.5 deg C.
The system gives us what we need to control the heating - varying daily schedules and days out - helped by tweaking the schedule and geo-fencing off/on. We have noticed that room comfort is better than the dumb TRVs and fixed thermostat location. Our rellie has set up the room schedule for their family timings - work, school, home, bed-time, and baby bedroom kept warm overnight.
ROI was less than 12 months at current energy prices.
It all depends on your heating system, home layout and what you're hoping to achieve.
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Why do Tado support staff not know that the room thermostat isn't required? Their lack of expert knowledge is worrying.0
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I've decided to install the Drayton Wiser system in our new house because it worked great in our old house. From looking into things it seems that it's a better than the Tado system.1
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I envy you and would do the same if I hadn't invested in so much tadoº kit . . .
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In answer to the OP. My system has a wired t'stat and it acts as a router between the Tado valves and boiler. Without the t'stat the system would not work.
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The wiser system has a hub that is wired into the boiler. This hub connects via WiFi to the house network. Simple.
The various TRVs and room thermostats then connect to the hub. You're not forced to have a room thermostat for it to work with the TRVs.0 -
As you're still here, and I toy with the thought of changing to Wiser from time to time, how accurate did you feel the Wiser TRVs were at accurately measuring and regulating room temperature ?
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We were very happy TBH. Sometimes you can feel cold when you're tired or too hot if you come in from the cold so without a thermometer I couldn't tell you if the TRV was accurate or not.
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