[Released] How to turn off my boiler with thermostat and valves? (Global On/Off)
Comments
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On/off would be neat but I can overcome this by using a wifi socket on my boiler.
What's really needed is 4 positions:
- On (home mode to override geofencing, so my housekeeper doesnt freeze)
- Auto (geofencing / auto assist, current default)
- Away (away mode overriding geofencing, like when Im working in the garden)
- Off
This is BASIC functionality that should have been in there from the start, and so much more important than "air quality" gimmicks. It shouldnt cost more than a few hours of work to implement. But given how it appears nothing useful has been added in the past few years, I have to wonder if Tado still employs any software developers at all?
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Please do give us an off switch. For me, the whole system is really pretty useless without it, and I’m surprised to learn that it used to be present but was removed0
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I have Paid $$$ (8 Valves+ thermostat + Bridge) for this smart system, I would not buy it again for the absence of this basic functionality
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please add this. I agree with most others
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+1 for this. I was also surprised this was missing!
In it's simplistic form it could just be a drop-down button above all the zones, next to the current mode label; when you press it you can choose between Home, Away, Off.
Or maybe the label is the drop-down and the icon changes color to match the mode.
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I am completely stunned that I have just purchased a Tado system only to find that this most basic of all settings isn't available on a so-called "Smart" system.
Not only that, but that it WAS available and then removed! What sort of a decision was that?
I also want an OFF switch. If, for example, I go away on holiday I might want to switch the system off and switch it back on remotely when I am on my way home.
If the "Off" setting also allowed the minimum 5 degree setting so that pipes don't freeze if you're away in cold weather, that would be perfect.
I do not want to use Geofencing, as I'm thinking more of those trips when I am out of the country, but want to switch my heating back on when I'm on my way back from the airport, and not have to change the distance the system considers to be "Away".
I also am NOT using Geofencing now that you ave to PAY for it! It's not a feature I'd make much use of, and the idea of having to pay to use this sytem once I've made a large payment for it anyway is entirely wrong. I would expect this to be available as part and parcel of a Smart Heating System and not a chargeable add-on.
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+1. I can’t believe it’s not a standard feature.0
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There are multiple threads on more or less the same point: tado get it together:
- listen to your loyal customers
- be flexible in design
- be open about reasons for doing/not doing things!
It feels to me that tado are dogmatically seeking to use better algorithms to solve all problems. Just accept that we all want some form of manual override to on/off and geofencing. Eminently doable in software.
There may also be a business model issue here. I can see that some people don’t want a subscription for skills. Fortunately I upgraded to v3+ before this but expect some future feature to push me into a subscription. For the right features, a modest fee is OK.
But tado *MUST* start listening to its customers!2 -
Yes, a Global on/off seems to be the function that is missing the most.
My wife (the technophobe), often complains that she can no longer 'just turn the heating on' as used to be able to with our old analogue system. I appreciate that there is the geo-fencing functionality but this doesn't really work very well in the sense that it doesn't cover a very large area for detection and therefore you can't set it to work in time to actually warm your home up for your arrival, so nice idea but in practice, it doesn't work.
So, a simple manual on/off for the heating is what's needed and for the water. Perhaps there is some way to enable this on the thermostat (which is probably the most pointless part of the whole system, other than being the hub, it serves no purpose when you have the valves in each room), as a menu choice.
I would also like to see this ability extended by being able to create macros/skills so you can choose to switch on or off several rooms (off your choice at once) often during the day at the moment I just want heating on in my kitchen, office and hallway, which i can do manually but it would be good to do it with just one pre-programmed skill button.
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I agree a global on/off override would be nice.
But I've noticed a bit of confusion over how the geofencing feature actually works. It is not simply the case that when inside the home area the heating is "on" and when outside it is "off".
When outside the home area ("away mode"), the heating is still technically "on", but the setpoint for each zone is lowered depending on how far away from home you are. If you are very far away then the heating probably won't need to fire up as it will have set the temperature low, but as you get closer to home, the setpoint is automatically increased which will cause the heating to turn on before you get anywhere near your home zone. When you reach your home zone, it finally sets it to the exact temperature set in your schedule.
When "away" I believe the setpoint temperature depends on 4 things:
- Your distance from home (or the closest user's distance to home).
- The current "home" mode temperature setpoint.
- Your "pre-heat before arrival" setting.
- The speed at which the zone heats up (as worked out by a Tado algorithm).
You can see the setpoint changing yourself. e.g. if your "home" schedule setpoint for a zone is set to 21ºC and you go 10 miles away from home, you'll see in the app that the setpoint will have been reduced to something like 17ºC and as you get closer to home you'll see it will gradually increase causing the heating to kick in before you get home if it needs to. You can also look in the graph and see what Tado set the setpoint to during any "away" period (green).
In my experience, this means that no matter how far away from home I have been, or how long I've been away for, when I walk in the door it feels nice and warm. However, despite having "Preheat before arrival" set to "Comfort" which says it will ensure the desired temperature is reached before my arrival, in my experience it doesn't quite manage this, but as the heating is actively on, it usually feels warm enough, so I have never felt the need to manually enable the heating myself.
I believe that the current slightly odd situation of having no manual override for users without geofencing is a side effect of Tado's change to a subscription model. Originally, all users got geofencing (as described above) for free, and given it seems to work well for most (although not all) people there was less need for a manual override. I remember it being a flagship feature and one which made me choose Tado. But now it's an "optional" feature which new users have to pay for, and it seems Tado haven't put much effort into improving the experience for users who choose not to subscribe to the geofencing feature.
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Hi,
Is this being added back to Tado?
It is what I consider an essential feature to be able to completely turn off the heating.
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Yes. Now that I've got more TRV it's a pain to set each room to heat individual to override the geofencing.
My use case is normally, "I'm just leaving holiday/weekend away etc" and I'd like the house to be warm for my return. My wife hates to be cold! Geofence is normally set to "off" when away.
I'd like a "pretend like I'm home" equivalent for x hours.
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Honestly can't believe that this function isn't available. Surely a massive blunder and disincentive whereby the more you invest in tado equipment the more cumbersome the system becomes!0
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I've just had a situation where this would have been most welcome: got an issue with our boiler gauge so an engineer is fixing it. He asked to turn the heating off so I had to go in to all zones one-by-one.
I don't think there is any other immediate way to turn everything on or off?
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Not on tado app however you can use IFTTT ( not ideal) single click of a widget will turn everything off then second widget back to auto mode ( search under taco in IFTTT app).
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I find Tado software terrible.
I have 1 ST and 6SRT very difficult to mange:
- Not having a global ON/Off switch, that has been requested many times, is really bad
- It does not allow the sharing of smart schedule
- Graphics are terrible without scaling and detail, and changing scale at midnight
- All documentation is very basic and you are many times refered to contact tech support
- Color combinations are at times very difficult to read
- removing buttons to adjust temperature was a bad move.
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I just say: Hi google - "Turn off all thermostat" to my Sonos, works fine, also set all to 20 degrees or all On, works with both Alexa, Google Assistance and Siri (I have all 3 option) . They return to time scheduler on next point.
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I have magnet contacts on the windows, they shout of the TADO in the room when opened. When closed the go to defined temp and return to scheduler on next point.
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@GreenBaby Which magnet contacts do you use?
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Aqara sensors, through Mi Home and connect Tado and the Aqara hub in HomeKit0
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Unless I'm missing something, which is certainly possible, the App doesn't appear to have a simple All heating off button.
Geofencing prompts you switch to AWAY if you use Location services. But I don't like having location on all the time on and neither does my wife; this has resulted in the system thinking we're at home when we're not and vice versa.
The result is that when I do go away I have to switch off every room individually (8 thermostadts). What a pain. A simple All off button would sort it.
Thanks,
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I agree and had a similar request. As well as a simple ALL OFF setting/button, can you not have a simple HOME or AWAY override option as my kids often beat me home by an hour or more and I don't want their mobiles added as they often leave them at home when they go out. These are simple requests and functionality.1
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+1 please add this feature soon!
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I've been using IFTTT for about 6 months now and it works perfectly as a global on/off/auto switch.
I have 2 shortcut buttons on my mobile home screen.
- Switch whole house off
- Switch whole house to auto
Everyone complaining about this feature clearly has not tried the IFTTT solution.
Tado need to spend their limited development time on:
- Manual geofence home/away overide
- Radiator stat battery life
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Rather than controlling each rad separately, there should be a master controller, so i can set the temperature for the whole house with one control.4
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yes pete share we are not all ofay with the jargon so dont have clue where to start!
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Manual geofence home/away overide? is that not the way to go?
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There is, it has been released in the beta version
You are able to set Auto-Home-Away0 -
That's a nice enhancement but of course it does not address this topic/requirement. As was previously mentioned a 4th option, OFF, is also needed. Away mode is not at all the same as Off; well it may be for some people but for many it is just a cooler temperature than Home mode.
So thanks Tado for this enhancement (hopefully us non-beta users will get it soon) but we still need a global 'Off' switch.
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