Sun Intensity Calculation?

Hello folks,

I recently started using Tado and am loving it so far. A couple weeks ago I integrated Tado into Home Assistant and saw a field called Solar Intensity/Percentage. I wanted to find out how is that being calculated? Most likely they're taking into account the sun elevation, cloud cover, weather etc. But is there a way I can do that myself for another place?


Thanks.

Answers

  • Would like to know from which data it is calculated too.

    Just to know if it is affected when I close my shutters...

  • Do you both actually believe that the current range of tado devices are capable of achieving this level of information........??🤔 The SRT's can't even accurately measure the room temperature......

  • samd
    samd ✭✭✭

    Do you think they might have been measuring Solar Intensity all this time? Might account for the slight inaccuracy!

  • ........"Slight inaccuracy !".......that's a very polite way of saying it....😎

  • davidlyall
    davidlyall ✭✭✭

    Perhaps it's there to support future functionality?

    I don't think Tado can reliably do anything with the information right now as for one thing, it doesn't know the layout of your property i.e. a north facing room won't get any solar gain regardless of the sun intensity.

    Tado needs to know a lot more about your property in order to properly manage it e.g.

    Room sizes and orientation; radiator sizes and location in room; window/door locations


    @GrayDav4276, in my experience, the Tado TRV is very accurate at measuring the temperature AT ITS LOCATION but the temperature on the opposite side of a room can be very different. Before smart TRVs, the dumb TRVs generally just had a number from 1-5 and you set it to a number that got the room to a comfortable temp. Now, with smart TRVs we set a temp and assume that the room will be at that temp but that's a pretty tall order for something sitting beside the heat source 6 inches off the floor on one side of the room. I'd be pretty sure that the other brands of smart TRV suffer from exactly the same issue.

    I do think the better option for Tado (and others) would be to have motorised TRVs with no intelligence built in, these would be controlled by a temp sensor sited at a more appropriate location in each room. Maybe that type of TRV could be £25-30 each instead of the current £50-60 for a basic TRV or £65-75 for the full smart TRV. Thoughts ...

  • samd
    samd ✭✭✭

    @davidlyall I'd be pretty sure that the other brands of smart TRV suffer from exactly the same issue. Not sure I agree with that. I had two smart systems pre-tado and neither reacted as tado versions do and neither required room measuring devices. Using an elbow with a tado TRV makes a significant improvement in its use as a measuring device and that only moves the sensor a couple of inches.

    I agree with your second para but the finances would have to work - for the punter!