Question about smart heating

sterankin

I have zoned heating in my house.
My boiler is oil fired, and I have a timer clock thing in the utility room downstairs which is used to time the downstairs heating.

I have a salus battery operated thermostat in the kitchen which I can set the temperature and downstairs heating turns off if the temperature goes above the set temp.

Upstairs in the bedroom I have an old dial thermostat, and another clock timer which sets the heating on and off upstairs.

So salus thermostat is on the blink, so I was thinking it would be a good opportunity to install either smart heating or smart thermostat.

I'm thinking Tado or similar, but I'm confused as to what I need and where it would go.

How would it all work and what would I need?

Do I need 2 Tado sets since I have zoned heating?

Do I just replace the thermostats or do I need to replace the Drayton clock timer things.

The downstairs clock timer also controls the hot water too so how would this work with Tado?

Hopefully someone can explain in simple terms.
Thx

MarkE19

I've had Tado for several years and it is so simple to use. However I only have a single zone with a combi boiler so my setup is a lot simpler than yours would be.

Take a look at the Tado blog on multi zone setup that should help to show you what you can do - Multi-zone control - do it your way | tado° Blog
Or you can contact them with all the equipment details and they can then tell you exactly what you need and how to set it all up.
Smart Heating – Help Center

Tado leaves the boiler on at all times, so there is no need for a timer clock. What is does is adjust the temp on the thermostat so that when you are out the heating is not running, but when returning home it puts the temp back up to your set temp so the home is warm when you get in. This is all done by the app on your mobile phone knowing your location etc. and can be setup on multiple mobiles so the family can all get the heating going if anybody returns home unexpectedly.
tado° Smart Thermostat - Time for intelligent heating!

Mark.

adam-burnley

Salus have a smart option which supports two zones.

Desmo

I don't know anything about Tado but we have two zones for heating and have had two Nests installed so I would guess you're going to need two Tado.

sterankin

Thanks for this - so can you set a timer function on the thermostat through the app?  Does the geo-fencing work only if you have a subscription?

I have contacted Tado with my specific boiler and current thermostat makes and hopefully they can tell me what I need.

From my own reading it looks like I would need:

1. Tado starter kit which has the internet bridge. This would replace my current smart thermostat.
2. Extension kit - this would replace my timer clock in the utility room, and therefore allow me to control hot water.
3. Additional tado thermostat - this would allow me to replace the upstairs thermostat, but its unclear to me what to do with the upstairs timer clock - should I set this to always on and let the tado do the work?

Anyway - if my above research is correct - the initial outlay would be £400. ouch.

MarkE19

Yes, but rather than telling the boiler to switch off it just adjust the thermostat so at say 06:00 it ups the temp to your required daytime temp so the boiler kicks into life and heats the house. Then when you leave the house it drops the temp to your away setting so the heating stops until you are returning home in the evening. It then heats as required until your night time setting is reached and it drops the temp setting down to the night temp.
There is no subscription with Tado, once purchased it is a free to use system - or you can rent the system instead, but that is likely to be an expensive option in the long run.
Either remove it or as you say just set it to always on.

My thermostat and timer before I got Tado were an all-in-one external unit from the boiler. So all I had to do was connect Tado in place of the old unit. Unfortunately your setup is not that simple, but I'm sure Tado will tell you all you need to know to get it working.

Mark.

sterankin

There is a £2.99 a month fee if you want to use geofencing and auto assist for those who buy the new V3  system:

Tado Pricing Update — New Home Tricks

Although it looks like if you have an older system you don't have to pay or if you upgrade its only a one off fee of £20?

PsyVision

That was for people that already had Taco when the new subs came in.

sterankin

Yeah so there is a £2.99 optional fee for additional functionality?

PsyVision

Correct