25-09-2022, 11:28
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#1
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CF Resident Dog
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Smart Thermastat
I've just started looking into Smart Thermastats as I saw Bulb Energy give a 35% discount on the Tado brand.
I currently have a conventional boiler with a wired Honeywell thermastat and my understanding is I can get their wired starter kit and replace the Honeywell.
How much of a difference do these things have on heating bills based on your opinions?
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25-09-2022, 12:33
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#2
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Just a Geek
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 3,598
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Re: Smart Thermastat
The only way I would use a smart stat was if the boiler has the receiver and the stat can go anywhere. I was looking into it and my boiler would allow it but often older boilers would have to have the stat wired in one place.
In my house the wired stat is in the hall which is the most stupid place of all because as you know hot air rises up the stairs making it impossible to set a temp and it holds that temp in my living room which is where i would want a stat if anywhere. The only benefit I would have had was not having to get up to constantly have to moderate the living room temp
Thankfully all became moot with the price increases and no using heating anymore so did not follow it up
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25-09-2022, 12:46
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#3
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CF Resident Dog
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Re: Smart Thermastat
Mines also in the small hall but that is right next to my livingroom and the stairs are in the livingroom.
The smart thermastat starter pack would detect when I'm not at home and turn the heating right down or off so I would definitely save on that when I'm at work and wouldn't want to come home to a frozen house at 10.30pm on late shift so it could turn it on before then saving around 5hrs of heating on that shift, but I don't think I would fit the special valves to the radiators.
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25-09-2022, 12:57
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#4
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Just a Geek
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Re: Smart Thermastat
Doesn't your boiler have a timer on it? up to you of course but I would just switch to timer when you are at work and then on to manual when you are off
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25-09-2022, 13:39
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#5
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Re: Smart Thermastat
The only advantage is to the installer in that it won't need a cable run to the master thermostat, as they operate via a radio signal.
Some are purely thermostats, but others operate as timers and/or override switches.
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25-09-2022, 13:42
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#6
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CF Resident Dog
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Re: Smart Thermastat
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaymoss
Doesn't your boiler have a timer on it? up to you of course but I would just switch to timer when you are at work and then on to manual when you are off
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There is a control in the airing cupboard, on/off first thing in morning for a few hours which will heat the hotwater in the Megaflow tank and heating the house in that time and then on again around 4pm until 10pm I think as my boiler is conventional this is for both heating and hot water.
So you can see why I would benefit from better control with a smart thermastat when I'm not at home with the heating part of it as long as no one else is in the house.
Basically when I finish work I don't want to come home to a frozen house at 10.30pm when I go to bed so I need the heating on a few hours before that when I'm not there.
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25-09-2022, 13:45
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#7
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Just a Geek
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Re: Smart Thermastat
yeah I get ya bud
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25-09-2022, 13:49
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#8
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Re: Smart Thermastat
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaymoss
yeah I get ya bud
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And then when I'm at home all the time I don't want to freeze my bollocks off so will have the heating come on whenever it wants to with hopefully better control so it will turn off more economically and hopefully save money.
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25-09-2022, 15:35
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#9
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Re: Smart Thermastat
I have used Hive for many years now.
Remote wi-fi receiver to control the heating / water, remote wi-fi thermostat (in my hallway atm) and a hub that links them plugged in near my router (as it needs internet).
The receiver and hub need mains power, the thermostat is battery powered.
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11-12-2022, 10:25
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#10
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Re: Smart Thermastat
I ended up buying the Tado wired thermastat on Black Friday and installed it yesterday replacing the Honeywell in the Hall used for the heating.
I've no idea if it'll save me money or whether it'll increase my Gas usage but the extra control I now have especially when not at home will hopefully be a positive.
I think I need to get it the habit of switching it to Away mode where it's set to not let the house drop below 10c when I leave for work and then a few hours before I return home turn it onto 20c again.
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Last edited by SnoopZ; 11-12-2022 at 10:29.
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12-12-2022, 10:24
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#11
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Re: Smart Thermastat
We have Hive (in the hall) as there is no mains near where the thermostat is sited. We do have the problem that the hall takes ages to get to temperature so is set a little low and then the rest of the house has problems. It's a new boiler and system was cleaned out.
One thing we found out was that the manufacturer's thermostat can use features on the boiler that run the pump after the burner turns off. Hive has a "Ready by" feature so instead of setting the heating to come on/off at fixed times you set the time you want the temperature to be ready at. It will turn the heating on upto an hour earlier to reach that temperature, if the room is a bit warmer it doesn't turn the heating on until a bit later. I'd like to get Hive thermostatic valves on the radiators so the heating can stay on and warm rooms like my office without heating the empty rest of the house.
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12-12-2022, 11:03
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#12
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Re: Smart Thermastat
The problem with thermostatic valves on the radiators is they they can only really switch the radiator off. Unless the main thermostat switches the heating on, the radiators won't heat up.
Unless my hallway is below the thermostat setting, the living room radiator will be cold. The alternative is to set the hallway thermostat higher than it needs to be. The hallway doesn't need to be that warm, because you're only ever passing through it. Just annoying and crazy.
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12-12-2022, 15:01
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#13
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Trollsplatter
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Re: Smart Thermastat
The advantage is supposed to be that if your comings and goings from home during the week don’t match what’s set in the thermostat’s timer, you can remotely turn it on or off, or up or down, as required. It should save money if you’re able to turn the heating off when you’re out for the evening. To be honest I suspect the advantage is minimal. Certainly in our house full of teenagers there’s lots of coming and going and giving any one of us remote control over the heating would be even more problematic than having a fixed programme in a dumb stat at home. At least this way, whoever’s home can alter it if they need to. At least in our case, the house is new and well insulated so it warms up quickly.
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12-12-2022, 15:07
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#14
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Re: Smart Thermastat
Its useful to be able to control the heating remotely, and via Alexa.
With four adults, a 17 month old child, and myself permanantly working from home, there is very rarely a time when no one is at home.
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12-12-2022, 15:58
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#15
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Re: Smart Thermastat
Quote:
Originally Posted by nomadking
The problem with thermostatic valves on the radiators is they they can only really switch the radiator off. Unless the main thermostat switches the heating on, the radiators won't heat up.
Unless my hallway is below the thermostat setting, the living room radiator will be cold.
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As per regs at that time, the hallway radiator hasn't got a TRV, the flow through it was turned down by the installers, so that it doesn't heat too quickly, shutting down the entire house.
But the new boiler has a bypass loop, so if all the rads are TRVed and shut off, the pump will keep running with the flow going through the bypass until the hall thermostat shuts it off. But the council refuses to accept that, despite it being in the handbook, so no hallway TRV.
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