I am a big fan of smart home heating, I reviewed the original Tado when it was launched, and I have been using Genius Hub in my home the past few years.
Tado, or tado° if we want to use their Sunday name, has consistently upgraded both their hardware and software features consistently making them one of the best options for smart home heating in the market.
They are one of the few companies that offer smart radiator valve which allow you to control your rooms individually, and in my opinion, it is one of the most important aspects of smart home heating. If you live in a moderately large home, there is no need to heat every room to a set temperature every time the boiler kicks in.
Competition is growing here, Genius Hub has done it for years, and Schneider Electric / Wiser just launched their own TRVs.
Wireless Temperature Sensor
Tado is now improving this with the Wireless Temperature Sensor
The new Wireless Temperature Sensors are equipped with temperature and humidity detectors and support the convenient, central control of multiple Smart Radiator Thermostats in one or multiple rooms. By decoupling the temperature measurement from the heat source, a more accurate and convenient adaptation to the desired room climate is possible.
More than just a sensor, the in-built user interface also allows residents to manually adjust the settings on the device itself.
Furthermore, the Wireless Temperature Sensors can be placed wherever these measurements matter the most, like in a child’s bedroom or a humid basement. The Wireless Temperature Sensors complement the tado° Air Comfort Skill, which allows users to monitor the room climate and provides detailed insights and actionable advice for a more healthy home environment.
Expanded V3+ Starter Kits portfolio
Compatible with 95% of all heating systems, the expanded Smart Thermostat V3+ Starter Kits offer unmatched integration and control of all kinds of boilers from any manufacturer. If there is no wired room thermostat connected to the boiler, then the new Wireless Smart Thermostat Starter Kit is the right choice. The simple two Starter Kit options of wired or wireless make selecting the right setup easier and more affordable for the customer. The Wireless Smart Thermostat can also replace a dual-channel programmer to control a hot water tank in the UK.
Prices & Availability
- Starter Kit – Wired Smart Thermostat V3+: £179.99 / €199.99
- Starter Kit – Wireless Smart Thermostat V3+: £199.99 / €229.99
- Wireless Temperature Sensor: £69.99 / €79.99
Care & Protect
On top of the hardware launch, Tado also announced a new care and protect feature which can automatically detect boiler faults and inform the user on how to fix them or who to call.
So if one of the devices in the system detects unusual patterns in your heating, then it can warn you there may be a problem. An obvious issue would be a room not warming up when it should, but this could also be a room not warming up enough, which may indicate a radiator needs bleeding.
Tado can even detect boiler breakdowns by establishes a two-way digital connection between the boiler and the Tado Smart Thermostat (assuming your boiler supports it) to analyse metrics such as water pressure, pump speed, and error codes. For example, when Tado measures low water pressures, which will eventually cause the heating system to shut down, it will notify the customer a few weeks before such an automatic shut down and advise to refill water
Price and Availability
One thing I don’t like about Tado is that they fence off some features within a paid subscription.
The Auto Assist function rolled out last October as a cost of £2.99 per month or £24.99 per year, and this includes geofencing, open window detection and now the care and protect feature.
In defence of Tado, none of these functions is necessary for a smart home heating solution, and I am not sure of competing brands that offer similar functionality for free.
