Smart thermostats

[keely79]

Has anyone got these? Are they worth the money?

Looking at the Hive, the Tado www.tado.com/de-en or the Nest nest.com/uk/ which has just launched. Is quite a bit of money upfront, but if they do save the money overall, would be worth it (plus more eco friendly?).

[MrsJamin]

We have a tado system, it's great. I have a flexible job and have school runs etc and so it's great having a system that knows if we're in or not. We're yet to discover whether it saves us money or not but it's V convenient.

[MrsJamin]

Dh and I have the tado app on our phones and it detects when you're home and when you're approaching home. It also monitors the outside temperature using info from the Internet so it boosts the temperature before a cold snap. We hardly ever think 'it's a bit chilly' or that's it's too hot. Wonderful design.

[miramar]

1984

[keely79]

Thanks for the feedback. Am seriously tempted to try as we have people in and out of the house the whole time and it would be good not to be heating an empty house!

[PigletJohn]

What sort of thermostat do you alreadt have?

In decreasing order of benefit, they will improve comfort and economy if you have
No thermostat
Simple thermostat
Programmable thermostat

I am very happy with a programmable stat, which is a big leap forward. Not yet decided about the spy stats but they should help if you get up/go out/come home/go to bed at random times with no pattern.

[keely79]

We have a very simple, ancient thermostat plus a programmable manual dial that clicks round on boiler - does allow hot water and heating to come on twice a day for period of time but nothing fancier than that.

[PigletJohn]

I imagine you have a wall stat something like this

It could be swapped for a programmable stat like the Honeywell CM907 which is probably the best wired programmable stat on the market, using the same wires (power must be turned of as they will be live mains) which allows you to programme separate temperatures at separate times of day and days of week. I can't say if the smart stat would give you a better return on your money.

[skinnyflatwhite]

We have friends with this one www.heatmiser.com/ who think it's the bees' knees.

[lurkingaround]

I was just wandering around MN, as you do and saw this thread. Never mind 1984 as in big brother is watching you, I feel like I'm living in 1984!! I never knew you could get such clever thermostat thigamjigs! No word of exaggeration I am in awe. A thermostat that knows you're home! A revelation I tell you. This is amazing. So clever. I'm delighted with myself for finding this thread. (I know, I should get out more ).

[MrsJamin]

I think now that technology is here, embrace it! You might as well describe anything your smartphone does as 1984! So you could at least use it for something other than updating your Facebook status. We literally never think about whether the heating is on when it shouldn't be or that it's not on when it should be. We're out of the country at present and just left the house knowing that the heating wouldn't come back on again until we are approaching our town on our return.

[lurkingaround]

Yes it's fab. We are renovating/changing room etc and I will be delighted to be installing one of these things! Love it. Hope it works as well as I expect!

[skinnyflatwhite]

TBH I think this "heating is switched on when we are approaching the house" is rather over-rated.

How close do we want to be before that happens? It probably means the heating comes on 5 minutes earlier (wow!)

I think all we (I) need is the ability to adjust and control temperature via wifi.

[gallicgirl]

DP has been looking at the nest thermostat. There is a more expensive product that enables you to alter the temperature in individual rooms but I'm not sure that's worth the set up costs.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

We have a British gas RC plus programmable one and I can't imagine any improvement on that tbh.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Gallic-surely you can just do that by altering radiator knobs?

[lurkingaround]

I have those radiator knob thermostat things. I don't find them great tbh. Maybe mine aren't good ones, but they really don't seem to regulate the heat of the room.

[gallicgirl]

Can't twiddle knobs if you're not in though.

I think it was about £800so unless you massively waste energy, I can't see the savings paying for that.

[keely79]

Having done a bit of research, not sure those zoned thermostats work that well unless you keep doors in respective zones closed (not a hope in hell in our house with the two small terrors). We have the radiator knob things, but just thinking that an overall smart system which would let me control remotely/wouldn't heat house when not there, might be good and the initial outlay isn't that much in the grand scheme of things (£6.99 a month plus £50 installation to rent the tado and then option of putting first 6 months rental towards buying it if we like it...)

[PigletJohn]

zoning per room is somewhat expensive.

zoning per floor (bedrooms vs. living rooms) is more modest in cost, and quite common in modern installations, especially larger homes.

[Aberchips]

We have a Honeywell Wireless Thermostat which isn't as high tech, but we're really pleased with. You can move it around from room to room which is great for us as the temperature of our kitchen/ lounge depends on which way the wind is coming!

[PigletJohn]

the Honeywell programmable stats are the best you can get, and do allow you to preset your own choices of temps and times, which is very suitable for people who tend to get home and get out of bed at predictable times and have a regular weekly schedule, and they can be altered as needed. However they do not accommodate remote changes over the 'net.

I already have a programmable stat and have not yet decided it is worthwhile changing to one with remote access.