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Smart radiator valves - idiot guide, please

3 replies

Cynderella · 16/09/2022 21:20

We need to reduce our gas consumption, and cutting back on the heating is the way we have to do it. We use far too much gas in the winter, and I hold my hands up to having it on more than I should. Am going to try and keep it off until end of October - I'd have had it on for an hour this evening last year - and restrict it to morning and evening. Heated throw and Oodie ready.

I like the idea of smart TVRs for the bedrooms and the cellar (a WFH space most days). We have a Nest thermostat, but I can only set a temp for the house, not individual rooms. I'm good with tech in some ways, but rubbish at anything that requires installation. What do I need? I'm guessing a different thermostat and some valves - any recommendations?

And is it plug and play or will I need someone who knows what they're doing with heating to set it all up? Which system should I look at for just controlling four radiators, and is it worth doing? I realise it would take a while to recoup the outlay, but we're high users and so it might not take so long for us.

OP posts:
Kfjsjdbd · 16/09/2022 21:42

My husband did tons of research and we have a Tado system that is brilliant. It was expensive though so will take a while to pay off with savings in gas!

PissedOffNeighbour22 · 16/09/2022 22:20

We had the Bosch TRVs fitted when we had a Worcester boiler fitted. They're around £50 per valve. All controlled with an app.

We paid our heating guy to set it all up but he didn't have a clue and we ended up sorting most of it out ourselves. We had a few teething issues though, the worse being when we set all the TRVs to childlock mode as our toddler was messing with them. Then the internet went down and we couldn't turn the heating on as it was stuck on timer until the internet came back on.

I'm hoping it will help us save money as we're on LPG so it costs a fortune to have the heating on and as we're renovating, we have rooms that aren't in use.

Word of warning though - the TRVs fly through batteries. We've bought some rechargeables ready for this winter.

Cynderella · 16/09/2022 22:28

That's interesting about batteries - we do have some rechargeable AAs. I was looking at TADO - there is a starter kit with two TRVs, wifi - is that all I need to control the radiators in the cellar and one bedroom? I'd probably need three more valves.

If it's wi-fi, I assume I set it up like the Nest (which is wired in, come to think of it) ... how do I set it up?

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