Tado Smart Heating First Impressions & Tour

Read the companion blog post HERE: www.newhometri...
We've had our Tado Smart Heating system for a while now - so, it's time to take a tour round the app and system, and give a few first impressions on how it's been working!
All opinions expressed are my own and are not associated with any other organisation.
All brands and trademarks are the property of their respective owners and I have no association with these brands unless otherwise stated.
Title music: www.bensound.co...

[@phillipdeackes4920]

I have had Tado since mid 2015. I have a Vaillant combi boiler and self-installed the extension kit and the smart thermostat. It was surprisingly easy given the specific step-by-step instructions provided by Tado. Geo-location is brilliant, especially for someone like me who is out at random times during the week. Sometimes I work at a school a couple of blocks away from home so I needed to reduce the size of my home location because the heating was triggering when I was teaching in a classroom at the front of the school. No issues at all after doing that. My house holds heat well so I turned pre-heat off completely and set the night time and away temperature to the minimum. It really is a fit-and-forget system once you have set it up to your requirements.

[@anthonybowes9273]

A really good clear review of a system we are planning to install in my son's house as he is a nurse working shifts and this system seemed to fit the bill. This review has confirmed that we have chosen the right control for his needs. Thanks again for a very clear report.

[@hflatman]

Thank you so much, very clear and helpful. We have had the system for just over 3 weeks and we were struggling with a few aspects, which you have clarified for us. It was lovely to come back from holiday and be able to ensure we came home to a warm house yesterday.

[@NewHomeTricks]

Thank you so much for your comment! Glad to hear you're getting on well with the system. I too have appreciated coming back to a warm house, especially when you also know you've been saving money whilst away! :)

[@AlduinDragonLord]

Had this fitted today and the fitter went through this with me but it was a lot to take in. This vid is very helpful so thank you!

[@NewHomeTricks]

You're welcome! Thank you for the comment!

[@robertmichael1888]

This is fantastic. Thanks a lot as I'm looking to get Tado myself so your video have been a massive help. mind at ease that this is going to work for me.

[@robertmichael1888]

just subbed too

[@NewHomeTricks]

Thanks for the feedback! Let me know how you get on!

[@Mirecsooor]

just installed Tado today and your video helped me to " identify " what are those 3x little flames :D so ok now I know, now saw some comments about battery life... will see

[@22Syko]

Great stuff, thank you for this, only just had the Tado fitted yesterday and your video has made the usage of it very simplistic. Going to start having the tado radiator valves fit over the next few months, would be great if you have had these fitted to watch another video on these.

Thank you for this very informative review. I'm actually looking to buy a Tado smart heating system (thermostat, valves) because I have a lot of issues with my current smart system made by Netatmo. From this video I'm now convinced that Tado is light years ahead Netatmo feature-wise. Remains to be seen if it will work without under- and over-heating and if the communication range of the valves is good enough. I wonder, can Tado have multiple schedules that you can quickly switch between? One for working at home, one for working away, one for holidays, etc.

[@NewHomeTricks]

Hi. Temperature over-shoot and under-shoot can be an issue with many systems. It's less of a problem when you have a modern boiler that can be wired in using digital controls, since Tado can communicate the heat level required direct to the boiler. You can't have schedule profiles that you can switch between - but that's a very good idea! I might hit the 'feedback' button and send Tado the idea as it would make it a lot easier to switch between schedules, and indeed apply schedules to new zones.

[@anzman911]

Your review deserve a thumbs up. You should work for Tado :D

[@Hancoxed]

Brilliant review. Really clear and thorough, thanks!

[@djjluvv]

Hey thanks for the videos, when you did this review were all these settings free?

[@NewHomeTricks]

Hi there. Yes, and still are free. The only circumstance where you have to pay an ongoing fee is if you choose to rent your Tado system rather than pay outright.

[@chrissanders55]

Great video. Just wondering if the smart thermostats are quiet or make a lot noise when they “kick in”?

[@NewHomeTricks]

Hi there. They do make noise, and it is semi noticeable, but I would not describe it as 'loud'. When the valve motor runs, it normally only runs for at most a second, and in my experience is fairly infrequent. Hope that helps :)

[@fonzie988]

A hamburger menu 😂 first time i heard that. But I've one question regarding the manual control. For how long will the manual control keep running when, for example, there's a babysit watching my kid, and she/he uses the controls on the thermostat? Is that something you can set up in the app? Thank's for the video and de clear explanation.

[@fonzie988]

Is was a little further in the video 🙄

[@AviKhali]

Thank you for this vid, really helpful

[@martinbaker6532]

I'm not quite understanding how you could get "more control" when returning home. The system is only going to be able to heat up the house as fast as the boiler can and it can't predict the future to know when you're going to start returning home! I guess it could allow you to set a minimum temperature while you're away but that seems to defeat the point of having a smart system.

[@NewHomeTricks]

Hi there! Indeed it does not predict the future. Instead it uses your phone to determine your location. When you leave home, it shifts your desired temperature down. The degree of reduction depends on how far away from home you travel. Thus, as you return home, the set temperature is increased more and more, the closer to home you get. Hopefully, by the time you walk in the door, your home will be back up to your desired temperature. So far, the system is working well for us, and works as advertised.

[@bojan27051981]

One question?

[@KJSvitko]

Save energy = save money on utilities.

[@davidellis7305]

Do not buy it 1. The thermostate works with 3 AAA batteries. You have to change it often. 2. The radiator knops works on 2 aa batteries. The batteries will only last 6 weeks. On the website they make you believe the battery life will be 2 years. 3. If you have an opentherm boiler and the internet connection is lost. The boiler will not shut it self down. The temperature will be maintained. 4. If the internet or electricity is lost for more than 1 day. The thermostate and the radiator knops will look for the signal of the tado internet bridge. This will costs the battery life. This is why I returned the tado thermostate.

[@NewHomeTricks]

Hi there. It sounds like your experiences have been very different from my own. I've had the thermostat and radiator controllers in for much longer than six weeks, and have so far not had any flat batteries. Certainly, I plan to make mention of battery life in a future update. The moment any of my devices require a battery change, that was the point at which I wanted to post the update. So far so good though. As for your connection issues, I've only so far had a prolonged outage, but it did not seem to have an impact on the battery life of the devices. Thank you for the feedback though. I'll certainly keep a close eye on battery life and report back my findings.

[@callumwhalley6859]

I've had mine from the start of the year and I have no issues with batteries, I can't fault the Tado system

[@TheWaveBloke]

I’ve now had Tado installed for 18 months and no flat batteries. I really couldn’t be happier with this system.