Which Smart Thermostat? Evohome, Tado, Ideal Touch or Nest?

Toki

Hi,

I currently have an Ideal Vogue boiler which is Opentherm compatible.  Currently controlled via a Honeywell CM927.  

I'd like to get a smart stat that is controllable via my phone.  Initially I had wanted the option of expansion into TRVs but now less bothered going by some feedback in to return on investment.  I've been looking at all the available options and was favouring Tado but a few things have put me off.

1. Reliant on Tado cloud.  What happens if they go bust or are hacked?  Does it turn in to a manual stat or are the programs / timings still retained locally?
2. V3  being subscription for Geofencing option.  I do see box.co.uk are still selling V3 ones so haven't completely ruled Tado out.

A few questions for any experts please.
I have narrowed down to getting one with Opentherm.  I believe these will be more efficient, save money and regulated temp.  Is this correct?
Is Evohome / Nest more self contained?  Are the timings / programs all stored locally?  I'm less concerned with these companies due to them having large parents than Tado (privacy aside).
I prefer having control and having a program of temperatures and being able to adjust as and when required.  Does this rule Nest out for me?  Or will it learn and still be able to change based on the geofencing and manually?
Am I missing any other Opentherm smart stat options such as Heatmiser or even Ideal's own version, Touch? Are these all stored In the cloud also?

I appreciate each system has its own pros and cons and will largely depend on each users needs so if I haven't given enough info, please ask.  Thanks in advance.

Markr123

I’ve been using v1 Tado for over 3 years and it’s been fantastic. Almost completely set and forget. In that time I think the cloud service went out for about an hour but didn’t have any noticeable issues for me. The system still works with exception of remote access via the app.
The self install was painless, with great instructions. The wall stat is super clean and simple so blends in to the wall without looking like a launch system for a spaceship.
Sadly, Tado do seem to have now changed their approach with some really confusing and questionable pricing models. In the earlier days, all the geofencing stuff that I have built in to my original one off purchase price now seems to be a paid add on as do other “gimmick” features. Open window detection for example. Again, I have it built in. Don’t think it makes a bit of difference.
I never entertained the “Smart” TRV’s. I would have needed x18 of them and at ~£60 a pop plus fitting, I elected to go for traditional TRVs.

Has Tado saved me money? It’s certainly paid for itself comfortably and some. Love the functionality. Would I buy it again today with the push on monthly subscription? Not sure I would. I think the system has been great for me given the one off purchase price paid but they now seem all about the revenue. Having said that, from what I see others are even worse. Hive?

Not sure that really answers Q but hope of some help.

Toki

Thanks Mark. Glad you're really happy with your Tado.

To expand on the cloud side of things. My preference is always to have things local and my concern would be if they went out of business, we are left with a dumb thermostat. At least with Google and Honeywell you imagine tjey'll be in business in years to come. I certainly hope Tado are too but you never know with smaller startup companies.

Glad uptime has been so good and certainly still considering them. When you say it still worked during the outage, was this manual or did it continue as per your pre programmed set points?

Thanks for the reply.

Markr123

@Toki I agree, I try to have as much locally as possible for all the same reasons. In this day and age, you are always bound by any technology co. Most of my house is homekit, hue, and alike. Whilst they work offline, you are still bound to the OEM to some degree. Being a BIG name means little imho. Not that I use it, but how many times has Samsung Smartthings been offline? Google, Amazon Alexa, they’ve all had their “offline moments”. ‘‘Tis the nature of the beast. Whilst I also use Alexa, hue switches, I also maintain a “lights out” methodology so we can still use the basic house services in the very, very rare event things are offline. For example. Tado still works locally albeit more manually, I still have access to good old fashioned switches behind all my hue dimmers if all else fails.

The primary reason for my Tado decision after reviewing Nest, hive etc, was it worked well in a larger home, had the best offline resilience and was easy to use. Fast forward nearly 4 years and there is plenty more to choose from. Personally not looking forward to having to choose again when the time comes.

neilball

Honeywell Evo does everything locally with only app access going via the cloud. So when their server goes down all continues to operate locally and all programming/management can be done through the Evo Touch controller.

There are other offerings from Honeywell (such as their single zone smart stat) that does rely on the Cloud for programming and for sending time schedule switch points to the local controls. This means if the cloud is unavailable then no time program information is available to the stat so it continues to operate at the last schedule update before the cloud went offline. You can still adjust the temperature locally, and the boiler will still be controlled on demand, but this is the limitation of cloud-based solutions - you lose some (or in some cases, all) functionality if the cloud server is unavailable for any reason.

I view heating and lighting control as fundamental in being able to use the house, so any control system that places core functions in the cloud means it is not going to be acceptable to me, no matter how clever it may be compared to its competition.

Puntoboy

Used to have Tado, poor business practices and charges forced me to ditch it.

Now have Hive, works really well. If the internet is down they still work locally.

Ianandanne

I love Netatmo.. for cost it is great...

Toki

Thank again Mark for your comments.

Neil, thanks for your input.  Couple of queries on the Evo. It's mainly marketed as a multi zone device, does it work ok as a single zone via the 1 controller?  I'm in 2 minds about going down the TRV route.  I've got 12 rads.  My understanding is I'd be best getting TRVs on most or all rads?  If for example I get on half for upstairs and not downstairs, if 1 TRV calls for heat upstairs, all downstairs rads would come on too assuming the manual TRVs are open?

Are you talking about the Honeywell Lyric T6 Neil that stores in the cloud? Pity if that's the case otherwise think that would do the job for me for 1 zone.

Are there any other opentherm smart thermostats that store locally?  Any experience of the Ideal Touch?


Punto, thanks but have ruled Hive out due to not being opentherm compatible.
Ianandanne, thankd, not looked in to Netatmo, will read up.

Toki

1 more question on the evo, does the controller stay on all the time?  1 review stated how bright it is and had to move away as it couldn't be dimmed or turned off.  Thanks

Toki

Sorry to post again!

Has anyone experience of Drayton Wiser system? Seems to be a cheaper alternative to Evohome  some issues reported to the communication between TRVs if too far away but seems good apart from that?

Thanks in advance.