Workaround for radiators that don't have thermostatic valves

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timur
timur ✭
in General Questions & Topics
Hi, I have two towel radiators in the house that don't have thermostatic valves.

So what seems to happen at the moment with this new Tado system installed is that the towel radiators are on full heat 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

I was wondering if there is some way that those radiators can be regulated centrally, by switching off the boiler at particular times using the Tado system?

Otherwise the boiler is on all day every day, even during the summer.

The towel radiators aren't really needed, one of them is for an ensuite that is heated by the bedroom.

Turning off the valves doesn't work. Will take time to install TRVs

Answers

  • GrayDav4276
    GrayDav4276 ✭✭✭
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    Hi @timur
    For people to be able to offer any realistic assistance.....you will need to supply much more information on your tado° system......number and type of devices installed would be a good starting point.
  • timur
    timur ✭
    edited March 2022
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    Worcester Bosch CDI combi boiler. The ensuite room has a radiator in the bedroom with a Tado radiator thermostat installed.

    The ensuite has a towel radiator that has no trv valve. Just a turn on valve. But it gets left on meaning it is on all the time all day all night maximum heat.

    I have a Tado temperature sensor outside the bedroom on the ground floor.

    Can we use that temperature sensor to switch the heating off. So the boiler goes off if that temperature in the hallway is above a certain temperature ?

    So it works much like the old hearing systems that weren't IOT ? Where the programmer switches the boiler on or off.
  • eezytiger
    eezytiger ✭✭✭
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    @timur Do you have a Tado Smart Wired/Wireless Thermostat connected to the boiler? Without that Tado is in no position to control the boiler.

    If all you have is Tado Smart Radiator Valves (and no Tado Smart Thermostat) then Tado is powerless to do anything with the boiler. It would be entirely up to your previous timer/thermostat to control boiler operation.

    If you do have a Tado Smart Thermostat and the boiler is running constantly then my guess is that the installation of the Tado system is incorrect (wrongly wired to the boiler or wrong protocol selected for control) - or something is faulty.

    In a correctly functioning system, with Tado Smart Thermostat installed, the boiler should only fire up when a Tado valve or temperature sensor requests heat. FWIW my experience is limited to a Vaillant combi boiler, which I've wired both in relay mode and eBus mode (not at the same time!). Depending on the mode selected there may be wiring adjustments required within the boiler, as well as configuration of the Tado Smart Thermostat so that it talks to the boiler in the right language. Wiring within the Tado Smart Thermostat will also differ, depending on the mode of control.

  • timur
    timur ✭
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    Yes the Tado smart wired/wireless control is connected to the boiler. It recieves messages from the thermostatic radiator valves.

    Can I make my wall temperature sensor switch the boiler off when the hallway gets too hot ?
  • timur
    timur ✭
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    Oh wait, so what you are saying is that if any of the Tado radiator valves are on at say 15 degrees and the temperature in the room is over 15 degrees then the radiator that has no Tado thermostatic valve on it will be on full blast.

    So in a house with 6 Tado radiator valves, I'd need to make sure that all radiator valves were off together at the same time to make sure that the towel radiators were both off aswell.

    Makes sense

    Thanks eezytiger
  • eezytiger
    eezytiger ✭✭✭
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    No, I'm not saying that. The default situation is that the boiler should be off. If any of the Tado valves or sensors requests heat then the boiler will fire up until that heat demand is satisfied. Then the boiler will (should) turn off again.

    The rooms without thermostat valves will be at "full blast" only when the boiler is on. Even then, you can manually dial them down a bit so they are not at "full blast".

    If you want the temperature sensor to be the only device that can make the boiler fire then you need to make all your Tado valves "independent". They will operate like dumb TRVs, in that they won't talk to the boiler, but with the benefit of scheduled temperature changes. You set them to be independent in the ROOM settings, not the DEVICE settings.

    I have eight Tado valves on nine radiators. One radiator (hall) is left valveless to act as a bypass radiator. Six of my eight valves are independent. Only the lounge and bathroom can force the boiler to fire. The other rooms can only receive heat when either the lounge or bathroom request heat for themselves. They still have thermostatic control to prevent overheating, but can only be heated when lounge or bathroom also need heat.

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