X or V3 (or other?) for a newbie?

sjrsjr

I hope I'm posting in the right place, this might be too generalised.

I've been trawling endlessly through Nest, Wiser, Hive, Honeywell etc and started reading this forum because I finally decided on Tado V3. Then I came across X. I'm no tech expert so it's been hard work.

I'm in the middle of a house refurb and haven't yet moved in so I want to control the heating over winter when I'm not always there. Currently there's a newish basic combi boiler, Ideal Atlantic, Opentherm compatible, no thermostat, but I may switch to a condensing one next year, so would want water control too.

I decided on Tado X mainly because the internet isn't always stable and I didn't want to risk V3's cloud-based settings leaving me with a cold house. The Nest learning thermostat was also a contender but my understanding is that it's not compatible with smart TRVs calling for heat room-by-room.

However reading the comments/teething problems about X and reading that Tado is making local storage available for V3, should I be choosing V3, or will that become obsolete soon? (It's much cheaper at the moment - are they clearing stock to make way for X?)

I just want to avoid any more problems being added to my refurb list! Thanks.

AC44

I just upgraded from a combination of a Nest room thermostat (2nd Gen) and V3 Tado radiator valves to the Tado X with radiator thermostats, 1x wireless thermostat, and receiver incl hot water control (not using open therm).

As you point out the Nest system cannot do individual rad/room heat call. Much better with it as the pump and/or boiler turn off when not needed and also any room can turn the boiler on when needed.

The main difference with X specifically though is the noise of the valves operating. I’ve found it much lower on the X compared to V3. Would be interested to know if others experienced the same thing. They were noisy enough that previously I had not wanted to expand my system beyond 4 valves.

I’m not totally convinced about the new design. The look suits some radiators and not others so much. The display is nice and also much more useful with more info. I found one radiator where it was too close to the wall to orientate the display facing outwards which is a pain. However this was in my lounge where I configured the wireless room thermostat to work together with two radiators (rather than having this a main thermostat say in the hall like conventional ones). This gets round that issue and is working well at controlling the heat.

sjrsjr

Thanks for your thoughts. I've been forced to give up on any kind of aesthetics. It's an old house and my radiators are the 'traditional' column ones with old-style looking valves. They're not compatible with smart TRVs, so I'll need to replace all the valves first and then stick modern plastic smart valves on them. Not the look I was hoping to achieve!

AC44

I’m about to try spray painting one of them to match in with the radiator (anthracite grey). Not sure if a good idea or not!

sjrsjr

Interesting - I look forward to you reporting back!

tadouser224

I've actually just switched from V3+ to the X. I didn't use the V3+ for long, however despite following the advice for how to position the bridge etc I would still get episodes where the connection would be lost. The issue here was that once the connection is lost, the boiler remains in the mode that it was in at that time. I had an episode where the heating was on, connection was lost and the boiler was firing for a long time and the house was boiling. I had to switch it off from the mains and reset it to resolve the issue. This is in a house where my WiFi is pretty good with FTTP.

I've switched to X and only just installed it so yet to see how this holds up but already it seems the connection is better as it responds quicker to the app (almost instantly). The main downside is the missing features. As per my previous post and other posts, some key features like early start and selecting how long to boost hot water are missing. Hopefully this will swiftly change, I can't see why this wouldn't be a simple thing to do

wateroakley

hello @sjrsjr welcome. We looked three years ago and were thoroughly confused with the different smart heating control systems. We made the jump (a leap of faith) with Tado V3+ in February 2022 and have subsequently worked out what works well for us. It all depends on what you are trying to do, your home, the heating system, and your budget.

Our ROI was 9 months in 2022. Others say 12-36 months.
Users can request off-line schedules.
if you have a larger home, the single V3+ dongle can be a connection issue for some users.

Our home is 200 sqm. Compared to 2018-21, the smart controls help us to save in 2024 around 50% of gas for heating and hot water. No promises that others can do the same.

Hope this helps.

sjrsjr

Thank you, this is really helping me.

Paying for itself is obviously important but I also like the convenience of being able to adjust the temperature via the app - it's so easy to run up the bill by leaving the heating on manually. Also, I'm currently in a smaller place where the broadband signal is weak at the back of the house so anything that has better connectivity appeals. I plan to start with limited TRVs and hopefully in time they'll come down in price

policywonk

@sjrsjr have used the V series since 2015 or 2016 (long time ago). I do not seek integration with smart home systems, but I have needed smooth running, easy app control. Got all that with the v series, and now the charity I assist uses this line at all the rescue centres. The big benefit came with the deployment of smart trvs, and the smart wall stats when we installed under floor heating, in cost savings, the way in which all the devices seem to work together to not cause my boiler to cycle, the app behaving well, and now, not being dependent on the cloud as much as it was. Today with the Internet down now than 5 times a month it has been stable and all the rooms have worked well.
In one site we have a large very, very old building and I suppose the X series world be justified, but thus far the v series has coped.
When it comes to opentherm it is important to get the right modules. It takes some thought but this forum is, in my experience, really helpful.

sjrsjr

Thanks - I suppose it's a decision between cost and future proofing (if there is such a thing with technology). Matter compatibility is useful but the price V3 is more appealing!

tulloch

Hot water temperature control with X and Opentherm is not available although it was on V3. I was told by support that they intended to implement it. There does not seem to be a timescale for early start to be added which is strange as the code is surely written and been in use for around 10 years?