[Released] Launch an external temperature sensor for the Smart Radiator Thermostats

1234689

Comments

  • So after purchasing numerous Tado TRV’s and them being rendered useless because of the temperature issue I have waited over a year with them in a box for some kind of solution.

    I see on social media finally Tado have listened and are launching an external temperature sensor to solve this only to find the insane price of £69.99 each!!!!!

    This is hugely disappointing when it was your product that was at fault in the first place and makes me question whether this whole thing was just an money making exercise. There is a reason why it is one of your “most requested products” because the TRV’s don’t work without it in most cases!

    If the price was half of this I would have happily purchased 5 on launch.
    Surely a good idea would be either make them cheaper or offer a hefty discount on them for already aggrieved Tado users?

    For those in the know, will the coding on the app have changed for this new hardware to allow for a much cheaper third party device to be used?
  • £69.99?!?!
    Tado, have you been reading these comments? This is more expensive than the actual radiator thermostat itself, why release a product that’s more expensive just to make your original product work as intended. Seriously considering ditching the whole system and going to nest
  • This really needed to be released as a small coin or small sized temp only sensor that was sub £20 to compliment the system.
  • I totally agree. Tado you are failing here. I have 8 TRV installed and they are more and less useless as without an external temperature sensor. As the winter season soon will start I'm considering changing back to my old fashion termostats.

  • Dunkelmann
    edited September 2020

    I agree with everyone about this being an expensive cop out. This tells me I should not invest in the products of a company that treats its customers as idiots and has no desire to innovate and improve.

    I think I will at some point write off my Tado products and replace them. The question is: with what product range?

  • Very insulting from Tado. Great way to alienate many of us who've invested heavily in the Tado ecosystem 👏.

  • This company is just typical German really... Lack of support or even any remote sniff of innovation.

    They have basically done nothing in the past 2/3 years other than try and force their customer base onto some BS subscription service...

    Witch just seems to be the standard lazy tech model these days.

    Adding new sensors for room temp and outdoor, adding in weather compensation etc is simple...and these sensors cost pennies, literally!

    I've built a system with an Arduino and some sensors from eBay and the whole thing cost about £20.

    These kind of products do not command the prices these idiots are asking... It's just a plain ripoff!
  • It all really boggles my mind that a IT company can ship a product with such a bad market fit. I'm a Product Owner myself in "TOP50" startup in Europe and I would get fired straight away if I would deliver something like the new sensor. They are receiving feedback for it for the last couple of years, they even got the FORUM where users share and vote for their needs, yet they are doing completely different.

    I don't know how an Agile company can fail like this, when they've got all of the major customer needs placed like on a plate on this forum. I would kill to have a similar access to feedback while working on my product, but I have to spend a lot of time researching, and talking with customers to deliver something that meets BOTH customer expectations and business goals...


    I've picked Tado as an alternative to Nest, which API got killed by Google but now I'm really starting to regret my decision. I would rather have a nice ecosystem that you can "cheaply" expand than what Tado offers right now.

  • The best thing we can all do is put Tado behind us and research replacement systems. Tado get away with bad products and customer service because we buy them and complain. If we stopped buying them because there was a better commercial, retail product then they would either change their ways or go out of business.

    Given that this forum clearly contains very able, knowledgeable posters who have not suggested alternatives we can buy, then I guess there are none.

    If there are, then let us share them here with two goals in mind: shame Tado and provide ourselves with an exit path.

  • Unfortunately there does not seem to be anything currently available that ticks as many boxes as Tado. This is even taking the known limitations of Tado in to consideration.

    They do have on their side -

    HomeKit support

    TRVs (even with the noise and sensor issues)

    Hot water support

    OpenTherm support

    and eBus support (unique to Tado) meaning it works with Vaillant and Worcester Bosch


    If only they would provide a temp sensor as discussed here, allow more than 10 TRVs and remove the need for asking them to do certain setups by making these accessible in the app.

  • It's a shame...All Tado needed to do was release a device like Google, in the same price point and we would be happy.

    I'm sure if the electronics from the TRV where reused, with a button cell or AAA battery a cheap outcome could have been achieved. It may be cheaper to reuse the casing from the thermostat to avoid increased production costs but the cost is still high.

  • But the worse thing is it's not even a "new" sensor. It's just the old room stat likely with a less populated board in the exact same housing!
    They haven't even had to design anything they just stripped functionality from an existing product and charge a premium for their lazy *naughtyword* work... As an engineer I'm just embarrassed for them!
  • Joead
    Joead ✭✭
    edited October 2020
    That’s just the start of it @onis_uk

    Even more embarrassing for Tado is they already had/have a cheap standalone external temp sensor: https://community.tado.com/en-gb/discussion/comment/6644 - it was part of their v1 kit.

    It makes their newly released offering - something they had already developed that existed many years ago - even more pathetic.
  • Has anyone noticed they removed the offset option in the app?
  • I (iOS)still have it in the "rooms & devices" section, within the Room heading.

  • Jacopo
    Jacopo
    edited October 2020
    Me too, I just couldn’t find it, thanks
  • If Tado customer care aren't responding to questions about this sensor. I wonder whether a message directly to their CEO might help

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/toon-bouten-a738872/

  • Hi all,

    Not for the first time, Amazon are selling 4 x TRV's for £120.99 today for Prime members.

    So is an opportunity to get yourself the workaround "external sensor" for £30 each.

  • It is £97 pounds on amazon prime and £67 on Tado store. 😕

  • So just to confirm before I spank a bunch of money on some prime day Smart Thermostats, I can use these as a wireless thermometer no problem in a room with a smart TRV and just tell Tado that the Smart thermostat is the master temp sensor for that room? Will the controls on the Smart Thermostat let me adjust the temperature for that room (i.e. control the smart TRV) or does it just become a dumb temp sensor?

    The call for heat would still come through the wired Smart Thermostat for that zone?

  • Yep, it doesn't make any sense that I can buy 4 TRV's for £120, but four of the new sensors cost £268!
  • jcwacky
    jcwacky ✭✭✭

    @NellyFurtado All true. You can set any device in a zone to measure the temperature. The controls on all devices control the temperature in that zone. Connection to boiler still taken care of by your wired stat.

  • Offset function is still there in devices section. Select name of your device instead of the thermostat.
  • Simon_M
    Simon_M
    edited October 2020

    Morning all, Amazon is now selling the external sensor for £46.99 as Prime Day offer, today only (even though not in stock until 1st November).

    Still is too expensive, but I think I will buy one and see how it works.

  • johnbur
    johnbur ✭✭✭
    Reality check needed here, I think. They have listened, and released a suitable sensor. They were never going to release a £20 cheapie.
    £79? Too much for me personally. £46? OK - just ordered 3. Like all the Tado kit I've bought over the years, I get them when the offers are there.
  • Arvid
    Arvid
    edited October 2020

    The initial post stated

    <quote>Either that or Tado need release a small, cheap (~£30) temperature sensor that can be placed in the room away from the radiator to give much better results. I know you can use a Tado Smart Thermostat, but at £100 these are too expensive to put in every room.</quote>

    Instead Tado released a slightly cheaper controller that contains a temp sensor.

    Even when they drop the price i would not buy a big controller as an external temperature sensor for the same reason I wont buy an extra TRV

    No @johnbur they did not listen.

    They listened to marketing not their customers.

    Also a controller has a suitable place and a temp sensor has a suitable place in the room and they are NOT tha same place at all.

  • This is just silly... I paid 400e to actually get my radiators to STOP working after mounting these because they can't get over 25deg?? What?

  • @Arvid they did listen, and actually improved on the original suggestion in my opinion by incorporating a controller as well.
    These new sensors are perfect for guest bedrooms for example - solve two problems - the original issue of the trv sensor being too close to the heat source, and an easy way for guests to adjust the room temperature without having to stoop down and fiddle with the trv and often disconnecting from the valve by mistake.
    My only issue is the price - £75 is ridiculous, but £46 as they were on Amazon recently is just about acceptable to me.