New hardware product: controller for electric underfloor heating
Please consider adding a new item of hardware to your set of products; a controller for underfloor heating. Such a unit should:
- Be able to switch at least 16A.
- Have an integrated air temperature sensor.
- Have connections for an underfloor temperature probe.
- Support operation in 3 modes; air temp only, floor temp only and air temp with floor limit.
- Be integrated into the tado ecosystem (of course).
With such a device once could easily integrate electric underfloor heating into a tado system (which is what I really need for my home!).
Comments
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Many homes have underfloor electric heating to augment their normal central heating. For example I have 11 rooms where my gas central heating is controlled by tado but in 7 of those room I also have electric 'comfort' underfloor heating. it would be great to be able to control the UFH using tado too, for a more integrated and efficient experience. Perhaps tado could consider adding a smart UFH controller to their range of hardware?
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+1
We have electric UFH in our garden room, it's rarely left on purposefully but seeing it in the app and being able to at the very least switch it off/on would be fantastic. Surely just a temperature sensor and relay if not enough customer demand for a specific unit?
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Smartjings and a compatible relay would do this.1
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Smarthings and a compatible relay, yes not tado, then setup home assistant, tadp integrates with that and them you have a whole.system.
Home assistant can run on a cheap raspberry pi.1 -
Agreed.
You could partially achieve this now using a Smart thermostat in wired mode to switch a contactor that would then switch the high load of your underfloor heating.
The downside of this is that you'd only get air temp measurement. This is the reason why I've not replaced my Warmup 4ie thermostat with Tado as I use the floor probe
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This really is a missing product in the Tado lineup. Essentially, it’s a Wired Smart Thermostate, except it can support up to 32A on the relay, and also works with a range of underfloor probes (the resistance would need to be configurable as there a lot of different probes).
The current “hack” solution that Tado advises (using an external relay) does work, but doesn’t support the underfloor probe and isn’t exactly supportive of a future eco sustainable housing ambition.0 -
This really is essential and is a huge missing product in the Tado product lineup. Electric UFH is so popular now, and is increasingly becoming seen as the modern eco sustainable solution for green homes. If Tado want to be considered as leading in this area, rather than being left behind supporting only water based heating, then this is really important for Tado to sit up and listen.
In the UK, gas fired boilers will be banned in new builds by 2025, and most countries are aiming for net zero emissions. Electric heating is a key part of this strategy, and UFH is seen as a well-established and easy solution to this. Tado NEED to be part of this in order to keep growing demand. Oil and gas fired boilers are quickly being seen as obsolete/legacy, and alternative solutions such as air source heat exchangers are not currently cost effective (even with Government grants) or easy enough for most homes to consider.
Here’s EDFs page about support the upcoming gas boiler ban: https://www.edfenergy.com/heating/advice/uk-boiler-ban0 -
Really hate our rather dumb underfloor heating (with floor sensors) Heatmiser thermostat.
Updating it to work with Homekit involves yet another hub (we already have plenty).
Tado is controlling the rest of our home and we really happy and familiar with it. We are deeply invested in Tado equipment. Tado help explains “If you would like to make your electric underfloor heating system compatible with tado°, please contact a local installer to make the necessary changes for you”. I am unable to find just what that would involve. Tado seem to point installers to manuals that don't actually explain.
Surely the product we are after is in plan, for now though, an explanation of the professional workaround would be second best.
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In case anyone wants it, here's my DIY guide to how to go about solving this problem, using an external relay (this was advised to me by tado customer support), and also includes a safety thermostat for the underfloor probe. Disclaimer: I'm not responsible if you burn your house down and electrocute your cat.
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+1.. This is a great shout, needs to have a decent current rating on device too - our room is right on the limit of the Warmup 16a ceiling.
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@GuyF good luck! I hope it works out for you. Please do post back your progress as I’d love to know if there’s any snags you run into!0
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@sidhead absolutely - the contactor I showed in my diagram was rated up to 25A but the safety thermostat was only 15A, but could have been higher. I do think 32A is the minimum if tado were to create a specific device0
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I am also looking for this. I was very happy with my Tado setup. But I recently moved my hydraulic UFH to a electrical heater (disconnected it from the Central Gas based heating). Now the new thermostat is driving me crazy.
The UFH heater and pump are in the basement without a signal wire to the living room (was linked to the GAS heater on the attic).
I really want this system to integrate into my Tado setup, but as it stands I need a proper 16A relay that can be toggled by a signal wire, a wired Tado thermostat to install next to the UFH location and a wireless Tado in the living room for the actual air measurements.
Since this is a hydraulic UFH and it is slow to respond, I am also worried that such a setup is not Tado smart scheduling aware/compatible. Will it learn the pre-heating time and impacts by the climate outside properly or will it always be late and overshoot when it should relax.
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Everything heating-related in my house is Tado, apart from my electric underfloor heating.
I’d be buying three of these on day one if it got released. This’d be perfect.1
