Monitoring but not controlling a room

BenS1 · January 2021

Hi all,

So I'm happily using TADO to control the heat in many rooms in my house, but in addition I would like to monitor (Not control) the temperature (And humidity) in some rooms that don't have heating facilities (e.g. the loft, garage and conservatory).

I've almost managed to achieve this using the Smart Radiator values by setting up a valve on a real radiator, then setting the room to "Off", then removing the valve and putting it in the room I want to monitor (e.g. the garage).

This works most of the time, but the problem is that if the room drops below 5C then the frost protection kicks in. This then fires up the boiler and heats the parts of the house not controlled by other Smart Radiator Valves. Obviously the actual garage doesn't have a radiator, so the heating fails to actually heat the garage and so the whole house heats up to a very uncomfortable level.

I know that TADO isn't designed for this Use Case, but it's frustratingly so close to what I need I thought I just check if there was a way I could disable the Frost Protection feature?

Also, could I achieve something similar using a Smart Thermostat instead of a Smart Radiator Valve? Is it possible to create a room in TADO that contains a Smart Thermostat but not any Smart Radiator Valves?

Thanks in advance

Ben

wbjohn · January 2021

Hi Ben,
Have you tried setting the zone controller to “not assigned” for the smart TRV in the garage.

samd · January 2021

@BenS1 Hi - an alternative much cheaper and considerably more accurate such as Sensor Push - link below

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SensorPush-Wireless-Thermometer-Hygrometer-Android/dp/B01AEQ9X9I/ref=asc_df_B01AEQ9X9I/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=224088607899&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12325849483333618991&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046379&hvtargid=pla-375433369637&psc=1

wbjohn · January 2021

Ben if your not connecting to Tado there is numerous devices for temp and humidity than can connect to ios or android even the philips hue wireless sensor if you have hue has a temp reading.

another example is Onvis smart motion sensor

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07KY6747N/ref=sr_1_1?ascsubtag=UUimUdUnU58302YYwYg&linkCode=gs2&tag=androcentr-21

BenS1 · January 2021

Thanks both much appreciated,

The Onvis one seems to only be Apple Homekit compatible, whereas I use Android and/or Google Home (Although I do have an iPad Pro).

The SensorPush one looks good, although I'm not sure about the "much cheaper" comment. It costs £50, whereas the Smart Radiator Values that I'm using in my current solution cost £40 (They are regularly on special offer on Amazon). The other problem is that it's Bluetooth only (Unless you pay another £100 for the Wifi gateway), so limited range and no ability to use it with things like IFTTT, Google Home etc (Although admittedly I never said that was a requirement in the original post). That said, I might get one anyway.

Thanks again

Ben

samd · January 2021

@benS1 Sorry on the price issue - I was comparing it to the wireless tado @£69 given that the tado SRT is not very accurate. There are others such as Govee a bit cheaper and has its own display.

BenS1 · January 2021

Thanks samd,

The Govee does look interesting. Looking at that now.

Thanks again

Ben

Monitoring but not controlling a room

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