Options to Limit Early Start

I like the idea of 'early start' and in general I think it works well. However, first thing in the morning there is a limit to how early I want the heating to come on, even if it doesn't get up to temperature in time (e.g. very cold mornings). This is because:
- I would rather just live with it being a bit colder than using energy so early (2 hours early) in the morning
- The boiler wakes me up!

I would like there to be a way of preventing heating in a room (other than frost protection) at certain times.

It could be as simple as adding an option under the advanced options (where geofencing is) that you can use to enable / disable early start. This would mean that if a subsequent time block had a higher heat level than current, the heating would only come on earlier if early start was true in this block.

Alternatively, you could create an optional value for early start so you could specify the how much earlier than the required temperature time, early start would be permitted to kick in (e.g. max 1 hour early).
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  • Agree! Nest has had this feature for years, and currently my heating comes on at 3AM due to early start, waking us up!

    Currently I have two options: live with it, or turn off auto start and adjust my schedule to come on at a set time but this will waste energy.

    This could be a simple max early-start time setting per room schedule or a system level setting.

  • My heating just came on at 23:00 in preparation for 7 o’clock the next morning. A limit is a must. I used to have this feature on my heatmiser system and it worked well
  • absolutely!!!


    I come here just to add this very same request....

    early start is nice but if outside is cold I don't want the heating to start 4 hours before... I will deal with the bit of cold....

  • Schippie
    Schippie ✭✭✭
    edited January 2021

    I second that, but I also think the only reason this limit is so important is because the early start algorithm just doesn't work well & it doesn't appear to include a feedback loop (so no learning). In my case, for the normal radiators, which are in rooms that at night reach 14-15 degrees, early start kicks in around 3 hrs before the set time. Only to reach the desired temperature 20 minutes later, so not very efficient. For my thermostat, which in a room with floor heating that remains at 18 degrees, early start only kicks in 30 minutes before the set time. Then it reaches the desired temperature 1,5-2 hrs late. And after a week that behavior didn't change.

    So what I'm saying: limit is a good idea, but would be less of a necessity with a better algorithm.

    So please tado, add this, and while you're at it also add controls to limit the water temperature in the heating system and the heating/cooling speed. High temperatures and fast temperature changes cause a lot of ticking in the heating pipes of my old house.

  • Franita
    Franita ✭✭✭

    Tado deleted all discussions about Early start early this year. Apparently there were too many. But meanwhile, the 1999 Honeywell Chronotherm IV still does this better than Tado!

  • Hi all,

    Even Tado themselves state that the "Early Start" function doesn't work properly and they don't expect to sort it out any time soon.

    It's not that difficult to utilise the schedules to achieve a happy compromise......as most Tado Room radiators will get "hot" within about 20 mins.

    It is also possible to use Alexa (other automation services are available} 😇 to set up a " routine" to achieve your own version of "Early Start" ........to be perfectly honest, Tado's "Early Start" function should be scrapped and removed from our systems.

  • Tado thermostats having been keeping me up for one reason or another so much!

    Found over the last few nights that they come on three hours early in Early Start mode.

    I think the advice is right that you should just set the time manually and adjust until that start is early enough.