tado° Wireless Smart Thermostat compatibility guide

Your new small smart friend, tado°, was created with your existing boiler in mind. These smart thermostats have been designed to work with all common heating systems and most thermostatic radiator valves, heat pumps and water-based underfloor heating systems. 

The tado° Wireless Smart Thermostat will change the way you heat your home for good! In this article we’ll give you all the info you need to know about the compatibility of your heating system with the coolest smart thermostat in town.  

How to know if tado° Wireless Smart Thermostat is compatible with your heating system

The clever folk at tado° have designed their smart thermostats to be compatible with most heating systems, including:

• Combi, system, and heat-only boilers
• Conventional and condensing boilers
• Hydronic underfloor systems
• Multi-room systems (with one tado° Smart Thermostat per zone)
• District heating systems
• Gravity-fed heating systems

Unfortunately, tado° doesn’t get on well with these electric systems:

• Electric radiators
• Pilot wire (fil pilote)
• Infrared panels
• Immersion heaters (hot-water cylinder)
• Electric underfloor heating

Did you know that tado° is approved by the Energy Saving Trust? Because of its high energy efficiency, the EST recommends tado° Wireless Smart Thermostats as a great eco-friendly addition to your home.

The tado° Wireless Smart Thermostat Starter Kit

To get going with tado°, you’ll need the Starter Kit. Here’s what to expect when you open it up: 

• 1 Wireless Temperature Sensor
• 1 Wireless Receiver (Programmer with Hot Water Control)
• 1 Internet Bridge
• 3 AAA batteries
• 2 labels for wiring
• 2x2 wall mounting screws
• 2x2 wall plugs
• 2 sticky pads
• 1 4-wire cable
• 4 insulators
• 1 UK plug
• 2 bridging wires
• 3 terminal connectors

The thermostat itself is small and simple, fitting unobtrusively into your home:

The Starter Kit includes the tado° Internet Bridge, which connects to your router. Your tado° Wireless Smart Thermostat connects to the internet via radio network:

Once you’re set up, you can use any of the following smart home platforms to command it by voice:

• Siri
• Google Assistant 
• Amazon Echo

Plus, the If That Then This (IFTTT) smart home network system can connect your tado° with other smart devices in your home. tado° can also be used with the eNet Smart Home system.

Once you’ve downloaded the app onto your phone, you can control your home heating system from anywhere. You never need to return to a cold home again! 

If you want to be extra smart, you can enhance the Starter Kit with tado° thermostatic radiator valves. These help you control the comfort in each room of your home independently. 

It only takes a few minutes to install the tado° Starter Kit yourself – in 5 easy steps! Or, if the idea fills you with horror, you can always get an engineer to do it for you. 

How does tado° Wireless Smart Thermostat connect to your boiler?

Whether you live in a studio apartment or a 12-bedroom mansion, tado° Wireless Smart Thermostats can heat your home exactly the way you want it – from wherever you are. The wireless receiver is simply wired into your boiler.⁴ 

OVO and tado° – the perfect pairing for a perfectly heated home! 

At OVO, we’re on a journey to zero carbon living, by reducing our carbon emissions and helping our members do the same. That’s why we’re partnering with tado° – because these nifty devices can help you waste less energy, reduce your carbon emissions and cut your bills by up to 28%.¹ What’s not to love?

OVO members can get a tado° Wireless Thermostat Starter Kit for an exclusive price of £96 (a saving of £103.99).^{2, 3} You can even spread the cost at only £8 a month for 12 months.

Sources and references:

1. An independent study has shown that installing and correctly using a tado° smart thermostat can reduce your energy use from heating by up to 28%. The study found that the tado° device could save you up to 23% by turning the temperature down when nobody is at home. You could also save another 6% by turning down the heating based on the weather forecast, depending on the window sizes. If the window surfaces are relatively large, the energy saving will increase. Actual energy savings depend on various factors e.g. your heating system, structural condition of your home and your heating behaviour. Financial savings depend on the price of your energy tariff. With its Energy IQ skill, tado° provides an estimate of the monthly heating cost and the energy savings delivered through tado°.
2. Pricing: the price for the tadoº will be £96. You can pay upfront and if you're eligible you will have the option to pay monthly (the price will be spread across 12 months and added to your monthly bill.) See terms and conditions for more information on eligibility and pricing.
3. Saving based on manufacturer's recommended retail price of £199.99.
4. The tado° Wireless Smart Thermostat Starter kit V3 can be fitted on bus communicating boilers using the traditional relay connection