Tado Thermostat Poor Battery Life

[Ian]

Has anyone here got a Tado smart heating system? I'm very pleased with ours, but I've noticed that the smart thermostat valves are requiring frequent battery changes (one radiator only lasted 4 months, another 7 months). They're supposed to last for approx 2 years based on average usage (and I don't think we're using ours too heavily!).

I've used good quality alkaline batteries (and a couple of brands), so I don't think that's the issue in this case.

Anyone else using smart TRVs here and can advise on how theirs performs? I've contacted Tado a few moments ago to see what they say.

 

[V_R]

A bit OT but out of interest why did you choose the Tado? i'm on the cusp of getting a Nest Thermostat so would be interested in other options.

I have Nest Protect already and they talk to the Nest Thermostat for home and away etc, hence why I'm looking at Nest. I also like the look of the Nest too...

 

[muckshifter]

https://www.screwfix.com/p/white-chrome-angled-trv-15mm-x/60368

Set, forget, no batt required.

 

[Ian]

A bit OT but out of interest why did you choose the Tado? i'm on the cusp of getting a Nest Thermostat so would be interested in other options.

We've got a bit of an odd setup with our central heating, as it's already been split by floor using zone valves. At the time (perhaps still), Next and others couldn't handle zone valves + radiator TRVs properly. It'll work for 95% of houses just fine, but Tado and Honeywell offered a system that would work with any config. If you've already got Nest stuff and it works well, I'd probably stick with it if it's compatible - just so you've got everything under one system.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/white-chrome-angled-trv-15mm-x/60368

Set, forget, no batt required.

We use those for most rooms, but it's handy having the rads off during parts the day when we're not using them at all - it's saved us a lot on heating already .

 

[ChristopherP]

Ian - we have the Honeywell Evohome system with battery powered TRV's on 12 radiators.

They all seem to use completely varying amounts of power - the one in the main bathroom I am forever changing batteries on, yet in some of the other rooms I rarely change the batteries. No idea why this is, but some just seem to eat batteries much more than others...

 

[Ian]

Ian - we have the Honeywell Evohome system with battery powered TRV's on 12 radiators.

They all seem to use completely varying amounts of power - the one in the main bathroom I am forever changing batteries on, yet in some of the other rooms I rarely change the batteries. No idea why this is, but some just seem to eat batteries much more than others...

Thanks for the info Chris - how often do you think you change the one in the main bedroom, more than a few times per year?

Funnily enough, I had to change more TRV batteries today!

 

[ChristopherP]

Thanks for the info Chris - how often do you think you change the one in the main bedroom, more than a few times per year?

Funnily enough, I had to change more TRV batteries today!

I would say that I change the main bathroom batteries every couple of months... and once a year max in the bedroom!

 

[Ian]

Ah yes, sorry I meant bathroom. 2 months is pretty often - I hope they get working on some firmware updates to try and minimise this.