Simple CH control

[gnawsome]

Yes - I am simple.
I have a Worcester 28 Cdi boiler c 25 yo
I think I have resolved my own issues re programing in that I will ignore all other than the CH water temperature ( set to minimum) and the pump running time and have resolved to run for time periods dependent on weather so that when the colder weather comes I will run for longer times at lower boiler temperatures. I hope this will maintain a more constant level of comfort.
I have never found TRVs to give a continuing level of comfort - always wanting adjustment. I'm hoping that I will thus have a more constant level of heat to which I will adjust.
I am 87yo, living alone so no others to consider and I have daily records going back a number of years for comparisons of consumption.

[Mike4]

Yes - I am simple.
I have a Worcester 28 Cdi boiler c 25 yo
I think I have resolved my own issues re programing in that I will ignore all other than the CH water temperature ( set to minimum) and the pump running time and have resolved to run for time periods dependent on weather so that when the colder weather comes I will run for longer times at lower boiler temperatures. I hope this will maintain a more constant level of comfort.
I have never found TRVs to give a continuing level of comfort - always wanting adjustment. I'm hoping that I will thus have a more constant level of heat to which I will adjust.
I am 87yo, living alone so no others to consider and I have daily records going back a number of years for comparisons of consumption.

The 28CDi was a lovely boiler in its day (unlike modern Worcesters), but I'd be inclined to plan to change it if I were you - at your convenience. The expansion vessel is prone to failure and is a right ball ache to change as the boiler has to be stripped down to its bones to get it out. And the diverter valve is prone to failure, as is the flue fan and the PCB. DAMHIK. (You might even wonder if own one myself!)

My personal experience of TRVs rhymes with yours. An ineffective waste of money.

Re the other thread, I have a number of customers who simply CBA with all these modern electronic boiler controls and want a room stat with a knob they can tun up and down to turn it on and off. I totally agree with them, and want the same myself. Except I like the control knob to be on my phone, so I can turn it up or down when I'm not there for when I will be.

For years I've used a Nest for this very successfully but since Goggle took them over they've been getting ever less user-friendly. I'm casting around for an alternative in fact, now.

[GrahamPlatt]

For years I've used a Nest for this very successfully but since Goggle took them over they've been getting ever less user-friendly. I'm casting around for an alternative in fact, now.

I have Bosch Home Control, and can recommend it.

[staffordian]

The expansion vessel is prone to failure and is a right ball ache to change as the boiler has to be stripped down to its bones to get it out.

Shirley, if this happens and nothing else is broken, then simply installing a second expansion vessel elsewhere in the system is the quick and dirty answer?

We did this a few years back when the vessel on our Ideal Isar went and it solved the problem easily, and more importantly, cheaply.

[scrumpyjack]

I have a Tado system and it works very well. All can be controlled on my phone and easy to control individual rooms or the whole house.

The boiler is oil (Grant Vortex)

[Mike4]

I have a Tado system and it works very well. All can be controlled on my phone and easy to control individual rooms or the whole house.

The boiler is oil (Grant Vortex)

For years I've used a Nest for this very successfully but since Goggle took them over they've been getting ever less user-friendly. I'm casting around for an alternative in fact, now.

I have Bosch Home Control, and can recommend it.

Thanks, both.

One of the aspects of the Nest I find most irritating is the way Google logs me out and makes me log in again periodically, and nags at me to abandon my old "Nest account" and log in with a "google account" instead, so (presumably) they can collect better data on me and my CH and HW use.

Do Bosch or Tado also collect your data?

[scrumpyjack]

I have a Tado system and it works very well. All can be controlled on my phone and easy to control individual rooms or the whole house.

The boiler is oil (Grant Vortex)

I have Bosch Home Control, and can recommend it.

Thanks, both.

One of the aspects of the Nest I find most irritating is the way Google logs me out and makes me log in again periodically, and nags at me to abandon my old "Nest account" and log in with a "google account" instead, so (presumably) they can collect better data on me and my CH and HW use.

Do Bosch or Tado also collect your data?

Tado do, but in a fairly limited way.
http://tadoapps.net/privacy-policy.html

Seems harmless to me, and not being part of google or microsoft it probably isn't being used in a big brother way

[BullDog]

Thanks, both.

One of the aspects of the Nest I find most irritating is the way Google logs me out and makes me log in again periodically, and nags at me to abandon my old "Nest account" and log in with a "google account" instead, so (presumably) they can collect better data on me and my CH and HW use.

Do Bosch or Tado also collect your data?

Tado do, but in a fairly limited way.
http://tadoapps.net/privacy-policy.html

Seems harmless to me, and not being part of google or microsoft it probably isn't being used in a big brother way

If you're really interested in that kind of stuff you might want to see who is invested into Tado and who it works with in terms of smart home technology. It might not be as "harmless" as you think.

[scrumpyjack]

Tado seems to be owned by German Venture Capital outfits (Target Partners and Shortcut Ventures) but it is hard to get too excited about someone knowing when I adjust my radiators Not like Google trying to snoop on everything I do.

[Mike4]

Tado seems to be owned by German Venture Capital outfits (Target Partners and Shortcut Ventures) but it is hard to get too excited about someone knowing when I adjust my radiators Not like Google trying to snoop on everything I do.

How about someone reading your data and figuring out when you're not at home? Does that strike you as any sort of a risk?

I'm quite keen for Google et al not knowing when I'm in and when I'm out. And the Nest certainly notices!

[scrumpyjack]

Tado seems to be owned by German Venture Capital outfits (Target Partners and Shortcut Ventures) but it is hard to get too excited about someone knowing when I adjust my radiators Not like Google trying to snoop on everything I do.

How about someone reading your data and figuring out when you're not at home? Does that strike you as any sort of a risk?

I'm quite keen for Google et al not knowing when I'm in and when I'm out. And the Nest certainly notices!

Nah! There is always someone in the house

[Mike4]

How about someone reading your data and figuring out when you're not at home? Does that strike you as any sort of a risk?

I'm quite keen for Google et al not knowing when I'm in and when I'm out. And the Nest certainly notices!

Nah! There is always someone in the house

I'm imagining ten or twenty would-be burglars hanging about in your area logged into your Tado on their laptops, and waiting for months for all of you to finally go out!

[BullDog]

Both Amazon and Alphabet collaborate with Tado. Amazon have or had an equity stake as does or did Robert Bosch. Tado senses when you're in or out, I gather. Anyone like to bet that nobody has access to that information?

[GrahamPlatt]

What data a program (says it) gathers and shares is readable on the Play (or Apple) Store, before installing, by scrolling down and opening the Privacy section. I also tend to look carefully at the installed size of an app - something simple shouldn’t require many MB, and if over 50 I look askance at it. Bosch say they mainly use analytics for program performance (and that all transmitted data is encrypted), but there is a bit about logging when you use it etc. Can’t see as that allows them to see when I’m home (or not) though. Mostly I don’t adjust the settings from one week (or sometimes month) to the next, and if I do, I can be doing it remotely, so how’s to know whether I’m in or not? Well, yes, perhaps if I set it to just frost prevention in a cold spell, that would indicate that I’m elsewhere - and indeed, that nobody’s home. A matter of trust involved.. and I know who I don’t trust.

[BullDog]

What data a program (says it) gathers and shares is readable on the Play (or Apple) Store, before installing, by scrolling down and opening the Privacy section. I also tend to look carefully at the installed size of an app - something simple shouldn’t require many MB, and if over 50 I look askance at it. Bosch say they mainly use analytics for program performance (and that all transmitted data is encrypted), but there is a bit about logging when you use it etc. Can’t see as that allows them to see when I’m home (or not) though. Mostly I don’t adjust the settings from one week (or sometimes month) to the next, and if I do, I can be doing it remotely, so how’s to know whether I’m in or not? Well, yes, perhaps if I set it to just frost prevention in a cold spell, that would indicate that I’m elsewhere - and indeed, that nobody’s home. A matter of trust involved.. and I know who I don’t trust.

Tado and similar use an app on your phone for geolocation. So Tado and similar know when you're arriving or leaving home.

[GrahamPlatt]

Tado and similar use an app on your phone for geolocation. So Tado and similar know when you're arriving or leaving home.

Yes, location is not (listed as being) something that Bosch collects.

[gnawsome]

The 28CDi was a lovely boiler in its day (unlike modern Worcesters), but I'd be inclined to plan to change it if I were you - at your convenience. The expansion vessel is prone to failure and is a right ball ache to change as the boiler has to be stripped down to its bones to get it out. And the diverter valve is prone to failure, as is the flue fan and the PCB. DAMHIK. (You might even wonder if own one myself!)

My personal experience of TRVs rhymes with yours. An ineffective waste of money.

Thanks Mike, that's generally helpful in that it 'sort of' confirms my intentions to do the least practical with regard to 'home improvements' - the house is about a dozen years older than me and I would expect any new occupant will want to fully refurb without having to work around things like recent replacements of CH, kithen, bathroom.
I'd probably be stumped by a failure of the expansion vessel tho' I did recently re-pressurise it and renewed the additive and have replaced the flue fan a while ago. The CH system has been in place c40yrs and would certainly need to go if the boiler was changed.
I'll just have to see if its me or the boiler...