ᐅ Smart home heating control across two floors with two boilers

Hello everyone,

I am currently planning to replace the existing heating thermostats and radiator thermostats with smart ones. I am still undecided between Netatmo and Tado.

Current situation: The living area in this older building spans two floors, each with its own separate floor heating system. Each heating system supplies 5 to 7 radiators on its respective floor. A shared Wi-Fi network is available across both floors.

Questions:
1. Can I manage both floor heating thermostats and all radiator thermostats within a single overview in the app, or do they need to be set up as two separate "zones"? The latter would be somewhat less convenient in terms of operation.
2. I understand that the floor heating thermostats communicate with the radiator thermostats via wireless signals. Could this cause incorrect assignments? What is the effective range?
3. Would it be a sensible option to keep the old “dumb” floor heating thermostats and only replace the radiator thermostats with smart ones?

Thank you in advance for your help. I would also appreciate any additional tips and tricks regarding my project.

Best regards!

1. Yes and no, but in a higher-level system, everything can be arranged as desired.
2. No, the thermostats are paired and assigned according to the required setup. The range depends on local conditions such as wall thickness and structure, sources of interference, etc.
3. It depends on the goal of the project; in some cases, one approach or the other may be the solution.

Thank you, Mycraft.
1. So, I can control everything simultaneously through one app, but not as conveniently as with just one heater?
2. It is an older building with approximately 25 to 50 cm (10 to 20 inches) thick brick walls. Each floor is about 120 m² (1,290 sq ft). Of course, a final assessment can only be made on a case-by-case basis with many details, but does this sound feasible and reasonable?
3. The goal is to precisely control the temperature remotely and set up automation, for example, to slightly increase the bathroom radiator just before the alarm goes off or to reduce heating when a window-open detection is triggered. We also hope to save some heating costs.

1. Ultimately, it depends on what exactly is being installed and how the system is set up. It might work perfectly or not at all without experience and additional measures. Advertising often omits basic details; everything always looks great, but the real question is what you actually need to make it function as intended.

2. The wall thickness can sometimes cause issues with wireless signals. How is the current Wi-Fi coverage? Both thermostats use 868 MHz frequency, which might work, but you won’t know for sure until you try it.

3. Remote temperature control always sounds appealing until you deal with it and realize it’s really only necessary if you will be away for an extended period (such as on vacation). Accuracy is usually affected by how close the sensors are to the radiator. However, for the average user, this is negligible.

4. Optimizing the heating system and the existing controller can already lead to some savings, provided it hasn’t been done yet.

I doubt there will be any savings since the heating continues to run even if you turn down the thermostat.