Boilers & Heating
Tado installation
TL;DR
Tado is our default recommendation for a modern combi that supports OpenTherm and a home that wants room-by-room control. A wired Starter Kit V3+ install is 60-90 minutes and costs £230-£290 fitted. Add smart TRVs at £55-£85 per radiator — most families see 15-25% off their heating bill inside the first winter.
Tado is the smart heating system we recommend most often for larger or family homes, because it does two things better than anyone else: OpenTherm modulation on modern combis, and genuine multi-room control via smart radiator valves. Instead of heating the whole house to whatever the hallway thinks it is, Tado heats each room to its own schedule — and the boiler modulates lower to do it.
This page covers the Tado V3+ and newer Tado X (Matter) systems, what a proper fit looks like, and where the subscription is actually worth paying for.
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V3+ or Tado X — which should you buy?
Tado V3+ (blue box) is the mature system — huge accessory range, well-understood, works on OpenTherm, supported everywhere. Tado X (charcoal, Matter-native) is the newer platform with a faster local mesh, quieter TRVs and Matter interoperability. If you're starting fresh in 2026, Tado X is the future-proof choice; if you already have V3+ kit, keep expanding V3+ — the two systems don't mix on one bridge.
- Tado V3+ Wired Starter Kit: best value for combis with an existing wired stat
- Tado V3+ Wireless Starter Kit: for homes with an RF programmable stat
- Tado X Starter Kit: newest platform, Matter-native, quieter TRVs
- Add-on Smart TRVs: room-by-room control, biggest saving
- Extension Kit: needed for hot water cylinders (S-Plan / Y-Plan)
What does a proper Tado install look like?
Combi swap with OpenTherm: 60-90 minutes. We remove the old programmable stat, wire the Tado wall unit in its place, run OT to the boiler terminals and enable it in the installer menu. Then we pair the Internet Bridge to your router, walk through the app, set schedules, add rooms, and pair any smart TRVs.
Hot water systems (S-Plan / Y-Plan): 90-120 minutes because we add the Extension Kit at the boiler wiring centre for the HW channel. Multi-room smart TRV rollout is quick — usually 5-8 minutes per radiator including the app pairing.
Is the Tado Auto-Assist subscription worth it?
For a single-zone home, no — you can live without it. For a multi-room home with smart TRVs, yes: Auto-Assist unlocks geofencing (heating drops when the last phone leaves), open-window detection, weather adaptation and Care & Protect boiler diagnostics. The savings comfortably out-perform the £2.99/month cost for anyone with 5+ TRVs.
Does Tado really cut my gas bill?
In a well-fitted multi-room home with OpenTherm on the boiler, 15-25% off the heating bill is realistic. About half of that comes from OpenTherm modulation (the boiler running gentler for longer instead of cycling hot), the rest from schedules, geofencing, and only heating rooms that are being used.
Which voice assistants and platforms does Tado work with?
Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple HomeKit are all supported natively. Tado X adds Matter, which gives it local control and future compatibility with SmartThings, Home Assistant and any Matter hub. If you're on Apple, Tado is genuinely the best-fitting smart heating system in the UK.
Typical prices
Real-world ranges from recent Northwest jobs. Your final price is confirmed in writing before any work starts.
| Item | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tado V3+ Wired Starter Kit — supplied & fitted | 230 – 290 | OpenTherm wired where supported |
| Tado V3+ Wireless Starter Kit — supplied & fitted | 240 – 310 | For RF programmable replacements |
| Tado X Starter Kit — supplied & fitted | 280 – 360 | Matter-native, quieter TRVs |
| Extension Kit for hot water cylinder | 125 – 175 | S-Plan / Y-Plan HW channel |
| Smart TRV — supplied & fitted | 55 – 85 | Per radiator |
| Straight swap (Tado customer-supplied) | 95 – 145 | Labour, wiring, pairing, test |
| OpenTherm cable run to boiler | 45 – 95 | Where a 2-core cable is needed |
| 12-month labour guarantee | included | Manufacturer 2yr on the kit |
Which brand should you fit?
We fit both Tado V3+ and Tado X including wired, wireless, Extension Kits, Smart TRVs and hardwired temperature sensors. We're not affiliated with Tado — the recommendation is based purely on which system fits your boiler and home layout. We install and service Worcester Bosch, Vaillant, Ideal, Baxi, Viessmann and Alpha — none of them pay us commission and we don't push a "boiler of the month".
Our promise on this job
Flat £50 diagnostic — deducted in full from any work booked. Fair, transparent quote before we start. If we can't fix the fault we diagnosed, we refund the diagnostic. All gas work is signed off by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Talk to KJ about tado installation
Real triage in seconds. £50 diagnostic visit — refunded if we don't fix it.