After launching their heating control system last year, tado are now working their magic on Air Conditioning, revealing what they describe as “the world’s first Internet-of-Things device designed to make remote controlled air conditioning systems smart”.
The “tado° Cooling” connects your AC to internet for control via the tado° app on your smartphone. The app detects when you are on your way home and begins to pre-cool to the desired temperature. As an added bonus it makes your life easier becasue you do not have to remember to turn the AC off when you leave the house. tado° automatically turns it off as soon as the last person has left.
You can even move throughout the house without having to turn the different ACs on and off. Instead you can simply rely on tado’s room-to-room feature to know which room to cool and when.
Tado claim all this can reduce your AC’s electricity consumption by up to 40%.
With the tado° app on your smartphone you can easily keep an eye on things, for example the current temperatures and control modes for each room. It also allows you to adjust your home temperature according to your preferences – even while you are on the move. On the tado° Cooling device itself there is a capacitive touch interface for quick and easy adjustments. The slimline white elegant tado° device with a rubber backplate colored in cool blue comes to life when the front is touched. When touched the translucent LED matrix activates and shows the current temperature and additional information about tado’s activity.
tado° Cooling is compatible with any remote controlled wall mounted (also called ductless or split-units), in-window or portable AC unit. It connects to the AC via infrared like a remote control and links it to the Internet via WiFi. The revolutionary new tado° device can be mounted on the wall or even on a desk for example – the rubber backplate lets it sit safely on any surface. To activate it you simply point the AC remote at the tado° device, then press the temperature controls and fan speed buttons to teach tado° the language of your specific AC unit.
From now until 11th June 11th you can pledge your support for tado Cooling on Kickstarter. Available from Amazon
No products found.
Last update on 2024-04-08 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
From their Q&A (my “bolding”):
When I control my AC unit from the smart phone, do I need some kind of server?
The control of the AC will always work via ***our servers*** which we use to run algorithms that makes the system smart. So all you need is a working internet connection with WiFi at home.
————————
I do not believe that this algorithm would require considerable amount of computing power to execute and can not be implemented on “at home” device.
This concludes for me that they are the next example of data grabbers who try to grab peoples personal data for little or no return.
Even though they are handling sensitive personal data, I did see them even once to mention the word “privacy”.
When you support them then expect the possibility of them selling their company along with your data to Google or similar company as happened with Nest.
Edit:
Obviously it should be
Even though they are handling sensitive personal data, I did not see them even once to mention the word “privacy”.
Cheers!
Sensibo is an interesting alternative that attaches directly to the A/C, it is currently crowdfunding on indiegogo:
http://igg.me/at/sensibo/x/5143259