Best add-on AC control? (Sensibo, Tado, etc)

Devices & Integrations
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I have recently began the process of looking for Smart AC control. I have mostly looked at Tado, Sensibo and Ambi Climate. I just bought an Ambi Climate and returned it. Warning to all potential buyers. Their marketing is horribly inaccurate and the works with any and works with all etc isn’t at all true. It works with certain units that have a LCD remote (which I have) and sends IR commands a very specific way. I even considered replacing my AC with a compatible one but their database is reverse lookup based. Ie you enter the model number of an AC unit you already own. Anyway enough of what doesn’t work.

Has anyone personally tried both the Sensibo and Tado? Having seen the app for Ambi Climate are they comparable to it in functionality? I believe both have Ifttt and smart things integration?

3 Likes
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I don’t use a combination of devices… a temp sensor in the room…
I have the ac control set to when it comes out it is set like at 70 degrees I believe.

I also have a fan switch on smartthings and when the ac turns on the fan also turns on high.

a outlet I can turn on…

1.png2656×1494 1.52 MB

and a smart app that turns on if above 76 degrees and off when 74 or below… been working fine
for over a year… Cant say that about other smartthings stuff.

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The tabo units are fairly accurate. I recall a smartapp that averaged all of the temp sensors that you have.

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@Lgkahn can I ask which Smart App your using?

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Virtual.thermostat… stock smartapp under climate control.

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Thanks…

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Hi Minlas,
We appreciate your interest in Ambi Climate and regret that it didn’t work with your AC. While we support almost every LCD remote, unfortunately due to the way this particular Frigidaire remote works, we are unable to support this remote at this time. Thank you again for your feedback.

Kind regards,
Liz at Ambi Climate

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Since Ambi Climate replied here this is what I sent them and at the root of the problem:

Again I am not trying to be rude or snarky but the following descriptions is what is causing the issue/confusion:

From the Amazon item title:

Ambi Climate Smart AC Control For Any Remote-Controlled Air Conditioner/Heat Pump,

From the Amazon product description:

“Ambi Climate connects any old remote-controlled air conditioner to the Cloud”

Works with your existing AC: Ambi Climate upgrades any infrared remote-controlled AC unit, including split units, heat/cool units and more. No hardware or installs needed.

Works with your existing AC: Ambi Climate is compatible with all major infrared-remote controlled AC brands. It uses infrared to talk to your air conditioner, just like your old remote.

Access and control all your ACs, right from your smartphone

Upgrade Your Existing AC

Ambi Climate works with any remote-controlled air conditioner, old or new.

The problem? The words any, all, and works.

After I tried setting up their product and dug through their website deeper I was left thinking that even if my AC wasn’t in the database it could easily be added because this statement:

From the webpage:

Whether you have a window, wall mounted or portable AC, Ambi Climate can work with it. We are currently compatible with nearly 350 air conditioner remotes and are increasing this number all the time. Our infrared code database makes setting up your Ambi Climate a breeze so that you don’t have to program your remote into our system.

Click below to check that your remote is supported. If you don’t see it, let us know so we can add it as quickly as possible.

This was my suggestion:
Perhaps pass along to the marketing team to remove those descriptors and be specific with what is necessary for an AC to work with Ambi Climate and if it isn’t that type of AC/remote then it can never work with Ambi Climate?

1 Like
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I’ve tried all three with two different units and Tado, Sensibo, and Ambi Climate only fully work with devices with screens. I landed on Ambi Climate because despite being new to market and lacking integrations (for now), it does support what they call Climate mode… self regulating temp. I have an LG window unit without a remote, 8k BTU, and it actually does fully support it. The support team was shocked. Sensibo and Tado couldn’t get it working after months of support.

I completely agree that the marketing for all three controllers is 100% inaccurate, claiming to work with every unit. I cannot get Ambi working with my bedroom Frigidaire window AC so I have given up for now and will most likely replace it with a similar lower end LG model once I can confirm it is compatible.

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The unit I am trying to control is a year old Frigidaire FRA106CV1 10,000 BTU 115-Volt Window-Mounted Compact Air Conditioner with Temperature Sensing Remote. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007N6Y3KW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_-CVtxbPE29GM5

It was the main brand and by far one of the better rated AC at the time on Amazon, though smaller units usually have more ratings.

The remote has a LCD/screen. The marketing never mentions the need for even this much less a specific type of LCD remote. You are saying that it is the same with Tado and Sensibo? I wouldn’t even care to purchase a different AC if one could actually find a well rated AC that was known to work with these units.
I really like the logging, motion sensing and theoretically algorithm benefits. I have thought about a solution like suggested above with a
TP-LINK Wi-Fi Smart Plug w/ Energy Monitoring, Works with Amazon Alexa, Controls Your Electronics from Anywhere (HS110) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0178IC5ZY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_8HVtxbKF0E8X4
As I like the energy monitoring aspect and setup IFTT rules to shit it in and off with the added benefit of voice control.

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I have the Sensibo units and Tado.

Tado was a pain to set up and even after it was set up, it did not work correctly. It kept activating the swing fan feature in my AC. ( which it doesn’t support). Sensibo was also a pain to set up, but it works most of the time.

With the tado you have a physical as well as a voice / smarthings enable switch. ( Which for me didn’t work the way I wanted)

With sensibo you have your smartphone, smarthings and alexa… but nothing physical. Plus the remotes go out of sync if you use the remotes to turn it off or on.

You pick, the lesser of two evils. - for me I’m sticking with the sensibo as I didn’t like the tado switch panel and the fact it kept activating my swing function with every button press

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I am leaning towards Sensibo or a DIY solution at the moment. Of course if like Ambi Climate Sensibo fails to work with Frigidaire units then DIY is the only option outside of a different AC.

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Your Frigidaire model is the 10k version of the 6k I placed in my bedroom. Does not work with Sensibo, Tado, or Ambi Climate. The reason is because all three of these systems don’t do up/down controls and only send specific AC set points. You can try Tado and Sensibo but if your AC cannot be sent a specific AC set point, then their systems wont help much. Tado won’t find it and Sensibo will only let you go up/down with no fan speed or mode change.

I have a LG LW8012ER (8k BTU) with a remote that lacks a screen, works beautifully with Ambi Climate. It is possible the 10k version would work and I am going to try a friends 6k BTU version soon with my Ambi.

I can say Ambi spoiled me as if I can get a 6k unit working in my bedroom, I am purchasing a second model. The thing just adjusts the output temp beautifully once you activate Comfort mode. API, IFTTT will come, I have gone back and forth with the dev team on it. They are relatively new to market but I will say I almost never touch the app.

All three systems are actually targeted at split systems. It drives me nuts how not one of them has actually tested a ton of window ACs.

1 Like
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Does the Sensibo have logging and motion detecting like the Ambi Climate? I thought I saw one review that said it did but can’t find it on the feature set. What are the major differences and pros and cons you see of the two (Sensibo and Ambi Climate?) Obviously Ambi Climate won’t work for me and mostly trying to find an AC it would work with is a shot in the dark of trying to find a decently rated ACs then looking through their list. I ask because I am familiar with the app and setup of it for comparisons sake. As for fan speed and mode that AC stays on cool mode and the fan speed on low. To me it is pretty loud on low even though people in reviews say it is on the low end of noise for ACs, so turning the fan up would be ridiculous. So I won’t miss fan speed or mode changes. Primarily I am looking at smart remote temperature control that takes into account humidity and possible motion detection/activity. Not sure if it learns what you like via feedback like the Ambi Climate supposed to thought I have no clue since it failed to work completely. I hope to tie in a dehumidifier to address that angle as well. Found out the TP isn’t Ifttt compatible so may have to look at Wemo.

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I have had the tado unit for about a month. It kinda sucks. Since my remote didn’t have an LCD screen, the functionality was extremely limited. Every time I turned on the A/C unit - and every time I adjusted the temperature (even by a single degree) - it would raise the temperature until it hit the max temperature and then counted down to the desired cooling Setpoint. Extremely annoying to hear about 3-4 dozen beeps.

I now have a Remotec zxt-120. Set up was a bit more complicated than the tado, BUT there is a great - and I mean great - DTH for it. I now have more functionality than I had with just the stock remote (Friedrich unit). I can set fan speed, swing mode, cooling Setpoint (it sets it directly), etc.

And it cost less than half of the tado (which I will now be selling). The only thing that the tado has that the Remotec does not is physical control.

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This happen when control via SmartThings or the stock app? Did you check with their support?

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It happened no matter what i was using - the tado display/remote, the tado app, St app, etc.

Tado tried to put the blame on my a/c unit - saying that they were limited by the unit’s functionality.

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Tado and Sensibo tried to tell me my unit was the problem, despite Ambi Climate and the Remotec ZXT-120 working perfectly. Terrible companies.

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Remotec ZXT-120 work normally with ST system ?
I’m consider to use that infrared blaster to control my dumb split AC.
Is there any other option for infrared control ? beside Logitech Harmony
because I think it’s too much when I use Harmony just to control one AC

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Tado, Sensibo, and Ambi are split AC IR based controllers.