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Original poster

Hive thermostat not heating to target temperature - anyone had the same?

22 replies

DK123 · 19/12/2020 12:30

Posting in Chat for traffic and not sure where else to post!

Can anyone who's got a Hive (or any other kind of smart thermostat like a Nest etc) tell me if they've had an issue where it doesn't heat as high as the target temperature, however long you wait? (The heating is on, just not high enough, the hot water does work normally and the boiler is an electric one).

I spoke to the Hive helpline twice this morning, but they weren't particularly helpful, so I was hoping that if anyone's had the exact same problem, they can tell me what the issue was to do with and what might need to be done? I don't really want to pay to call out a plumber unless I really have to and I don't understand plumbing well enough to know if it would be the thermostat or the boiler that could be causing the problem.

Thank you!!

Yours sincerely

Cold MNetter

OP posts:
Original poster
DK123 · 19/12/2020 17:51

Bump - anyone?!

OP posts:
AIMD · 19/12/2020 17:53

We have a hive thing. To be honest it wasn’t worth the money and there is always something whether it’s not controlling the temp properly or the individual unit running out of battery or some other issue.

I wish we’d saved money and just kept the normal radiator themastats.

handmademitlove · 19/12/2020 18:20

Is it that the app is showing the temp as never up to target and thus it is always on? Or is it that you don't think it is up to temp when it says that it is?

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Original poster
DK123 · 19/12/2020 20:05

@AIMD I've got a bad feeling I will have the same experience and consider it to be more hassle that it's worth/cost

OP posts:
Original poster
DK123 · 19/12/2020 20:08

@handmademitlove both the app on my phone and the thermostat on the wall have the same numbers for what they think the actual and target temperatures are.

The "actual temperature" maybe seems to creep up by about one degree in nearly a day. I'm not sure if it's having some sort of difficultly in figuring out how warm the room really is and is telling me the wrong information, or if it's ability to get the temperature warm enough is the problem!

OP posts:
Puddlepop · 19/12/2020 20:37

I have a Nest. I don’t use it in the smartest of ways, instead, I treat it like a remote on-off switch. The temperature reported is not accurate, but it’s consistently inaccurate, so I usually set thermostat much higher eg 25 degrees, and wait around during the day till my room reaches a comfortable warmth, and whatever the Nest is displaying, I remember as my target number for setting timed schedules.

Have you checked your boiler to see if you’re on an economical setting ie bathroom hot water temp / radiator temp capped at 40 deg C? I’ve raised my boiler temp cap to 46 deg and the radiators seem to have felt hotter to touch.

handmademitlove · 20/12/2020 08:55

Where is your thermostat kept? The position makes a big difference. Ours is kept in a room with a vent which means it is always colder than other rooms so the target temperature is adjusted to make allowance for that.

AIMD · 20/12/2020 09:01

Yes my husband had to adjust the target temperature a few times to get it where we wanted it. There seems to be something with it every month or so though. Honestly we’ve got smart light too and I’d rather just bog standard dimmer switches. These things are great when they work but I find time taken up when there issues make it really not worth while.

Rudolphian · 20/12/2020 09:06

On ours we.fond if we change the temp of the water in the boiler it affects how well it can heat.
There is 2 dials on the boiler one for heating and one for water.
My husband had turned the dial on the heating to a ridiculously high level. When the heating was on the heaters were so hot you couldn't touch them.
But they would heat the room so fast.
I turned the heating dial a little lower, now it takes longer for the heaters to heat the room and there are some temps it wont get too.
But I find it better this way previously the heat was just one and off and the temp was yoyoing because there was such a big difference in the level of heat between the radiators and the room.
This way the heat seems more constant and there is less of a difference in temp.
If possible it might be worth increasing the temp using the dial for the radiators. They should become hotter and heat better.
If this doesn't work. There might be a fault with your boiler or your house is just losing heat too fast so the radiators cant keep up.

Almostslimjim · 20/12/2020 09:29

Is it that the actual temp (as registered by the app/ thermostat) and the desired temp (on app thermostat) never meet, therefore continually running the heating?

Does the room feel warm enough?

Do you have an independent thermometer to show you the actual temperature in the room? Like a gro egg?

StanfordPines · 20/12/2020 09:33

Well the problem surely isn’t the thermostat rather the actual heating.
If you set it to 16° it would happily get there but if you set it to say 22° and your heating can’t heat your house to that temperature then the fault is with your heating and insulation not the thermostat. All that does is turn the heating off when a certain temperature is reached.

Changi · 20/12/2020 09:40

I wish we’d saved money and just kept the normal radiator themastats.

Hive isn't intended to replace radiator thermostats.

Glittertwins · 20/12/2020 13:42

We had the original Hive and found that the heating was a bit hit and miss with the rooms. Some never heated properly and others were like a furnace. The thermostat is not in direct sunlight or open doors/windows.

We changed the hub earlier this year and got the radiator valves as well. The active heating is a bit of a pain and apparently there is a bug as I spent ages on the phone to them. Our heating is coming on to heat up our room yet our radiator is not actually heating up - we therefore have wasted having the heating on.

StanfordPines · 20/12/2020 14:14

The other thing to remember is that there is no point in having radiator thermostats set to anything other than full blast in the room with the smart thermostat in it. They will in essence cancel each other out.

AIMD · 20/12/2020 14:37

@Changi

I wish we’d saved money and just kept the normal radiator themastats.

Hive isn't intended to replace radiator thermostats.

Oh maybe ours isn’t huge then 😂

We have something controlled by phones or a control unit with weird thermostat things on each one. Nightmare!

handmademitlove · 20/12/2020 15:38

Sounds like the new hive thermostats that work with the hive heating controls. They don't work very well - the heating control itself is fine, but the radiator thermostats are not very good!

Changi · 20/12/2020 15:46

We have something controlled by phones or a control unit with weird thermostat things on each one. Nightmare!

I beg your pardon. I have heard that the 'smart' radiator thermostats can be temperamental.

Glittertwins · 20/12/2020 17:17

@Changi

We have something controlled by phones or a control unit with weird thermostat things on each one. Nightmare!

I beg your pardon. I have heard that the 'smart' radiator thermostats can be temperamental.

Yes, you heard right - they most certainly are temperamental! Great when not playing up.
Original poster
DK123 · 21/12/2020 01:59

Thank you everyone for replying! Sorry I didn't get back to the thread sooner

OP posts:
Original poster
DK123 · 21/12/2020 02:01

Is it possible that the boiler isn't capable of producing the heat required to get the rooms as hot as the target temperature? I think the "actual temperature" the Hive displays is correct, I compared it to the numbers on a fan heater which displays the temperature and they matched up.

OP posts:
Changi · 21/12/2020 13:10

It is possible, but have you checked the boiler output thermostat? It will be on the boiler itself. Turning it up will mean that hotter water gets pumped around the radiators so that they give out more heat.

Gingerbread333 · 06/12/2023 09:10

I know it’s an old thread but in case someone wonders onto it with same question. The issues is not your Hive, but your heating itself. Here are solutions:

  1. Check that all your radiators are on 5/5 or max setting, as they must be if you have any remote thermostat. This is if they have control valves
  2. Check that radiators that are turned to the max are actually warm to the touch. If not it’s a problem with one / more of them
  3. Ensure nothing is blocking radiators, including furniture or covers. If you have removable panels, try removing them to assess impact.
  4. Check that nothing is set to an Eco setting or being actively capped at certain temperature (boiler)
  5. If you have a room with no radiators / a lot of draft (some kitchens or storage rooms), make sure you keep the door closed whenever possible.

If none of the above solve the problem, then it’s one of 2 things:

  1. Your heating is heating sufficiently but house is poorly insulated so the heat gets out too fast
  2. Your heating is not sufficient for your property size (ie: during renovation there were physically not enough radiators installed).

Might be able to solve both above points by improving insulation, you’d need to contact the landlord or whoever installed your heating.

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