To ask about your gas central heating system?

[PandoraRocks]

Posting here for traffic.

I'm getting rid of the heating system in my house, which is basically boiler on/boiler off. Ancient gas Rayburn.

I'm probably having a combi boiler and waiting for quotes at the moment. So I've been told by one plumber that thermostats are now wifi controlled.
I assume this means you set the general temperature on the thermostat and then adjust the individual radiator valves in each room to your liking? So no dial thermostat on the wall anymore? What happens if your WiFi disappears?

I know I sound dense but what I know about plumbing you could write on the back of a fag paper.

I've also been told you can control your heating from your phone using Hive or similar. Why bother. Is it worth the extra expense? Does it help reduce heating bills?

I would be very interested in your experiences.

Sorry its such a dull topic .

An equally dull response, this is the thermostat we got with a new baxi boiler 18 months ago. www.draytoncontrols.co.uk/product/digistat3-rf , not wifi, works via radio. Does save money tho.

We have a nest wifi thermostat, it still goes on the wall. It can be controlled through our phones and knows if we go out so goes off and comes back on when you come in which we like. The individual radiators have standard 1-5 valves on them.
If wifi goes off you just put the heating either on or off, not set to a temperature, with a button connected to the boiler.
We loved our nest so much in our rented house it was one of the things we bought immediately when we bought a house.

We had a Nest installed last week. It cost £250 and the house has never been so warm, it’s a revelation. It’s real beauty is that it’s portable so you can place it where it works best for you, ours isn’t on the wall,it sits on a little stand.

store.google.com/us/product/nest_learning_thermostat_3rd_gen?hl=en-US&GoogleNest

P.s we bought the Nest from eBay, boxed and in cellophane so its worth looking for these things second hand

We had a Nest and to be honest I wasn’t that keen on it. I found the phone app fiddly to use (might be better on an iPad?) and have never found having a wall-mounted boiler control panel to be a problem.

How big is your house and how many bathrooms/taps? I wouldn’t have a combo boiler if you have more than one gravity-fed (ie not electric) shower, otherwise every time someone flushed the loo/runs a tap your shower loses pressure and/or goes cold. A well-insulated hot water tank provides a much better supply in a bigger house.

Whatever the builder/plumber says remember, it is YOUR house, just because they are trying to flog you the latest tech or whatever they’re earning a commission on doesn’t mean you have to accept it. If you don’t like what they are offering, find a new plumber.

I’ve got something like this, it’s wireless, but not WiFi, but is programmable, has modes and a timer etc
The unit tells the boiler when to come on for the heating side and each rad has a stat on it, hot water side is as per normal

www.plumbarena.co.uk/product/honeywell-cms727-wireless-room-thermostat-only-cms727e1016/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlazj0Pe57gIVW-vtCh3NPQpDEAQYBSABEgJDV_D_BwE#.YBA4F6TfWEc

I have a wireless thermostat, as pp say it works on its own radio signal not on the house WiFi. Batteries need changing yearly, but it's great 'cos if you spend all day in the kitchen you can take it in with you, then move it to the lounge on an evening. I only adjust the radiator thermostats valve if a room is unused or one room is getting excessively hot.