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Original poster

To ask about smart thermostats (Nest & Hive)?

89 replies

KathleenTurnerOverdrive · 31/01/2021 19:24

Boiler is in its death throes and will need replacing in a few weeks. Our existing boiler doesn't have any thermostat and one of the upgrade options is a smart thermostat from Hive or Nest.

The cost compared to the rest of the boiler is insignificant and they claim that they save you money due to their clever jiggery-pokery.

Anyone have them or are they just a pointless gimmick?

OP posts:
ChickyNuggies · 31/01/2021 19:27

We've got a hive... I like it but I'm not sure if it saves us money or not!

I like that we can set a temperature... Before we'd have the heating on, get too hot, turn it off, get too cold and repeat. Now we keep it at an even temperature for day time and night time. I also like thatbj can control it from my phone but I am lazy.

Original poster
KathleenTurnerOverdrive · 31/01/2021 20:18

The phone/Alexa compatibility is a big draw I agree.

OP posts:
shouldistop · 31/01/2021 20:20

We have nest, don't think it saves money but I love the ease of setting what time and temperature I want etc or turning the heating on when we're not home and want it warm for getting in.

AmberRoseGold · 31/01/2021 20:23

We have nest. I don’t think it is smart or learns our habits so I have it on manual (no timed schedule or programme as it kept switching itself off- admit this may well be my fault). I love that I can switch it on and off via ‘phone. Same for my wireless house alarm. Super useful.

skiclothes · 31/01/2021 20:25

We have a Hive. It is shit.

It loses connection loads and we don’t realise until we run the water and we have no hot water, or it gets really cold in the house because there is not heating. We then have to reset it and wait for the water/house to heat up.

I’d rather have a normal thermostat as at least that’s reliable!

It was installed in the house when we bought it. I would never have had it installed myself.

sunflowersandbuttercups · 31/01/2021 20:27

We have Hive.

We generally have it set on a schedule but I love the fact that I can control the heating from outside of the house. I work in a job without set hours so I love being able to turn the heating on from work and coming home to a nice warm house Grin

I'm also very lazy and turn it on from bed sometimes! I'm not sure if it saves us money but it is very convenient.

Naticus · 31/01/2021 20:31

We have a Hive. Really easy to set up a schedule/routine on it.
Love being able to turn the heating on when I'm upstairs working or (in normal times) turning it on as we leave somewhere knowing the house will be warm when we get home.

DappledThings · 31/01/2021 20:31

We have Nest but all the smart stuff where it tries to work out whether you are home or not and whether you actually want your house warmed when you say you do or not wound me right up. We've turned all that off and just use it as a regular thermostat with the benefit of being able to make changes to the schedule remotely.

Naticus · 31/01/2021 20:34

The original thermostat controller thing we had was a pain & despite following instructions we could never programme it properly so had to leave it on the pre-set timer function, meaning the heating came on at 6am every dayEnvy

guessmyusername · 31/01/2021 20:37

We have hive and I love the fact that I can turn it on without coming downstairs. Very useful just now I am WFH. I can also use alexa to control it. We do have it on a schedule but it is easy to override

Rowenasemolina · 31/01/2021 20:41

I had hive fitted when British Gas were giving them away free. I didn’t have a choice. I hated it.

Several years of having no control over my own heating.

Connections failed constantly, and took hours to fiddle around reconnecting

Sometimes could use override, but sometimes couldn’t even do that, when it got stuck in its silly pink flashing mode for days on end - so no heating at all.

Several times got somehow connected to my neighbours system so she had control of my heating.

No customer service at all.

Years long dispute with British had to remove it.

I ended up robbing down the phone BEGGING to get the price of shit out of my house.

Thankfully, they did. Now we have a normal thermostat, which I have thanked god for during the recent cold spell

EmmaStone · 31/01/2021 20:41

We have a Hive, and installed one in our last house as well. It doesn't save us any money, but is useful to have remote access to the boiler. Ours works on a schedule, with us boosting if we need some more hot water, or want the heating on during the day or whatever. No issues with WiFi access, but we have quite a heavy duty mesh system going on due to an old house, thick walls and heavy WiFi demands 😁.

TheVolturi · 31/01/2021 20:42

We have had Hive since it first came out and its very good, had no problem with it at all. Works with Alexa. I think it does save money but not massively. We have our thermostat in the hallway where it's quite cool, and it's set at 17.5, house is always cosy because it's naturally warmer in the other rooms. If it feels chilly we nudge it up to 18. It's brilliant being able to adjust the heating from your phone.

Rowenasemolina · 31/01/2021 20:42

*sobbing down the phone

Strongerthanilook · 31/01/2021 20:45

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ginsparkles · 31/01/2021 20:47

We have a hive. Wouldn't say it saves money but it certainly helps for convenience. We have security cameras and light bulbs linked in to the system, so it's useful to be able to turn on lights if we are out late, turn on the heating before we get home if we are going to be earlier than normal etc.

PanamaPattie · 31/01/2021 20:48

My DS has Hive. He says it's brilliant. It controls the heating, hot water and lighting. It has never let him down - he does have a manual control in the airing cupboard if the WIFI dies.

minniemoll · 31/01/2021 20:50

I have a Nest, I agree that the learning part is rubbish - I turned that off very early on - but otherwise I'm very happy with it. I like that you can program it to different temperatures at different times of the day, and I love being able to ask Alexa to turn it up or down. And the fact that it turns itself off when I go out is great too - that definitely saves me money, I'd never remember to turn it off manually.

DeltaAlphaDelta · 31/01/2021 20:50

We have the nest. We are certain that it, with a new boiler has saved us money. We have the learning set on, which seems to work well. We also like being able to turn the heating on while we are out so we come home to a warm house. Its supposed to be better than the hive, as I was told by my plumber that the hive does not have the learning mode. We would definitely get another one if we needed to.

thumpingrug · 31/01/2021 20:51

We have Hive, and I think its great. Never had a problem with it. cant say we have saved money but its very useful

mrwalkensir · 31/01/2021 20:55

our Nest is great with our very very geriatric boiler, but it took DH's hacking skills to wire it in...

Youarenothere · 31/01/2021 21:00

We have a nest, I hate it. I feel I’m constantly battling against a system that thinks it knows better than me how warm I want to be. It has a mind of its own, doesn’t save us money as it puts the heat on all the bloody time. Whenever it looses connection it reverts to its own ideas, I’m constantly going into the app and telling it to just stop trying to predict my behaviour, Although I’ve forgotten my password so now I have to do it on DH’s phone. Complete waste of money and time and effort. The only redeeming feature of being able to turn the heat on remotely is massively outweighed by the amount of hassle just trying to manage a system that I’m starting to think is taking the piss out of me personally.

atomicnotsoblonde · 31/01/2021 21:03

I have nest and I love it. No problems with it.

Alwaysandforeverhere · 31/01/2021 21:18

We have hive and love it. You can manual override at the boiler if needed. If you have connection problems it can be that the WiFi is too far away from the boiler hub so just plug in a booster and job done.

We have everything ran by Alexa/hive. Lights, fish tank, fans, heating etc

tobee · 31/01/2021 21:23

We have a Hive. Obviously not relevant atm but it's brilliant to be able to set the hot water to go on when coming back from holiday. Or to crank up the heating if you're out and it's cold and you want a warm house to come home to. Or just give a blast more heating for an hour from the cosy sofa. Or similar.

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