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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:
notdaddycool · 31/01/2021 21:29

I believe one of them only works for you and if you move house the new people need to buy something to control the heating. Weird. Will buy one eventually.

userxx · 31/01/2021 21:34

@Alwaysandforeverhere

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

Silly question but surely you need special light bulbs to work with Alexa?

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 31/01/2021 21:46

Our internet exchange went down Christmas Eve. Covered a wide area. Wasn’t back on until 30th Dec.

Lots of people with no heating as no internet.,,

userxx · 31/01/2021 21:49

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

Our internet exchange went down Christmas Eve. Covered a wide area. Wasn’t back on until 30th Dec.

Lots of people with no heating as no internet.,,

Wouldn't you just knock your phone off WiFi and use data to control it ?

skiclothes · 31/01/2021 21:54

Just to respond to what others have said about the WiFi, our Hive was 3 metres way from the router and still disconnected randomly.

Purplewithred · 31/01/2021 21:58

We have Tado. Great for us as it is connected to our smartphones and turns the heating off when we’re all out and on again when someone is on their way home. Also connects to Alexa. Highly recommend it.

Original poster
KathleenTurnerOverdrive · 01/02/2021 00:30

Ooh never heard of Tado

OP posts:
VampireTheBuffetSlayer · 01/02/2021 00:49

@Youarenothere

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.
This says all I wanted to say! I hate my Nest too.
SEE123 · 01/02/2021 00:51

absolutely love our Hive!

saraclara · 01/02/2021 01:09

My hive was brilliant when I was doing my volunteering job which was very unpredictable, so I'd never know if I'd be out for an hour or all day. So I could switch the heating off and on via my phone while I was out. I wasn't heating an empty house if my day expanded, but it'd be toasty when I got home because I could switch it on from my phone before I drove back.

Then covid happened and I've had no use for it at all because I'm home all the time.

Freddiefox · 01/02/2021 01:15

If the internet goes down, can you not just turn it up and down manually? Or does no internet mean no heating?

Changi · 01/02/2021 02:10

We have had a Hive for about four years now. It has worked perfectly.

It has a data cable to the router, it doesn't use wifi. If the internet goes down, you can't use the app to control it but you can use the controls on the thermostat itself. The heating works as usual.

Original poster
KathleenTurnerOverdrive · 01/02/2021 03:15

I'd thought the Nest was the favourite, but kind of get the idea that it is too clever for its own good with its self learning and what not.

OP posts:
Subordinateclause · 01/02/2021 04:19

We have Nest and I presume have all the clever settings turned off. Never have any issues - I just like being able to turn it up or down from my phone. It's like living in the future. Would absolutely not be without it.

shouldistop · 01/02/2021 05:16

I switched off the nest self learning feature, it just annoyed me

PhilCornwall1 · 01/02/2021 05:21

Don't waste your money. Just have a normal wireless thermostat. They do what they say on the tin and do it well.

Nacreous · 01/02/2021 05:58

I think this depends a lot how unpredictable your life is: I have friends who have them who really like them. When I had an unpredictable life I really wanted one - I used sometimes to get home 3-4 hours later than I was expecting and it would have been good to not have the heating on from the earlier times I got home. Same for working away for a week without having to entirely reprogram the thermostat.

Then I changed jobs and I don't work away and the hours are a lot more regular and now my normal thermostat does exactly what I need it to 99% of the time.

RockNRollNerd · 01/02/2021 06:02

We’ve had hive for a couple years and love it. Over the summer I got the radiator valves as well which have been great for wfh as we heat only the rooms people are working in during the day. We’ve not had any problems but would caveat it that we have shit hot internet and v strong WiFi throughout the house.

EventuallyDeleted · 01/02/2021 06:08

We have a Nest and love being able to programme it to suit our needs but hated all the smart learning stuff, switched that all off after the first couple of days and have never put it back on. We also don't use the thing that senses whether you are home or not as we have a fairly regular timetable.

IncorrigibleTitmouse · 01/02/2021 06:10

I love our Nests. We have one upstairs and one downstairs because they’re such different temperatures depending on the season. The scheduling and ability to switch the heating/ac (we live in a hot place) on when we’re 20 minutes from home for example is fab. I’d recommend it.

Glittertwins · 01/02/2021 06:18

We've had Hive for nearly 10 years and upgraded the hub to the newer version last spring as we wanted the radiator valves as well.
I haven't looked at the usage on our bills to see if it has been more economical- gas prices have risen so much that I can't go on the bill amount alone but since having the change of radiator valves we don't have any cold spots in the house that we used to have.

claireb7rg · 01/02/2021 06:33

We ha e hive and I love it, we have hive bulbs and radiator valves as well.

Not sure if it's saved us money but it's definitely useful for us.

We bought it with us from old house - I'd kept the original thermostat and just swapped it back before we moved.

Turning the heating on / up from bed is one of the best feelings 😊

JustAnotherOldMan · 01/02/2021 07:18

Nest and hive work over WiFi that why some people have issues with then, I have a remote thermostat, but it’s a radio wave one not WiFi, so you don’t get the ‘smart’ features that the IoT gives you, but has all the same functionality in turns of modes etc

SEE123 · 02/02/2021 00:07

@Freddiefox if internet is down you can manually override Hive. To utilise features on smartphone it does need to be connected though

Teaseall · 02/02/2021 00:31

We just have a programmable on/off timer in the airing cupboard for when the hot water and heating actually come on separately which can be set for weekdays/weekends/holidays etc. Then individual thermostats on radiators in each room plus an overall thermostat in the kitchen/diner for the ambient temperature in the house.

Works well for us and also not reliant on the vagaries of an internet connect. We also a wood burner and a gas hob having learned from several winters of power cuts.

Christ, that makes me feel old Grin