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Original poster

Thermostats - to smart or not?

28 replies

OhYouBadBadKitten · 03/11/2021 08:12

It's time to replace our old programmable thermostat. The screen has decided to gently die.

Do we replace it with a similar one and program it at source or do we replace it with a smart device and if so, which one?

I'm a bit put off by the price of smart devices. I'm also not quite sure how secure they are or how stable they are if the internet goes down. But I do like the idea of being able to tell it what to do with my phone.

Ideally, what ever we get I'd like to be able to install it myself.

Thanks!

OP posts:
coogee · 03/11/2021 08:30

We bought a Hive in an Amazon sale and my husband fitted it. It took about 15 minutes from opening the box.

“Black Friday” is coming up on Amazon. There may be some good deals to be had.

PosiePerkinPootleFlump · 03/11/2021 08:39

We have a Nest. In retrospect I wish I'd got a Hive as you can get individual radiator thermostats that talk to it.
Its great being able to do from your phone though, eg to turn heating on when you're on your way home. You can still change via the thermostat itself as well - it's just a dial

Simonutti72 · 03/11/2021 08:42

We have Hive & have often had no internet. It still works from the manual thermostat so no issues there. Would recommend

coogee · 03/11/2021 08:56

When the internet goes down, it only stops you making changes. The schedules for heating, hot water and everything else are stored in the thermostat.

coogee · 03/11/2021 08:58

It stops you making changes from your phone, I should say. You can still control it from the thermostat unit.

Justcannotbearsed · 03/11/2021 11:36

We got a Nest, and a second nest in the new extension. The only issue so far is husband turning it back on from his phone when I've just turned it down.

Being able to turn on and off individual radiators would be good and you can't do that with the Nest - that I've found. And the numbers are hard to read on your phone on the schedule.

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 03/11/2021 12:54

Thanks all :) coogee good idea about black friday. I'd forgotten about that. I'll look at the hive, especially if it means I can control individual radiators. I'd love to have our bedroom radiator on first thing in the morning only for instance.

OP posts:
Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 03/11/2021 12:56

With the hive geolocation, can you set it so it goes off only when both people have left the house?

OP posts:
RedRiverShore · 03/11/2021 13:23

We have Hive, the main thermostat I find is excellent, unfortunately the individual radiator valves not so much, they can be a bit glitchy and stop working because they need calibration, this calibration takes quite a bit of time, doesn't always work so basically is a bit of a pita, the batteries on them don't seem to last long either. If you do get them make sure you keep your old ones in case you want to swap them back, I'm thinking of swapping mine back if they don't improve this winter. There are often offers on the radiator valves and you don't need to fit them at the same time as the main thermostat so best to wait for an offer on these.

Knotaknitter · 03/11/2021 14:52

I went with a smart thermostat last year and I wish I'd done it years ago. I can sit here in the living room and shout at Alexa to turn the heating up, if I'm up really early I can turn the heating on before I get out of bed. I went with Nest because my plumber has one, at the time I didn't have the time or enthusiasm to do my own research.

If you are using geolocation with the Nest, all users need to have the app on their phone for the house not to go cold with someone still in it.

EgSk · 03/11/2021 20:54

Was going to reply but @Simonutti72 said exactly what I was going to

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 03/11/2021 21:28

Sounds like it might be a hive then. Just need to work out if I can install it myself.

OP posts:
Clymene · 03/11/2021 21:31

I have a salus. I love the fact that I can fiddle with the heating when I want. And turn it on when I'm on the train so it's toasty when I walk in rather then turning it on too early or late.

I don't know how it compares to a hive or nest

Mosky · 03/11/2021 21:38

Do these need a plumber / electrician to install? I have zero DIY skills.

RedRiverShore · 03/11/2021 22:19

You can buy Hive from British Gas and they will install it, if you are a BG customer you generally get a discount, we had ours fitted as we got a half price offer from BG but you can do it yourself, Amazon and other places sell them to fit yourself, I have no DIY skills so wouldn't fit it myself but if you do bits of DIY then is probably not too difficult to do. The radiator valves are very easy to fit and I managed that ok. If you need installation probably best to get from BG as they do the installation package

MidnightMeltdown · 04/11/2021 01:49

I've got a Hive and it's great. I wouldn't recommend installing it yourself unless you have knowledge of electrics as it needs to be wired in. Gas engineer did mine when I had the boiler serviced.

bouncydog · 04/11/2021 02:48

We have a system called Honeywell home as we don’t have a central stat. There are individual controllers on each of the radiators and the whole lot is run via phone. There is also a separate control pad that is either fixed to the wall or like ours plugged in.

It’s brilliant as each rad is set individually and you just leave it alone. If you want heat outside the schedule you either use your phone or the valve on the rad and it then stays at revised heat until next timing programme. Our plumber installed all of ours as had to change something on the boiler to link it all up.

coogee · 04/11/2021 08:34

I've got a Hive and it's great. I wouldn't recommend installing it yourself unless you have knowledge of electrics as it needs to be wired in

Most central heating timers use a standard fixing plate, so you may only have to loosen two screws, remove the old timer, snap in the Hive controller and then tighten the screws.

If your existing timer doesn’t have the standard fixing plate then things can get a bit more involved wiring wise.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 04/11/2021 08:37

I can't get my head round these new-fangled things.

If we're cold we put another piece of coal on the brazier in the middle of the room and if we're too hot we remove some of coal and put it in a (metal) bucket in the scullery.

ExcessiveIyDisorganised · 04/11/2021 08:51

We've got a Nest (got it on black Friday about 3 years ago). We already had thermostatic radiator valves so we use those as well but they aren't linked. I like being able to set it all and adjust it from my phone, but we switched off all the smart features after a couple of weeks and have never felt inclined to put them back on again, they were too annoying eg heating coming on at 5am and waking us up in order to have the house warm by 6 when what we actually wanted was the heating to come on at 6 for example. I don't want it coming on and off by geolocation either.

We tweaked the schedule a lot in the first winter to one that works really well for us now and rarely have to override it.

RedRiverShore · 04/11/2021 08:54

Hive does have to be wired onto the boiler and if the old thermostat is wired that has to be removed, it probably about the same difficulty as changing a light fitting so if you are happy doing stuff like that i would probably do it yourself

Aposterhasnoname · 04/11/2021 08:58

Hive is the best thing ever. We’ve added bulbs, plugs and a smart alarm to it over the years. It’s great to be able to turn the heating up when we are on our way home, or tell Alexa to turn it down.

Wombat49 · 04/11/2021 09:01

We've got a Nest & it's fab. I lie in bed adjusting the temperature.

Much warmer as the house is now not on timers and way more responsive.

wonkylegs · 04/11/2021 09:02

We've had a Honeywell system for about 5yrs now and although it was expensive to install it saved its cost within 2 yrs
It's a big house with lots of rads (22) so our choice was limited as to what systems would work well with it but having all the zones makes a massive difference.
Ours was installed by an electrician and calibration of all the individual rad thermostatic valves was the main difficulty with setting it up but it was more faff than actually hard.

NothingIsWrong · 04/11/2021 09:12

I have a Tado and love it - about to start investing in the radiator individual stats for a bit more control