Smart heating controls- Hive? Nest? Advice please

[North Mimms]

Thinking about upgrading our heating controls to something Smarter. So that we can do things like leave heating ticking over low but boost it before we leave Club. Change the set temperature during the day rather than tweaking the thermostat manually etc. I'd like the heating to mirror when we actually need it.
Current set up - 4 bed house occupied by 2 retired people with very variable schedules of being in and out. Not all rooms in use most of the time.

Gas central heating. modern house so decent insulation
Worcester boiler (less than 10 years old).
Potterton control panel in airing cupboard - allows 1 or 2 on/off schedules per day
Single Honeywell thermostat in hall. Heating is not zoned but all rads have TRVs so we turn down the ones in spare bedrooms etc.

Mr Mimms does not do smartphones let alone smart anything else despite being irritatingly intelligent.
Mrs Mimms happy to use apps on phone. I have set up a few basic Smart home tech, lights, blinds etc. At present none of things have required a bridge or hub so nothing complicated beyond connecting them to Alexa.
I have heard of Zigbee but wouldn't know what to do with one....

I've heard of Hive and Nest but where do I start?

 

[Deleted member 1740]

They're all much of a muchness.

I'd rather install weather compensation. In laymens terms its a sensor fitted outside which connects to boiler that measures the outside temp and will then heat your system accordingly.

Its a lot more efficient and It saves on gas usage.

 

[Neilds]

They're all much of a muchness.

I'd rather install weather compensation. In laymens terms its a sensor fitted outside which connects to boiler that measures the outside temp and will then heat your system accordingly.

Its a lot more efficient and It saves on gas usage.

How does this actually work? Surely if it is warmer outside, the house will be warmer and the boiler will kick in less often? Just as I tell the Mrs that the heating doesn't need turning up if it gets colder as the heating will still be at the same level. Or am I missing something?

 

[jim8flog]

If you do not want to go the whole hog the simplest way is to get rid of the wired in thermostat and switch to programmable wireless one such as

https://www.screwfix.com/p/drayton-rf701sx-room-thermostat/76816

but you are only controlling the boiler and not individual rad valves.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

We have Hive, had it fitted about 2 years ago. Really like it, very simple to use. It can be done from the thermsotat in the house or on your phone. The joy, of course, is the ability to boost the heating or move the settings when you are out and coming back, when it would normally not be on. So much nicer to come back to a warm house.

We are also far more likely to alter the settings, times or temps, when sat in front of the tv on our phones than getting up and going to the thermostat. Human nature.......

I can't compare to the others but Hive is very simple to use in terms of settings to come on, turn off, heating level etc. If we moved house, I would have it again in the next house.

 

[Deleted member 1740]

How does this actually work? Surely if it is warmer outside, the house will be warmer and the boiler will kick in less often? Just as I tell the Mrs that the heating doesn't need turning up if it gets colder as the heating will still be at the same level. Or am I missing something?

Yes.
A standard thermostat like a hive will take its temperature from the room its situated in, usually the hallway as its the coolest part of most houses, that has been set by you.

For example you set your thermostat at 23deg and your boiler will stay on until it reaches that temperature.

A weather compensator will take the outside temperature and will control your house temp from outside.

Its akin to driving along the M6 doing 70 with cruise control on or blasting along at 90. You'll still get there but its cost you more.

 

[PJ87]

We had hive installed when we moved in 8 years ago

It's good, but it worked for us more because the house didn't have a thermostat so installing one or hive was much of a much

We set up schedules on our phones during winter and boost if it's cold

Right now it's in frost protection as don't need it on now weathers turned

It suits our needs and most people will benefit in some way. It's prob paid for itself over the years especially as the boiler doesn't have a timer

 

[fundy]

Preferred Hive to Nest and will be putting Hive in when we finally replace the turn dial (in fahrenheit) controller we currently have

Expect Stu knows better though (off to google weather compensator)

 

[Aztecs27]

we have a nest, upon the recommendation of getting that over HIVE from my gas engineer best mate.

It's good - but I've noticed of late that even though it's only scheduled to come on at around 4:30am for an hour (as our house gets cold at night when it's cold outside and our lad's room is particularly cool if we don't have it come on), but I've noticed it coming on randomly at about midnight for no reason at all. or at 2am. bit annoying since we've tried to cut the use right down with soaring energy costs.

Probably something I've done wrong/not done, but seems very odd.

It'll be going off for good until October after easter now it's finally starting to be less cold at night.

 

[North Mimms]

Thanks for input so far.
Excuse my ignorance, but if I went for a Hive or Nest system, do I need to change thermostat AND controller?
And is this a DIY job or do I need heating engineer or electrician?

 

[chellie]

We have Hive. However, we only put the heating on when we want it on.

The App is brilliant to use when you are out so you can switch it on remotely and come into a warm house.

 

[Aztecs27]

Thanks for input so far.
Excuse my ignorance, but if I went for a Hive or Nest system, do I need to change thermostat AND controller?
And is this a DIY job or do I need heating engineer or electrician?

Yes, essentially. The controller is replaced with a transmitter that connects to your boiler/water tank etc and communicates with your phone (which becomes your controller where you can program everything etc) and the shiny dial thingy becomes your thermostat.

you can probably replace it yourself if you know which wires need to go where, but it's a 20 minute job for a sparky.

 

[clubchamp98]

we have a nest, upon the recommendation of getting that over HIVE from my gas engineer best mate.

It's good - but I've noticed of late that even though it's only scheduled to come on at around 4:30am for an hour (as our house gets cold at night when it's cold outside and our lad's room is particularly cool if we don't have it come on), but I've noticed it coming on randomly at about midnight for no reason at all. or at 2am. bit annoying since we've tried to cut the use right down with soaring energy costs.

Probably something I've done wrong/not done, but seems very odd.

It'll be going off for good until October after easter now it's finally starting to be less cold at night.

Check your frost protection settings.
If it’s set to high the heating will come on to protect the house.
Off my head I think it should be 5 degrees.

 

[rulefan]

We've had Hive for nearly 10 years with radiator thermostats. Very straightforward and efficient. Multiple individual program settings for each day of the week. Holiday calendar.
I control via my PC but sometimes use the phone if arriving home later than planned say.

 

[North Mimms]

but it's a 20 minute job for a sparky.

That means it's a three hour job for me THEN call in a sparky ...

 

[Canfordhacker]

we have a nest, upon the recommendation of getting that over HIVE from my gas engineer best mate.

It's good - but I've noticed of late that even though it's only scheduled to come on at around 4:30am for an hour (as our house gets cold at night when it's cold outside and our lad's room is particularly cool if we don't have it come on), but I've noticed it coming on randomly at about midnight for no reason at all. or at 2am. bit annoying since we've tried to cut the use right down with soaring energy costs.

Probably something I've done wrong/not done, but seems very odd.

It'll be going off for good until October after easter now it's finally starting to be less cold at night.

Essentially you are saying that you want x temp at 04:30, it is smart enough to know this and pre-empt to get it to that temp at that time hence comes on earlier. I think you can alter that setting.

 

[spongebob59]

Essentially you are saying that you want x temp at 04:30, it is smart enough to know this and pre-empt to get it to that temp at that time hence comes on earlier. I think you can alter that setting.

You can turn this function off on a nest, it is handy in the winter once you get to know what settings work for you.

 

[Ethan]

We have Hive, had it fitted about 2 years ago. Really like it, very simple to use. It can be done from the thermsotat in the house or on your phone. The joy, of course, is the ability to boost the heating or move the settings when you are out and coming back, when it would normally not be on. So much nicer to come back to a warm house.

We are also far more likely to alter the settings, times or temps, when sat in front of the tv on our phones than getting up and going to the thermostat. Human nature.......

I can't compare to the others but Hive is very simple to use in terms of settings to come on, turn off, heating level etc. If we moved house, I would have it again in the next house.

Have Hive here too, as as above, very easy. You get a hub to connect to your router, a controller which is located near the boiler and a thermostat wherever you like. We have ours in the hall. Change the temp/hot water manually on the thermostat or via the app, and the scheduled temperatures are easy to adjust on the app. No problem if you forget to turn it down when you leave the house, do it on your phone and if you are coming back to the house earlier or later than planned, no problem.

You can also put in your Apple Home app. (and probably Android equivalents)

 

[PJ87]

We have Hive, had it fitted about 2 years ago. Really like it, very simple to use. It can be done from the thermsotat in the house or on your phone. The joy, of course, is the ability to boost the heating or move the settings when you are out and coming back, when it would normally not be on. So much nicer to come back to a warm house.

We are also far more likely to alter the settings, times or temps, when sat in front of the tv on our phones than getting up and going to the thermostat. Human nature.......

I can't compare to the others but Hive is very simple to use in terms of settings to come on, turn off, heating level etc. If we moved house, I would have it again in the next house.

You say would have again on next house but you can just take it with you

 

[Lord Tyrion]

You say would have again on next house but you can just take it with you

I hadn't thought that far ahead, it was more a figure of speech for recommending it. Good to know though ?