Smart thermostats (Hive v's Nest) - Any good? Which one?

Happy_Days_Dave

Hello Folks,

I am thinking about buying a smart thermostat.

HIVE by British Gas

or maybe a

NEST by google/npower


Any comments, suggestions or reviews would be most helpful.

Thanks in advance

Dave

Robin9

I got a Nest earlier this - installation was no problem. WiFi is great.

Easy to adjust - the jury is still out on its feature that learns our lifestyle as there's usually someone at home.

iammumtoone

sorry to butt in on your thread OP, I don't have an answer for you but have been looking at these myself. I decided against the Hive as didn't want to be tied to BG plus the salesman was too pushy.

I do have a (numpy) question about these. Do you they need wi fi to work? I turn my wifi off quite a bit (to limit my ds watching youtube videos!) I appreciate that I wont be able to access the stat remotely whilst wifi is down but will it still work? For example if I didn't have wifi for a week would I still be able to control the unit manually and would it still control my heating? I did ask the BG engineer/salesman this about the hive it said it did but then again if I asked him if it would make my breakfast in the morning, I am sure he would have told me it would do that as well!!

Thanks

MillicentBystander

http://www.tado.com/gb/

Seems to offer more technology and the added attraction of a cancellable (if that isn't a word then it really should be! ) renting option.

giraffe69

I decided against the Hive as didn't want to be tied to BG

We got Hive earlier this year. It works well and even better gas bills have reduced. I don't understand the comment about being tied to BG. We didn't get gas from them at the time of installation and don't now.
You need a live internet connection to use the app to control heating remotely but if this fails(or you switch it off) you can still use the thermostat in the house. There may be better ways of controlling access than switching wifi off. I would recommend Hive based on my experience.

1jim

I'm really tempted by the tado one, the only thing stopping me is that my combi-boiler is in the loft and we currently have a wireless timer/thermostat in the lounge. Their controller would need to go in the loft which is ok but would lose the ability to manually switch on the boiler without going into the loft (thinking about mother in law who comes in at times when we are at work and the iPad controller would be beyond her). To overcome this I would need to get someone in to wire in a thermostat downstairs before getting tado done which is an expense too far for me.

Joyful

I got Hive a few months ago and love it. I have not used the feature for it to know when I'm on my way home as I live so close to my work it would be on all the time lol. Its been interesting so far to be able to check my home temp when I'm out and about.

I think this would be great for families with elderly or disabled as they could check at any time that the heating was on for them and change it if need be.

Happy_Days_Dave

Thank you for the comments so far.

I'm obviously still looking and researching this and now I have a "tado" to look at too.

lstar337

I keep looking at these systems, but AFAICT they only offer a saving to people who leave their heating on 24/7.

Unless I am missing something, they offer nothing to a real MSE.

When it was still cold early this year I ran our heating for 1hr at 6:30 and 30mins at 18:00 which kept the house at ~21c all day. I can't see Hive, Nest, or Tado making any saving over that.

Nada666

lstar337 wrote: »

I keep looking at these systems, but AFAICT they only offer a saving to people who leave their heating on 24/7.

Unless I am missing something, they offer nothing to a real MSE.

When it was still cold early this year I ran our heating for 1hr at 6:30 and 30mins at 18:00 which kept the house at ~21c all day. I can't see Hive, Nest, or Tado making any saving over that.

Completely agree. Only those who leave heating systems on the twice a day timer for months on end will be helped. And they can save much more just switching to manual.

If you must buy a system then make sure you budget in the cost of radio controlled thermostats on every radiator and you don't have open-plan areas - otherwise just use the method of lstar and me.

Still don't see how you can save much - do you never go home just for a bite to eat? What is the point of the heating going on when you are sat in the kitchen?

If it's cold and someone is in all evening then switch the boiler on - if the house is not warm enough for you to endure the fifteen minutes it takes to heat up then sort out insulation or visit your G.P..

How many phones are linked to one controller? Either it's a few or just one. Either do you really want your teenager to have distant access or does your other half really want only you to have comfort control?