BG Smart Meter + Hive Thermostat

CobaltBlue_2

Cobalt Blue has left

System

Smart meters and smart heating controls are two separate technologies. Smart meters will let you see how much energy you are using, and smart controls will make it easier for you to control your heating/hot water. You will only save energy if you consume less. Do not believe all the hype associated with smart heating control savings.

victor2

CobaltBlue wrote: »

For me the Hive control would be mainly about convenience.
I can set it to turn the heating on when I'm on my way home.
Some people say it's simpler to just use a timed thermostat. But what about when you don't know what time you're heading home?
Perhaps I am unusual in having such an unpredictable lifestyle? I doubt it through!

Doubt if you are that unusual.
I don't believe something like Hive would save you money though, more likely cost you more, as you'll be able to come home to a warm house (heated at a cost of course) instead of a cold one.

System

Hengus wrote: »

Do not believe all the hype associated with smart heating control savings.

Despite my earlier post about savings, I am a smart heating convert. I have a 12 zoned home with a smart controller controlling my CH and hot water. The manufacturer claims savings of 'up to 40%' based on controlled experiments using a 3-bedroomed test house in an environmentally-controlled test centre. Forty percent savings have been achieved for a house with NO heating controls whatsoever. BEAMA reports:

Research carried out by the University of Salford last year demonstrated that the addition of a simple room thermostat plus thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) to a conventional heating system could reduce energy costs by 40%. Now a further stage of research shows that using a modern ‘TPI’ room thermostat will yield higher savings. Using such a thermostat together with TRVs was shown to increase the overall savings to 53%; that’s a further 13% reduction in running costs compared to the tests using a more conventional room thermostat. - See more at: http://www.beama.org.uk/news/high-efficiency-room-thermostats.html#sthash.QnpWthn6.dpuf

IMHO, systems such as Hive suit people with an irregular lifestyle. Systems that use zoning suit those who want heat in particular zones during the course of the day or night. (For example, a couple with a young baby that just want to keep the baby's room warm at night without any heat to the rest of the house).

FWiW, our zoning system is saving us about 18% per year. The main advantage is that we now heat in use rooms whenever we need to: the rest have minimum heat only.

MABLE

We now have Hive and thought it would be excellent for when we are away.
We can then check on the temperature inside the house and if need be can adjust accordingly.

We leave our cats in the house and someone just comes in to feed them on a daily basis.