Most economical way to heat a holiday let? Wireless?

blued

We're going to be moving overseas and plan to keep our house as a holiday let so we can use it when we return to visit. I'm currently trying to figure out the most economical way to heat it.

It's a conventional heating system with separate hot water tank and I believe, with exception of the controller, it's all original from when the house was built in the mid 80's. So it's obviously not the most efficient system to start with! The controller lets you set 2 times daily Mon-Fri and 2 times Sat/Sun. This works for us but won't really work for a holiday let. We currently run the heating for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening to heat water and the house before we leave/when we return from work. Then we have a log burner that heats the whole house (it's a bungalow).

With the current set up we'd need to leave the heating on for long periods through the winter in case there are guests. Maybe it could be left on low but I'd have no way to increase the temperature for guests arriving. At the moment the controller is in a cupboard and has the option to extend/turn on the heating for 1-3 hours and an advance option that will put it on until the next schedule. There is an adjustable thermostat in the hall. I'd like guests to have access to control the temperature and boost for 1-3 hours but I wouldn't want them to be able to change the heating schedule. I've been looking for something that would replace my thermostat with a combined thermostat and boost button but haven't found anything suitable.

Then I started looking at wireless controllers. It sounds like the Hive system would allow me to remotely shut off the heating (or turn down to 10C or whatever) for when there are no guests and then turn everything back up on the morning of their arrival. However it's not clear from the blurb if I can then leave the temperature control and ability to boost with a guest without giving them full control to the system. Does anyone have any experience with this system or another wireless system?

I'm basically looking for a way to remotely control the heating in the house and then allow guests to set the temperature and boost the heating outside of a schedule.

Any ideas welcome

knightstyle

We have been in a similar position. We found it best to leave the heating on 24/7 and set the thermostat to 3degrees. Hot water off.
Get someone to go round regularly to make sure electric hasn't tripped etc.
Plus check the conditions on your insurance policy regarding occupation.

tom9980

Hive will do what you want.

The hive wall thermostat I have has buttons allowing anyone to change the heating up or down, or turn heating on/off/boost. Same with hot water.

You can override those changes with the app.

Thrugelmir

blued wrote: »

Then I started looking at wireless controllers. It sounds like the Hive system would allow me to remotely shut off the heating (or turn down to 10C or whatever) for when there are no guests and then turn everything back up on the morning of their arrival.

Met a couple in Suffolk earlier this year whilst on a short break. Their LL was controlling the heating from afar. Let's say didn't go down well. As temperature dropped like a stone. The property was freezing and wasn't on long enough a day to get any warmth into the property. Reviews left weren't going to be complimentary!

gnvqsos

I would allow a trusted person to live there for free,on the clear understanding they vacate when guests are due.Most insurance policies will not cover houses left for over 30 days a caretaker will meet this basic rule.
If your house is nearby I will avail myself provided you have no daft pets like Commode Lizards and monitors which bring out a rash.

Doozergirl

tom9980 wrote: »

Hive will do what you want.

The hive wall thermostat I have has buttons allowing anyone to change the heating up or down, or turn heating on/off/boost. Same with hot water.

You can override those changes with the app.

Nest is the same. Thermostat in the house will act like a regular thermostat for guests to adjust if they want, but then you can use the app to maintain the house at lower temperatures when empty and boost it back up for guests.

We're involved with an Air BnB and it works really well.

martindow

knightstyle wrote: »

We found it best to leave the heating on 24/7 and set the thermostat to 3degrees.

I don't think 3 degrees is a safe thermostat setting. Temperatures could easily drop below freezing in other parts of the house. Unless you are absolutely certain that the thermostat is accurate and in the coldest spot in the house I would set it higher

LilElvis

blued wrote: »

We're going to be moving overseas and plan to keep our house as a holiday let so we can use it when we return to visit. I'm currently trying to figure out the most economical way to heat it.

It's a conventional heating system with separate hot water tank and I believe, with exception of the controller, it's all original from when the house was built in the mid 80's. So it's obviously not the most efficient system to start with! The controller lets you set 2 times daily Mon-Fri and 2 times Sat/Sun. This works for us but won't really work for a holiday let. We currently run the heating for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening to heat water and the house before we leave/when we return from work. Then we have a log burner that heats the whole house (it's a bungalow).

With the current set up we'd need to leave the heating on for long periods through the winter in case there are guests. Maybe it could be left on low but I'd have no way to increase the temperature for guests arriving. At the moment the controller is in a cupboard and has the option to extend/turn on the heating for 1-3 hours and an advance option that will put it on until the next schedule. There is an adjustable thermostat in the hall. I'd like guests to have access to control the temperature and boost for 1-3 hours but I wouldn't want them to be able to change the heating schedule. I've been looking for something that would replace my thermostat with a combined thermostat and boost button but haven't found anything suitable.

Then I started looking at wireless controllers. It sounds like the Hive system would allow me to remotely shut off the heating (or turn down to 10C or whatever) for when there are no guests and then turn everything back up on the morning of their arrival. However it's not clear from the blurb if I can then leave the temperature control and ability to boost with a guest without giving them full control to the system. Does anyone have any experience with this system or another wireless system?

I'm basically looking for a way to remotely control the heating in the house and then allow guests to set the temperature and boost the heating outside of a schedule.

Any ideas welcome

Re the parts in bold.

It's going to be a holiday let - renters are not going to work, so are likely to want to be in the property for longer hours during the day. They also may not want to use the log burner and prefer to use the heating system. I know I would be pretty miffed if I was paying to rent somewhere for a week and found that I was having to boost the heating every couple of hours to keep the system on, ditto if I were to come back before your planned evening switch on and the place was cold, especially as you appear to live in Scotland which is hardly the warmest part of the country.

Red-Squirrel_2

martindow wrote: »

I don't think 3 degrees is a safe thermostat setting. Temperatures could easily drop below freezing in other parts of the house. Unless you are absolutely certain that the thermostat is accurate and in the coldest spot in the house I would set it higher

I set mine to 12 and it very rarely clicks on automatically on normal winter days, so you can easily go a bit higher without it costing you too much.

silvercar

martindow wrote: »

I don't think 3 degrees is a safe thermostat setting. Temperatures could easily drop below freezing in other parts of the house. Unless you are absolutely certain that the thermostat is accurate and in the coldest spot in the house I would set it higher

Hive default is 8.5 degrees as the frost setting.

tom9980

LilElvis wrote: »

Re the parts in bold.

It's going to be a holiday let - renters are not going to work, so are likely to want to be in the property for longer hours during the day. They also may not want to use the log burner and prefer to use the heating system. I know I would be pretty miffed if I was paying to rent somewhere for a week and found that I was having to boost the heating every couple of hours to keep the system on, ditto if I were to come back before your planned evening switch on and the place was cold, especially as you appear to live in Scotland which is hardly the warmest part of the country.

re bold

You don't seem to understand how Hive or other app based systems work. The op will be able to set a temperature say 20C and the times it needs to be on using the app as long as they are generous with the temperature and the times its on says 6am to 11pm there will be no issues. The guests will still be able to override this with the touch of a button without being able to change the schedules.

The key is the OP must ensure its on when guests stay (never forget OP) and is generous with the temperature and times its on for.