Most economical way to heat a holiday let? Wireless?

csgohan4

Thrugelmir wrote: »

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!

I saw reviewer on a place on Airbnb where the host would lower the thermostat settings without telling them, Suffice to say not on my shortlist.

Annoys me that behavior, their already paying at above normal rent prices and to have the heating controlled is ridiculous

The place I was looking at also wanted to charge the electricity and water for using the washing machine lol.

LilElvis

tom9980 wrote: »

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.

I do understand how they work, but I was commenting on the very restricted schedule they currently deem appropriate, which is very far from the 6am to 11pm you have suggested.

tom9980

LilElvis wrote: »

I do understand how they work, but I was commenting on the very restricted schedule they currently deem appropriate, which is very far from the 6am to 11pm you have suggested.

I will let your read the OP again but i have cut the relevant part out for you.

blued wrote: »

The controller (his current one) 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.

You seem to have assumed they will be setting the schedule to 1 hour twice a day. They seem to clearly state that would not be how they setup their guest schedule.

silvercar

tom9980 wrote: »

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.

Hive does allow the schedule to be changed via the wall thermostats, though it isn't intuitive and you probably need to know hive to be able to do it.

Also the wall thermostats override the schedule, so the tenants would always be in control. The advantage of the app is it allows the heating and water to be turned on remotely and an advance schedule to be set.

Herbalus

I have nest, and it will do what you required. The app has the same controls as the physical thermostat.

Nest has the ability to set the heating to reach pre-determined temperatures at specific times e.g. 21 degrees at 7am each day, and then 17 degrees from 10am. Each day of the week can be programmed differently.

There is also an "eco" mode, which is essentially a frost-protection mode of default 10 degrees. So in effect you can set the thermostat to say 20 degrees permanently, and then turn the heating onto this eco mode remotely when your renters have left.

I've just been on 2 weeks holiday and set my heating to "eco" when I left, so it hasn't been on at all as the temp inside never reached 10 degrees. At arrival back at stansted airport yesterday I turned off "eco" mode and the heating kicked straight back in.

Herbalus

Also worth noting that a friend on mine has Hive and apparently it works exactly the same.

The guests will have full access to the system whilst they are there, as they'll be able to access the thermostat box whilst in the house and that gives full control. You won't be able to stop this - though I'm not entirely sure why you don't want it?

With Nest at least you can just switch the thermostat to "eco" mode which will put the system to sleep and effectively turned off, so it doesn't really matter what the renters do to the settings, as once they've left you can turn it off remotely.

eilidhcatriona

You need to allow guests to control the heating, including the schedule. I’ve stayed in a holiday lets, mostly Scotland, when I go away each year with my parents. There is nothing worse than having a cold house when you want to be warm.

The worst was one in Ullapool, we were there one October - heating was on a coin meter, and only scheduled 4 hours a day - timer in a locked cupboard. We contacted the owner to ask about changing the schedule as my poor mum was suffering, and they said no. With some grumbling they did change when in the day those 4 hours were, so it better suited my mum. Given we had to feed the meter, I have no idea why we couldn’t choose how long to have the heating on. My dad and I would sit eating breakfast with the oven on for warmth, as we’d had the heating hours changed to later to fit with my mums getting up time. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t stay the whole week we were booked for.

I don’t know the ins and outs of the various options being discussed, but I think I am right in saying that with the likes of Hive, you can turn your heating on from afar - so if you’re returning to the house, you can reset the schedule to your preference. Not sure why you wouldn’t want guests to be able to change the schedule anyway? People may have different needs or waking hours than you.

csgohan4

eilidhcatriona wrote: »

The worst was one in Ullapool, we were there one October - heating was on a coin meter, and only scheduled 4 hours a day - timer in a locked cupboard. We contacted the owner to ask about changing the schedule as my poor mum was suffering, and they said no. With some grumbling they did change when in the day those 4 hours were, so it better suited my mum. Given we had to feed the meter, I have no idea why we couldn’t choose how long to have the heating on. My dad and I would sit eating breakfast with the oven on for warmth, as we’d had the heating hours changed to later to fit with my mums getting up time. Unsurprisingly, we didn’t stay the whole week we were booked for.

I hope you gave them a bad review, stingy hosts

blued

Thanks for all the replies, especially to those who read my initial post and didn't jump to silly conclusions

It sounds like I need to do a bit of research on both Hive and Nest and choose one - although Nest does seem to be at a higher price point. Are there any others to consider? The Drayton Wiser popped up a couple of times while searching and seems to be around the same price as a Nest.

PasturesNew

You say you have no way of turning the heat on for guests arriving ... but they would need a key - and clean sheets/towels.... and somebody to clean afterwards.

Whoever is doing the key handover could turn the heating on on the day if you pick somebody who is very close by... they'd be able to sit there an hour before guests arrive and think "it's a bit nippier today than usual, I'll pop over and turn it on now" or "no need to do the heating, it's quite warm here today".