Smart Thermostats/Full Heating Control Options

Lizbetty

Hello everyone

We live in a 1930s house, some rooms are solar others are polar with our current heating set up.

We need a new combi boiler (the joys!) and so we're looking at the best way to control heat in the rooms at the same time. I had wondered about separate Smart controls for upstairs and downstairs ideally. I just do not know what's available and works well, that's cost effective.

Ideally reliable Smart methods so we can do it easily, also any recommendations of brands would really be appreciated please?

I want to make sure I know as much as possible before the fitters come to give us quotes and sell their wares 😃

All suggestions very welcomed! Thank you 😊

Lucy

[Deleted User]

The benefits and savings associated with smart controls are considerably over hyped by manufacturers. In my previous home, I had a £1800 Evohome system. It gave me endless hours of ‘fun’ dealing with communications faults. The only good thing about it was that my buyer thought it was great and he offered the full asking price for my property.

I now have two TADO thermostats that just work as thermostats with App control. I have not repeated my mistake by going down the smart radiator thermostat route. Unless you are prepared to live with closed doors and damp/unheated rooms, the savings are minimal. If some of your rooms are hot and others cold then this is down to inadequately sized radiators or an unbalanced heating system. There is no way that a large room with a very small radiator will achieve a given temperature just by fitting a smart radiator valve.

JJ_Egan

As above and more knowledge on the Energy board .

Solar and polar reads as not pumping or rads to small .

Lizbetty

That is a good point actually I think our radiators do need balancing. The fitter who came yesterday said he'd do that. 

It would be great to have the heating on downstairs but off in the bedrooms, I know we can use the existing old TRVs to do that manually twice a day but smart control over those radiators would be good. I have heard of the Tado ones so will have a read, thanks The fitter yesterday wanted to install a Hive thermostat for us and so I'm not sure how compatible all that is. I feel a bit left behind with all this stuff, it can be quite confusing. 

Thanks again for your replies Will have a look at the other board too. 

Lucy

coffeehound

TRVs do stop working properly after a while so may just need replacing. They should be able to do the job if the radiators are otherwise okay. 

anotheruser

It would be expensive I think.

I have bought into the Hive system.  Decided on Hive rather than Nest as I thought British Gas (owner of Hive) would support it longer / better than Nest (although since fitting, Nest has been bought by Google).

The radiator TRVs will help regulate temperature but they're expensive per set and not entirely sure of their usefulness.

niktheguru

Don't buy the hive trvs, they have been riddled with problems. The hive thermostat itself is decent if you like having online/app access of you heating and hot water, and works well.

Honeywell evohome is what I have and for my purposes it works very well. It gives you access to each radiator to change the temperatures and set them on timers either from the control panel, the app or online. Works well for me, however is very expensive for what it is, and it isn't particularly smart per se.

Drayton have a smart home setup which is a bit cheaper but not sure if it's any good or not.

tim_p

Take all of the ‘savings’ promised by the likes of Nest with a huge pinch of salt. It’s bolleaux. I’ve had Nest for years and love it but it’s the flexibility I love as the automagics basically aren’t. woukd I buy it again? Yes. 

matelodave

TBH a couple of programmable thermostats driving two zones, upstairs and downstairs would probably do the job without spending lots a money on a clever system unless of course you really feel the need to play with the temperatures whilst on the bus or in the pub.

Just my opinion you understand

Reed_Richards

Heating zones might work very well if your plumbing is suitable but are well-nigh impossible if your plumbing is not.  I have a Drayton Wiser system that incorporates smart radiator valves and room thermostats.  I have it working well now but I had to return a smart radiator valve because these take precedence over the room thermostat (on the same zone) whereas with a "dumb" TRV it's the other way around.  

keithgawler

We have had a Hive thermostat in our previous home for about 6 years and almost 6 now in our new home. Whilst the jury could be out on the savings benefits, the flexibility it provides in programming boiler and heating and controlling when away from home justifies the one-off outlay. I have however seen lots of negative comments on Hive TRVs, so do beware.