New HIVE customer

david_cox1990

Hi all, just wanted to ask for a quick bit of advice here.

We’ve recently had the new HIVE heating system fitted in our house. 

Throughout these summer months and as it’s been warmer I’ve had the heating switched off all together, however what I wanted to ask is if I should have it switched on all the time but at a set temp of say 20 degrees?

Is it more cost effective/better for the system to be constantly running but at a reasonable temperature rather than off all together?

Appreciate the advice in advance, 

Thanks

David

Astria

If you don't need it, turn it off. That's the most cost effective.

k_man

You may have just opened the heating on all the time debate, but let's hope we can save that until closer to winter!

But in this case, if the temperature does not drop below 20 (where the thermostat is located), then the heating is off all the time anyway, so the heating behaviour is the same (there is no cost saving Vs set to off).

That is sort of the point of the thermostat.

The downside/risk though (especially if left as high as 20) is that a short period of lower temperature will cause heating to come on, which may not actually be necessary (e.g cool early morning, just before the sun warms the house)

[Deleted User]

david_cox1990 said:

Hi all, just wanted to ask for a quick bit of advice here.

We’ve recently had the new HIVE heating system fitted in our house. 

Throughout these summer months and as it’s been warmer I’ve had the heating switched off all together, however what I wanted to ask is if I should have it switched on all the time but at a set temp of say 20 degrees?

Is it more cost effective/better for the system to be constantly running but at a reasonable temperature rather than off all together?

Appreciate the advice in advance, 

Thanks

David

Don’t kid yourself that smart controls will save you lots of money. If that was the case, then Building Regulations would require smart controls to be fitted to all new builds. As far as I know, the standard hasn’t changed since my home was built in 2019. I have a two-zoned home with two standard thermostats and TRVs on all radiators. 

Smart devices are more for homeowner convenience than for energy saving.

Astria

k_man said:

The downside/risk though (especially if left as high as 20) is that a short period of lower temperature will cause heating to come on, which may not actually be necessary (e.g cool early morning, just before the sun warms the house)

Yes, exactly, HIVE does allow you to view temperature graphs, and I can see that the house can drop to 18c at night, but then it starts rising again at 6am if the sun comes up. At the moment the outside is pretty crappy, but the temperature has already gone up by a degree compared to it's lowest. I wouldn't want the heating to come on as that would just waste energy.

HIVE and other smart devices are perfect for "I left the heating on and I won't be back home for 8/12/24/etc hours", and in winter when you like the house to heat up before you arrive. Other than that, they are no different to a standard thermostat. The most annoying kind are the "learning" thermostats that try and guess when you want the heating on and you end up keep fighting them.

[Deleted User]

Agreed. Having had an Evohome system in the past which I ran for 5 years, my scepticism is based on a lot of past data. Most smart control manufacturers self certify their devices which enable them to make claims of ‘up to 40%’ energy savings. A number of manufacturers use the study below to justify their energy savings claims:

Source Energy Saving Research Unit, Strathclyde University 2013 & TACMA 2013 - Energy savings quoted were calculated using a 3 bedroom, 2 level home, located in the UK, modelling a family of 4 over a typical week’s activity, comparing a smart zoning system, with recommended settings, to a system comprising of a simple timer, single non-programmable room thermostat and no Thermostatic radiator valves. Individual Energy savings gained are dependent upon existing controls, environment and lifestyle.

To be taken into account when an EPC is issued, manufacturers must offer their products to the Building Research Establishment (BRE) for independent testing so that they are included in the BRE database: very few manufacturers elect to do so.

In truth, most of the claimed smart control energy savings can be achieved by fitting standard TRVs; by turning down the TRV setting in unused rooms, and by turning off heating when it is not needed: for example, when leaving home. There are some savings to be achieved if the smart thermostat and boiler are connected using the Opentherm protocol.

silvercar

Hive gives you 6 time slots to allocate during each day. You can easily set the minimum temperature to be say 17 during the morning, if you feel that you don’t need to heat the house during the morning chill. 6 should be plenty to set a pattern through the day.

Alnat1

As mentioned above, TRVs are the best devices to help save on your heating bills. 

For us, heating only on in winter and thermostat at 18C. Our TRVs are set to 1 (or even 0) in unused rooms, 2 for our bedroom (if you've kids in theirs for hours perhaps they'd want it a bit higher) hallways, bathroom and kitchen 3 and the main living room on full heat as that's where we spend most time. The other simple thing that helps is closed doors between rooms. Curtains are all closed at dusk. If we're a bit chilly sat around in the evening we use blankets 

BUFF

Dolor said:

david_cox1990 said:

Hi all, just wanted to ask for a quick bit of advice here.

We’ve recently had the new HIVE heating system fitted in our house. 

Throughout these summer months and as it’s been warmer I’ve had the heating switched off all together, however what I wanted to ask is if I should have it switched on all the time but at a set temp of say 20 degrees?

Is it more cost effective/better for the system to be constantly running but at a reasonable temperature rather than off all together?

Appreciate the advice in advance, 

Thanks

David

Don’t kid yourself that smart controls will save you lots of money. If that was the case, then Building Regulations would require smart controls to be fitted to all new builds. As far as I know, the standard hasn’t changed since my home was built in 2019. I have a two-zoned home with two standard thermostats and TRVs on all radiators. 

Smart devices are more for homeowner convenience than for energy saving.

I agree that "smart" controls are unlikely to save lots over a fairly current standard for new installs but if coming from an older, more basic one they may well do so (but so would a "non-smart", current compliant controls solution).
Hive is a solution that is biased more towards convenience than ultimate efficiency (no OpenTherm support & e.g. Nest,Tado & others are classified higher for efficiency).
If it's a combi boiler then "smart" control meets the requirement for 1 of the 4 additional requirements (the others being load compensation, weather compensation or flue gas heat recovery) to meet Boiler Plus needs.
The Part L standards have just changed in June for new installs in England (Wales is later in the year).

Alnat1 said:

As mentioned above, TRVs are the best devices to help save on your heating bills. 

I disagree, I would go with a room stat first and/or a programmer. Then TRVs but, of course, they are all required by current standards for new installs.

Assuming a gas boiler, the 1 advantage of leaving the ch heating system "on" but the thermostat temperature setting low (so that the system doesn't fire) is that most modern boilers will periodically run the pump briefly which should result in less chance of it sticking & a longer life. Presumably the boiler is still used to provide hot water?

Astria

BUFF said:

Assuming a gas boiler, the 1 advantage of leaving the ch heating system "on" but the thermostat temperature setting low (so that the system doesn't fire) is that most modern boilers will periodically run the pump briefly which should result in less chance of it sticking & a longer life. Presumably the boiler is still used to provide hot water?

I hear that about every 12 hours or so even though the heating is off, I assumed it was part of the boilers "anti-freeze" technology - make sure the water is moved every so often and also means it can get an average temperature of the water, which it displays on the front of the boiler.

wild666

I wouldn't have so-called smart appliance heating my home at any cost. My heating is mostly off even in winter as I use a hot water bottle to keep myself warn most days, the exception is the day my daughter visits in winter I turn it on but only to 18 degrees and as soon as she leaves it's turned off.