Nest Generation 3 heating control

Slinky

Our builder and plumber are both recommending Nest Gen 3 heating control for our new boiler. Reading up on the features, it emphasises that the system will react to you walking past it and turning the heating on if it's off. With the costs of power, we have the heating on for a limited time morning and evening and are often in the house with the heating off in the winter. I'm assuming we can override this feature, but I'm wondering if we're paying out for a whistle and bells system that we're not going to use properly.

Can anybody who has one of these systems advise if it's worth it in our scenario.

ashe

We have nest and we turn off all the "learning" features. We program it if we want times heat and we have Alexa routines for 1h boosts. It's useful as it learns your heating system and how long it takes to head up the house so if you set it to be 19c at 7am, it can come on to make that right. 

As well as other devices like cameras, smoke alarms etc 

Bendy_House

I'd suggest that many of these features are overkill, Slinky, and I further suspect that many/most folk don't use them.

When it comes to controlling your CH, the Nest - like many similar systems - have two essential approaches (and then there's all the 'daft' little things like you've mentioned...):

One is that it'll turn on your heating at the specific time you have programmed it to. So, if you want your house cosy when you get up, you'll have worked out that the heating has to come on at a setting of 20oC at, say, 6am. That way, your house will be warm at 6.45 for when you actually crawl out of bed.

The other approach leaves it to the Nest (or whatevs) to work this out, to have the desired temp 'reached' at the required time. So you'd program it to 'achieve' the desired 20oC by 6.45.

For the latter, the Nest/whatevs learns when it actually has to turn your heating on to arrive at that required temp. So in colder weather, it'll almost certainly be turning on sooner. With a mild overnight, say the house temp is already at 17oC in the morning, then it'll only turn on a short while before the required temp, as it'll have worked out it won't take long to get the extra 3oC.

So, the latter method sounds like a clever feature, and one that could/should save energy.

For the others - motion sensor - I struggle to understand how effective this could be, unless perhaps your whole house's CH system has been set up for this from the off. I mean, how many motion sensors will there be? Does it work to control individual TRVs? In which case, potentially very clever - it turns on the heating in whichever room you are actually in, and down in the one you have left.

But, you'd need to confirm that is the case.

 

BUFF

Afaik there are no TRVs that work directly with Nest in the UK - some can work within a larger home system if you are running Homebridge etc.

I do agree with optimum start/weather compensation is an useful feature.

Slinky, what manufacturer is your boiler (model might be useful too)?
Do you run/want to run a "smart" home system?

Slinky

Boiler is a Worcester Bosch, one of the hydrogen ready ones. Greenstar 27Ri compact, turned up today. Sitting in a tiny box in the hall, can't believe how small it is!

We don't have or want stuff like Alexa, but our alarm and catflaps are smart to some extent. Both controlled by phone apps.

BUFF

For maximum efficiency you want to go with a WB controller then (they use a proprietary eBus called EMS, Nest cannot access this).
Not only that but the controls will be guaranteed for as long as the boiler (potentially up to 12 years) subject to the usual t&cs.
I would suggest something with optimum start/weather compensation. Even EasyControl should be a similar price to Nest.
https://www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/products/boiler-controls

benson1980

One of my favourite features of the nest is that it ‘wakes’ when you walk past it so you can see the current temperature and what the heating is set at. Massively handy. 

yes you can over ride the function that turns heating on if motion detected. Generally we have it linked to geofencing only (phone location). But as above, it is useful having the motion sensor just for that feature.

We’ve moved house quite a lot and the first thing we have always done, is install a nest. We had some issues with location not working properly a while back but google seem to have sorted this out.