Smart Thermostat

Kido250

We have an old standard thermostat but I was looking at getting a new Smart one as I'm getting up at different times each day and my old themostat will only allow me to programme a start and finish time for each day. The problem I have is that it's a very old system we have. We did get a nest thermostat a few years ago but was told it was not compatible as it needed 2 wires going into it and our system only has one. Does anyone know if there's any smart thermostats which are compatible with such an old system or know of another way to get the heating to switch on and off at different times each day. Thanks.

FreeBear

Drayton Wiser may well do what you want. It will replace both the thermostat and the timer/control box. The alternative is a programmable thermostat - Some come with an app so that you can control it from your mobile phone...

What make/model is your boiler ?

Kido250

I believe it's an Idea Mexico boiler.  It's at least 15 years old if not more.

FreeBear

Kido250 said: I believe it's an Idea Mexico boiler.  It's at least 15 years old if not more.

So a pretty basic system boiler (you have a separate hot water tank ?) - You'll probably need a two channel version of the Wiser system. With any luck, it should be a drop in replacement for your old timer/thermostat.

Kido250

Yes we have a seperate hot water tank, but the boiler/thermostat controls it.

FreeBear

Kido250 said: Yes we have a seperate hot water tank, but the boiler/thermostat controls it.

Have a chat with the Drayton tech support team - They will be able to advise which model is suitable.

Bendy_House

Kido250 said:

We have an old standard thermostat but I was looking at getting a new Smart one as I'm getting up at different times each day and my old themostat will only allow me to programme a start and finish time for each day. The problem I have is that it's a very old system we have. We did get a nest thermostat a few years ago but was told it was not compatible as it needed 2 wires going into it and our system only has one. Does anyone know if there's any smart thermostats which are compatible with such an old system or know of another way to get the heating to switch on and off at different times each day. Thanks.

Hi Kido.

We really need more info. A photo of your existing controls would help.

You presumably have two devices - the 'programmer' which sets the on and off times, and a wall-mounted room stat to turn the house temp up and down?

We need pics of both

Kido250

Here are the pics of the timer, thermostat and boiler. The issue we had was when they looked at the timer and said it only had one wire going into it and we needed 2. issue

FreeBear

The timer is (I suspect) a rebadged Drayton LP722. The thermostat should have three wires going to it - Live, Neutral, and a Heat (along with an earth). In all, a pretty basic system.

All the wiring for pump, valves (if used), and tank thermostat will all be connected up inside a junction box, so you shouldn't need to touch any of that. The Drayton Wiser should just clip into the existing backplate - You might need to disconnect the cable going off to the thermostat and insert a jumper. The installation manual should be consulted for further information.

akira181

I used to have a similar timer and thermostat setup, I straight swapped the thermostat with Google nest and it worked fine. Leave the timer set to always on, and control the boiler with the nest.

Though a smart thermostat didn't do anything in the way of saving money. Half the "smart features" were pointless and wasted energy. It would do things like calculate when the heating would need to come on to reach the target temperature at the set time, so for 18 degrees at 8am, it turn the heating on at 5am or something when really only half an hour before was enough to take the nip outta the bathroom in the morning.

Or it would "figure out your schedule" and turn your heating on before you got home from work. Not helpful if you didn't go straight home.

Kido250

Looking round I think I'm wrong. I don't think it was the nest, I think now looking round it was the Hive we tried but got told it wasn't compatible. I only remember it having 1 part for the thermostat (and probably a wireless bridge or something the other all seem to have 2 seperate parts, 1 to replace the thermostat and the other for the timer.