Nest, Hive, Tado or something else?

pinkpopppy

powerful_Rogue said:

Been using Drayton Wiser since 2017. It's a great system and works extremly well.

Get yourself on Amazon, as all the Drayton Wiser kit is in the Black Friday sale!

Great tip, done! I've got 2 physical zones, one rads, one u/f heating, plus h/w and was agog at how much a new controller would cost to buy and have fitted. I bought and returned first Nest then Hive after finding I would need a second devices for my set up. I have been considering an old school non-smart on/off, up/down 3 channel wired controller but it felt like a bit of a backward move. Having been really stuck for weeks, this thread answered all my questions and I've just ordered and saved nearly £60. Thanks!

Dandytf

Reed_Richards said:

I have a Drayton Wiser.  It controls two physical zones with a wireless room thermostat in each physical zone.  AFAIK two is the maximum number of physical zones it will support (by controlling zone valves).  I also have a room in Physical Zone 1 which I keep cool using a programmable TRV.  But if you mix the programmable TRVs with a room thermostat in the same physical zone then the TRVs "win" and that zone will remain on for as long as any TRV calls for heat.  So the room with the thermostat can overheat.  If you just use the programmable TRVs you can programme each one to control the room it is in, but having lots of these programmable TRVs works out quite expensive.   

Just slightly expensive, though nice features.

Reed_Richards

Dandytf said:

Reed_Richards said:

I have a Drayton Wiser.  It controls two physical zones with a wireless room thermostat in each physical zone.  AFAIK two is the maximum number of physical zones it will support (by controlling zone valves).  I also have a room in Physical Zone 1 which I keep cool using a programmable TRV.  But if you mix the programmable TRVs with a room thermostat in the same physical zone then the TRVs "win" and that zone will remain on for as long as any TRV calls for heat.  So the room with the thermostat can overheat.  If you just use the programmable TRVs you can programme each one to control the room it is in, but having lots of these programmable TRVs works out quite expensive.   

Just slightly expensive, though nice features.

Yes but another issue is that you will frequently reach a situation where all the rooms but one have reached temperature so your boiler is left heating a single radiator.  This could cause it to cycle on/off quite frequently, which isn't good for boilers.  This is less likely to happen with a more conventional (=old fashioned) system where the room thermostat takes precedence over the radiator thermostats and controls when the boiler is on or off.

born_again

One thing on Hive.

They are changing quite a bit next year. So might swing a decision.

Product requirements

We’re removing the product requirement for users to require an up-to-date web browser to use the online dashboard to control their devices. We will now only require customers to own an Android or iOS device with an up-to-date operating system, with Internet access, if you want to monitor and/or control your Hive products via the Hive mobile app. From 1st June 2024 our Online Web Dashboard will close. From this date you will not be able to monitor or control your Hive products via the Online web dashboard. If you already use the Hive mobile app, or if you don’t use the Online web dashboard, these changes will not affect you.

IFTTT Automation partnership is ending

From 31st January 2024 ‘If This Then That’ (IFTTT) applets will no longer be supported within the Hive app. From this date any automation you have created using IFTTT will not work. This change doesn’t impact our other partnerships. If you don't use IFTTT applets, this change won't affect you.

Bendo

I fitter Hive about 6 years ago. It does a job but it's an abysmal product from an abysmal company.

Their long list of abandoned products that are now landfill should serve as a warning. Their TRVs, are absolutely woeful.

greenbee

I've finally had the electrician round (and had a lot of discussion about the idiotic placement of light switches, lack of sockets and poor lighting design). He's had a look at the heating/HW/boiler and the electric towel rails and we've come to the conclusion that Heatmiser is the best option to control everything through one app. Given that oil boilers don't modulate, smart TRVs aren't worth the investment - only heating the office isn't really an option (plus the cats would complain!). 

As well as sorting out that and the lack of sockets/poor lighting/badly-placed switches, they're also quoting for solar PV and a combined inverter and battery, and I can then put an ASHP in to work with the oil boiler (and hopefully reduce the risk of running out of oil given that I have such a small oil tank!). 

The boiler has had a very thorough service, with all the turbines cleaned. The Megaflo tank has also been serviced and the expansion vessel repressurised and water temperature checked. The plumber has agreed that any new rads/pipework will be sized to be ASHP ready so that when the boiler needs to be replaced we should be able to switch over to ASHP - this is a long-term project). 

New controls will be going in as soon as they have the availability to do them.