Smart Thermostat for Combi Boiler

SaverRate

I am looking to replace our Nest Smart Thermostat due to it no longer being supported from October. 

Can anyone recommend a replacement please? I would rather stay clear of Google products and likely Hive as they seem to discontinue them after a number of years. 

Looking online they recommend the Drayton Wiser and the price doesn't look too bad. Hoping the swap out will be easy. Happy to have other recommendations too or hear experience on the Drayton product. 

DullGreyGuy

SaverRate said:

I am looking to replace our Nest Smart Thermostat due to it no longer being supported from October. 

Can anyone recommend a replacement please? I would rather stay clear of Google products and likely Hive as they seem to discontinue them after a number of years. 

Looking online they recommend the Drayton Wiser and the price doesn't look too bad. Hoping the swap out will be easy. Happy to have other recommendations too or hear experience on the Drayton product. 

You know that Drayton also discontinued support for their previous generation solution last year which also turned them into dumb devices as Nest's will for gen 1 and 2?

MikeJXE

Thats the way it is now everyone discontinues support at some time

I use Google and Hive Mini, I tell Alexa to set the heating at a temperature to suit me, she is very obedient 

I can change the temperature via the app from anywhere in the world 

What could be simpler 

FreeBear

Any product relying on a remote server (cloud) is at risk of losing functionality. It is a risk you take by investing in such products.

Drayton Wiser or Tado would be my recommendation if you wanted to keep away from Hive & Nest - Both subject to the make & model of the boiler. If you have a modern boiler that can modulate its output, then a thermostat that can "talk" to the boiler is a worthwhile investment.

I invested in a Home Assistant system several years ago, and added OpenTherm support when I upgraded to a new combi boiler. No dependency on clouds or remote hardware. Have all the source code, so if support ever disappears, I can still maintain & fix any software issues. Hardware is all "off the shelf" components available from multiple sources, so getting replacement parts should be easy for a very, very long time. Downside is there is quite a bit of investment in learning how to make it all work.

WIAWSNB

MikeJXE said:

Thats the way it is now everyone discontinues support at some time.
I use Google and Hive Mini, I tell Alexa to set the heating at a temperature to suit me, she is very obedient.
I can change the temperature via the app from anywhere in the world.
What could be simpler 

I find Hive works a treat, too, but only use the App and haven't asked nuffink of Alexa yet.

The only drawback is as FreeBear says - it's a pretty basic 'stat, and just tells the boiler to go 'on and off' to meet demand.

The Mini is very neat, but don't try and set it up without the App...