Hive - opinions please?

Annie1612

We are having a new boiler fitted next week. Our fitter has said we could have a Hive thermostat fitted if we wished so I have just been researching as I don’t know much about it. Obviously it’s at the expensive end of thermostats as far as prices go as you need to buy the hub also. The app has quite a lot of recent negative reviews of it crashing or not working well/being clunky. 

Without the app, it is presumably no better than a standard wireless thermostat. Does anyone who uses it have an opinion - negative or positive? Are there any issues with it to be aware of?

Thanks in advance.

QrizB

I have the Hive Mini, as it was a "free" option with my replacement boiler last year (I could've had a £50 discount instead of the free Hive Mini). It replaced my previous Drayton LP522 programmer and RTS thermostat.

The Mini is almost useless without the app. You need the app to programme a schedule, for example.

I can do what I want to do without a Hive Plus subscription but some of the smarter options are subscription-only. The subscription is ~£50 a year.

I do slightly prefer the Hive Mini to the Drayton controls we had before, but it's not a huge improvement. The boiler installer even suggested I hang on to my old controls in case I wanted to swap back in future!

lohr500

We have the Hive thermostat and hub.

It works well for us as it allows us to program multiple events for each day for both the heating and hot water giving more control than the original boiler controller it replaced.

And it is handy to be able to control it remotely via the mobile App, although not essential. Sometimes if we are out for the day and I forget to reduce the heating temperature, I can do this from the App.

It has been 100% reliable over the four or so years we have had it.

I also tried a couple of the Hive thermostatic radiator valves, but to be honest I didn't rate them and reverted to standard manually controlled thermostatic radiator valves.

It doesn't do any clever things like weather compensation or controlling boiler modulation. (We have an oil boiler anyway which doesn't modulate) . But as a basic wireless system with a reasonable level of timer controlled options it suits our needs well.

Edited : To say that we don't pay for the subscription services either. The basic system does everything we want. 

MarzipanCrumble

I have a Hive app/contoller for a combi gas Valient boiler.  I don't have a subscription and the app is on my phone.

Recently the app has been flaky i.e. I have had to turn off and turn on the phone again to get the app to register the temp/schedule which has been a massive nuisance tbh.  However when it works it is very easy to programme.  I did wonder if this was delibrate in order to 'encourage' subscribing...... esp as a Brit Gas offering (I believe).

(My mobile is android Pixel 8 so relatively new).

jaybeetoo

We’ve had Hive for years.  It’s been reliable and easy to use.  When we’re on holiday we can remotely check the temperature of the house and switch on the heating if necessary.  I’d recommend it.  Don’t bother paying for Hive+ which will save you about £50 a year.

giraffe69

MarzipanCrumble said:

Recently the app has been flaky i.e. I have had to turn off and turn on the phone again to get the app to register the temp/schedule which has been a massive nuisance tbh.  However when it works it is very easy to programme.  I did wonder if this was delibrate in order to 'encourage' subscribing...... esp as a Brit Gas offering (I believe).

(My mobile is android Pixel 8 so relatively new).

I have a Pixel 9a and pay for support (currently!) and the app has been just as flaky 😥

Annie1612

Thanks for the comments, food for thought. The issues with the app do put me off a bit because if the app isn’t working very well, I’m not sure there are any advantages to it over a cheaper wireless thermostat.

jaybeetoo

Annie1612 said:

Thanks for the comments, food for thought. The issues with the app do put me off a bit because if the app isn’t working very well, I’m not sure there are any advantages to it over a cheaper wireless thermostat.

The app has always been fine for me over several years.  I’m on iOS.

marcia_

 Ive never has a problem with the app in 3 years 

WelshPaul

I’ve used Hive for years and never had any problems with the hardware or app. I don’t pay any subscription fees, never have.

vic_sf49

Hive + app, currently working OK here.

I don't bother with the subscription, as I'm not sure what it'd do for me. I put the heating on when I need it, it's that simple. 

I find the app often does have problems when the clocks change, and it either shows errors, or locks you out of your account, so just avoid those days, if you're changing the programming. 

You can still control it via the thermostat/box bit on the wall though. 

The one thing I don't like, is that once your heating is up to temp, as soon as it drops by 0.1 degree, the heating kicks in again. I'd prefer it to be half a degree of something you can set yourself. (I can never remember what this is called.)

I get around that, by running it for a shorter period of time, say 90 mins vs 2 hrs, or just change the desired temp in the app. 

It's been very handy recently, for turning the heating on while out of the house, or while still in bed, and not wanting to move.