Hive thermostat

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  • getmore4less
    getmore4less Posts: 46,882 Forumite
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    silvercar wrote: »
    I reckon I saved about £80 last holiday, by putting it in holiday mode. Without it we would have left the heating on to make sure the place was warm for our return.

    We are fairly good about turning the heating down if we are out, knowing we can remotely turn it back on before we get home. Previously we wouldn't have messed with the settings. Add to that the second boiler was never attached to a thermostat, so more savings there.

    I reckon about a 2 year time span to break even.

    A stand alone programmable stat can achieve the big savings as long as it has holiday mode and some of the smaller savings with a bit of fiddling with the controls.

    No where near as convenient as the remote access options.
  • Gloomendoom
    Gloomendoom Posts: 16,550 Forumite
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    I’m not convinced that it actually saves us anything. I fitted one because of the flexibility that it provides. We work irregular hours so sometimes used to come home to a cold house or a house that had been heated for the last three hours with nobody in it. I just wish that they would add the facility to control the electric immersion heater. I have worked out away to do it but it’s a bit Heath Robinson.
  • getmore4less
    getmore4less Posts: 46,882 Forumite
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    Gloomendoom wrote: »
    I’m not convinced that it actually saves us anything. I fitted one because of the flexibility that it provides. We work irregular hours so sometimes used to come home to a cold house or a house that had been heated for the last three hours with nobody in it. I just wish that they would add the facility to control the electric immersion heater. I have worked out away to do it but it’s a bit Heath Robinson.

    Just replace the IM switch with a suitable relay.

    Something like
    https://www.heatingcontrolsonline.co.uk/spdt-relay-230v-20a-p-664.html
  • Nick_C
    Nick_C Posts: 7,459 Forumite
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    Gloomendoom wrote: »
    ... I just wish that they would add the facility to control the electric immersion heater...

    Why are you using an electric immersion heater? Surely it's cheaper to heat the hot tank from the gas boiler?
  • Gloomendoom
    Gloomendoom Posts: 16,550 Forumite
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    Nick_C wrote: »
    Why are you using an electric immersion heater? Surely it's cheaper to heat the hot tank from the gas boiler?

    Not when the heating isn't required.

    Our boiler is in an outbuilding at the rear of the house with long pipe runs to the hot water tank in the bathroom. It works out cheaper to use the 100% efficient immersion heater on Economy 7, particularly in the summer when the boiler is turned off completely.
  • tired_dad
    tired_dad Posts: 631 Forumite
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    hive ordered and fitted. Odd behaviour. Q asked in another post
  • Nick_C
    Nick_C Posts: 7,459 Forumite
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    Gloomendoom wrote: »
    Not when the heating isn't required.

    Our boiler is in an outbuilding at the rear of the house with long pipe runs to the hot water tank in the bathroom. It works out cheaper to use the 100% efficient immersion heater on Economy 7, particularly in the summer when the boiler is turned off completely.

    Gosh. I'm surprised at that. But then I wasnt expecting someone with GCH to be on an E7 tariff.
  • Zither
    Zither Posts: 365 Forumite
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    edited 11 December 2017 at 7:33AM
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    Afternoon all,

    Just thought I'd feed back in case useful to anyone. I bought a Hive starter kit from AO (hub, 2 bulbs, 1 wireless plug) for £69 and installed the hub/set it up.

    Being honest, setting it up was a bit frustrating... when I first plugged the hub in it couldn't/wouldn't find the thermostat. I phoned hive 2x but after 30-40 minutes of waiting to speak to someone on each call I hanged the phone up.

    So I had a look myself and worked out that I had to power down the boiler, boiler receiver and put the thermostat into some sort of pairing/discovery mode (I think I pressed the +/- buttons together whilst putting the batteries into the thermostat) for the hub to be able to find the thermostat. But once I did that its been great - hasn't dropped signal once (so far...) and being able to use my phone as the thermostat control within/away from home is great. Great being able to put the heating on 30 mins before I get home. I think the £69 I paid will pay for itself within a year.

    Not sure I'd go with Hive if I was getting it installed from fresh (I'd personally choose Nest) but seen as the receiver was already installed it seems like a competent service. I think the bulbs and plugs are extortionately expensive but now I've hooked it up to Alexa it's really convenient to be able to say 'Alexa turn the landing light off' when I'm in bed or turn it on whilst I'm away from home/for when I get in.

    Hope that helps someone! Happy to answer any questions..
  • shortcrust
    shortcrust Posts: 2,697 Forumite
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    Glad you've got things sorted, but what a palaver eh? Worth the hassle though I'm sure.

    Getting alexa to dim the lights, turning the heating up and play a relaxing tune when I'm sitting in the bath makes me believe in progress in this uncertain world!:)
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