Nest thermostat

[Colette-S]

Originally Posted by tspill

I have looked at Honeywell as well. Our UFH has thermostats in each zone so is pretty easy. It is the radiators that are a bit more difficult as you need new valves if you want to control. I think HW have rad. valves.
The reason I am thinking is that rad. valves look better (to me).

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Ah I see. We don’t have any radiators so it’s just the wireless thermostats here. It’s been very reliable so far and I really like being able to manage everything from my phone!

[Bouncing Tigger]

We have Tado, it’s excellent. The sparky was really impressed when he fitted it, he said it was far better than Hive.

[Kawaii]

So, another question, how easy is it too change radiators to electronic thermostat?

[Bozza]

We have Hive now, almost by accident.

Our boiler had a heating issue so we called out BG as part of our HomeCare cover. The engineer resolved the issue - it was something to do with our previous thermostat not communicating properly to the control unit on the boiler.

When he was done he mentioned the excess fee we'd need to pay on the policy and mentioned that if he installed Hive there and then, there wouldn't be an excess as it would be covered by the Hive installation fee which was not much more (if I recall correctly, the excess was £99 and Hive was £149). It seemed a no-brainer so I asked him to put Hive in and it literally took a few minutes. I appreciate he is a trained expert in these things, but I certainly took the impression that it was likely to be a pretty straight forward task for most.

Hive do radiator valves, but we've not bothered with them yet.

I do like that it is "smart" enough to get the house to a certain temperature at a fixed time, ie previously we'd programme the heating to come on at, say, 5:30am, so the house was warm enough when we got up. Now, Hive knows to get the house to 21 degrees by 7am and will come on at whatever time is required to achieve that.

It's also great to be on a long cold wet walk on the Downs and take my phone out of my pocket and turn the heating on so the house is toasty warm when I get back!

[tspill]

Originally Posted by Kawaii

So, another question, how easy is it too change radiators to electronic thermostat?

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It totally depends on what valves you already have.

If you have a common model of TRV (mine are Drayton), then it takes about a minute per radiator. The valve head screws off and the new one screws on. The new valves come with adapters for most common TRVs.
If you have non TRVs I suspect that you may need a plumber if the whole valve needs replaced.
I just don't understand why you would install one of these systems and not have the controllable valves. To me that is the whole point.

I have now looked at the Hive valves. To me the Tado ones look so much better. And seem to get better reviews.

Still not convinced I want to spend this sort of money.
I have now changed my heating to come on a bit more. I will see how much extra that costs before deciding I think.
I don't need features like internet control or learning.

[grant_w]

We've had Nest for a few years, had it installed when we had a new boiler. Had no problems with it, easy to set schedules or let it work them out itself, can set temps from Google/Nest devices, and the app is decent.
Certainly had no issues with it

[PABBY]

We have Nest and non-linked thermostatic radiator valves. We put the Nest thermostat in the coldest room of the house and use the valves to control the heat in individual rooms. The app is super-easy to use and we rarely have to override any settings. The app is also great for turning the heating down/off if we're not going to be home for a while and turning it back on before we arrive home.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Originally Posted by tspill

It totally depends on what valves you already have.

If you have a common model of TRV (mine are Drayton), then it takes about a minute per radiator. The valve head screws off and the new one screws on. The new valves come with adapters for most common TRVs.
If you have non TRVs I suspect that you may need a plumber if the whole valve needs replaced.
I just don't understand why you would install one of these systems and not have the controllable valves. To me that is the whole point.

I have now looked at the Hive valves. To me the Tado ones look so much better. And seem to get better reviews.

Still not convinced I want to spend this sort of money.
I have now changed my heating to come on a bit more. I will see how much extra that costs before deciding I think.
I don't need features like internet control or learning.

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I agree the Tado ones do look nice. Wow expensive though for what they actually do.
However I do agree the Hive, Tado etc etc Thermostats are good especially if the occupants are out for work etc.

Mind you I’m struggling to see why I needed an Alexa plug for the lounge lamp when I used to just turn it on manually.

[keith1973]

We have nest it’s great when it works but have already had to replace on thermostat.

[tspill]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

I agree the Tado ones do look nice. Wow expensive though for what they actually do.
However I do agree the Hive, Tado etc etc Thermostats are good especially if the occupants are out for work etc.

Mind you I’m struggling to see why I needed an Alexa plug for the lounge lamp when I used to just turn it on manually.

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I agree. We are both retired now so our we need heat most of the day. Until last week, we ran the heating for 4 hours in the morning. That was it and this did all day until we went to bed at close to midnight. During that cold snap we have added 2 hours in late afternoon for the radiators and that just makes the rest of the house a wee bit more comfortable. UFH lasts all day so doesn't need a boost.
We don't like a heated bedroom, but don't want it freezing either. I think we now have a good set up, but this week it is a bit too warm as the outside temperature is higher. TRVs work OK but I think are a bit too "coarse" in the way they work, so this was one other reason I was thinking about Tado as their control seems much "finer".
I will see how my gas usage changes. You are right - £400 for rad valves (I have 7) plus nearly the same to replace my UFH thermostats. Thats a lot of extra gas I can use. Agree on Alexa etc.