Upgrade my heating to include smart thermostat?

BenJ

BenJ

BenJ

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Warrington
Question - Can I get the likes of Hive or Nest?

Current Setup - Traditional boiler and water tank with no thermostat

Not long moved in and just had the 2 way value replaced as it was sticking. At the same time I found out that to have the central heating on we have to have the hot water on as pressing the central heating button on the control unit does nothing on its own (Somthing to do with basic wiring).

So I was thinking of ordering Hive with installation for £249, but was wondering if they're going to turn up and say it won't work as we currently do not have independent control of the heating and no thermostat

Any thoughts from those in the know!?
 
For hive

No thermostat actually makes the installation easier - as they would just have to unwire and remove any existing stat anyway.

Needing hot water on to get heating - sounds like you have a mavity system - hive can cope with this as it has a mavity mode setting.
 
HardwareGeek said:
For hive

No thermostat actually makes the installation easier - as they would just have to unwire and remove any existing stat anyway.

Needing hot water on to get heating - sounds like you have a mavity system - hive can cope with this as it has a mavity mode setting.
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Cheers, when you say it can cope with it, I'm hoping you mean it means we can have the heating on independently without the hot water?

Sounds like Hive is a better option than Nest for us
 
Although better thermostatic controls help towards the efficient running of a heating system, they are not the golden egg. You may be better off investing in the boiler itself (if needed) rather than just a fancy thermostat. Or changing the rad valves to TRV's if you haven't got them.

Granted, the cost of replacing a boiler is a lot more than spending a couple of hundred+ on a stat, but a boiler on its own can dramatically reduce your gas usage, while keeping you warm.

What type of boiler/system do you currently have?

Mick
 
FlyingFish said:
Although better thermostatic controls help towards the efficient running of a heating system, they are not the golden egg. You may be better off investing in the boiler itself (if needed) rather than just a fancy thermostat. Or changing the rad valves to TRV's if you haven't got them.

Granted, the cost of replacing a boiler is a lot more than spending a couple of hundred+ on a stat, but a boiler on its own can dramatically reduce your gas usage, while keeping you warm.

What type of boiler/system do you currently have?

Mick
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I'm sure it's no golden egg but it's got to be better than heating the hot water tank every time we need the heating on. I've never heard of anything like it, but then again this is my first house. The idea is not really about saving money, that would just be a nice outcome, it's more about having control of a 7 day schedule for water and heating indepently, being able to heat the rooms to a set temperature and also as a gadget fan it would be nice to control from my phone when out and about.

I'd like to change to a combi at some point but when I looked it appeared the boiler alone would be around £3k and then I gather there maybe a lot of work changing the wiring and piping from our current setup.

Radiators have TRVs on

Our boiler says Ikon 60-80 CI on it, but believe it's a glow worm. Not sure what type our system would be classified as but we have a boiler and separate hot water tank and another water tank in the loft. The chap above mentioned it may be mavity fed but not sure how to confirm or deny that.
 
Its great to hear you already have TRV's fitted as they help a great deal towards efficient control. To tell if do actually have a 'mavity' system you would need to look at the boiler and check how many pipes come off it. Standard (30yrs old) mavity systems have 4 pipes coming off the boiler, sometimes 3 if an injector T is fitted, but still 4 22mm/28mm copper pipes nearby.

If you do have a mavity system then fitting a fancy pants thermostat isn't going to compensate much for the plumbing, or give you the ability to seperate the hot water from the heating system :( that would need to be done by changing the plumbing setup.

Mick
 
To clarify the hive mavity setting basically turns the water on whenever you turn the heating on rather than switched independently as thats the only way your system will work without some alterations
 
FlyingFish said:
Its great to hear you already have TRV's fitted as they help a great deal towards efficient control. To tell if do actually have a 'mavity' system you would need to look at the boiler and check how many pipes come off it. Standard (30yrs old) mavity systems have 4 pipes coming off the boiler, sometimes 3 if an injector T is fitted, but still 4 22mm/28mm copper pipes nearby.

If you do have a mavity system then fitting a fancy pants thermostat isn't going to compensate much for the plumbing, or give you the ability to seperate the hot water from the heating system :( that would need to be done by changing the plumbing setup.

Mick
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I can't see behind the boiler or from the side as its in a kitchen cupboard, taken the lower plate cover off where the temperature dial is and there is only one copper pipe leaving the bottom section, unsure if there would be any higher up. Would they likely be running from different parts of the boiler?
 
Gas is normally at the bottom in 15mm, near the thermostat, and CH flow&return in 22mm, mavity DHW in 28mm, near the top or out the sides and up out of the boiler.

You mentioned earlier that you had a 'two way' valve replaced. Do you know if you have two of these or just the one? And if only 1 valve, any chance it has 3 pipes connected instead of two?

Mick
 
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FlyingFish said:
Gas is normally at the bottom in 15mm, near the thermostat, and CH flow&return in 22mm, mavity DHW in 28mm, near the top or out the sides and up out of the boiler.

You mentioned earlier that you had a 'two way' valve replaced. Do you know if you have two of these or just the one? And if only 1 valve, any chance it has 3 pipes connected instead of two?

Mick
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I only know of the one two way value in the airing cupboard, but that's not to say there isn't another one. The 2 way value I know about is in line on one pipe but above the value there is another pipe which looks to have a pump on it.

Teknobry said:
why would a combi boiler alone cost you 3k?
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I thought that was the prices I'd heard, could be wrong. Have british gas coming out on Friday to quote for a new boiler out of curiosity. Will also quiz them what system we have.

Hive is also being installed next Friday so hopefully they can install it with no compatibility issues.
 
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