Smart Thermostats

[Foz]

Need a system for my mum, Nest, Hive, what’s best, simple is good

[McSwede]

I have a Drayton Wiser smart thermostat with a couple of smart TRV's. It all works well with no bother. Never use the smart stat to be fair. Everything gets done on the phone.

[Carlos]

If you want something simple I'd look at a RF unit with a remote controller thermostat.

[Simon]

If you've got 30 minutes I've just finished watching Charlie DIYte's Wiser video:



Very informative from start to finish.

I know @Jobbo has Evohome and had something else before hand too.

Or if you want just a smart thermostat alone ignore I've just said.

[DeskJockey]

I've got the evohome setup too. Works well, but the controller app is not very intuitive or easy to use. Definitely lacks the elegance and polish of other options.

[Jobbo]

I have Evohome and had Wiser before, but returned the Wiser because it couldn’t keep its wireless connection. I hear the firmware updates since have improved things but I’ve been happy with Evohome.

Wouldn’t recommend it for someone who just wants ‘simple’ though. A basic wireless thermostat would be cheap and simple; that’s what to get.

[Matty]

I've got Nest - always worked well for me, but I know Nest and Hive don't get the best ratings.

Honeywell typically rated better than both IIRC.

[jamcg]

Need a system for my mum, Nest, Hive, what’s best, simple is good

Depends how you want your mum to use it. Do you want to set times for her and let her turn it up and down or let her set times herself?

If it’s the prior the nest should work well- you can set times on the app and if she wants to turn it up and down it should learn and automatically adapt to those changes

Honeywell single zone thermostat with mobile compatibility isn’t the best so would stay away with it. I’ve heard the lyric t6 is ok but never tried.

I’ve never liked hive. It’s owned by centrica, aka British Gas so not a company I’d especially trust.

Also what type of heating system does she have as that could determine what she can have installed

[Foz]

She has a modern Worcester Bosch gas boiler & hot water tank, and an older style CH/HW controller that was replaced, and no longer works so it’s manually off/on at the boiler now

Few people looked at it with no luck, my idea is to do get rid of controller and get a newer system with phone app etc, the title is misleading

[Simon]

Hive then.

[jamcg]

She has a modern Worcester Bosch gas boiler & hot water tank, and an older style CH/HW controller that was replaced, and no longer works so it’s manually off/on at the boiler now

Few people looked at it with no luck, my idea is to do get rid of controller and get a newer system with phone app etc, the title is misleading

Nest can handle both heating and hot water. I believe wiser is heat only. Honeywell t6 needs to be the correct t6r-hw version. Just be careful what you buy with that system, some are intended for combi boilers only

[McSwede]

She has a modern Worcester Bosch gas boiler & hot water tank, and an older style CH/HW controller that was replaced, and no longer works so it’s manually off/on at the boiler now

Few people looked at it with no luck, my idea is to do get rid of controller and get a newer system with phone app etc, the title is misleading

Drayton Wiser do Kit 2 for conventional systems with boiler/tank. I'm a spastic with electrics and managed to wire it to our old boiler.

[Simon]

Yeah Wiser do hot water as well...

[Rich B]

I had a hive when I had a combi and I have a nest with my current boiler/mega flow set up. I much preferred the interface of the hive - though mainly for the boost button which turns it on for 1 hour.

[Delphi]

I got a Honeywell Lyric thermostat which came free with my Wiessmann boiler. Don't use the app too much, but when I do it's pretty easy and straightforward.

[Swervin_Mervin]

I got a Honeywell Lyric thermostat which came free with my Wiessmann boiler. Don't use the app too much, but when I do it's pretty easy and straightforward.

Just out of interest Andy, what Wiessmann boiler have you got? Looking at them for our imminent refurb

[simon_g]

Evohome is super easy to control without an app and do things like setting schedules. Can't remember the last time I bothered using the app.

You don't have to have it set up with a special valve thing on every radiator - ours runs the 3 heating zones we already had, just installed a little thermostat in each zone so it know the temperature, and the base unit senses temperature for downstairs.

[mik]

I got a Honeywell Lyric thermostat which came free with my Wiessmann boiler. Don't use the app too much, but when I do it's pretty easy and straightforward.

Just out of interest Andy, what Wiessmann boiler have you got? Looking at them for our imminent refurb

It’s a GT MF5



Or did you mean Viessmann?

[Carlos]

And does Foz's mam have wifi ?

[GG.]

Only have experience with the Nest but to be quite honest, its wank. Turns on in the middle of night, too early in the morning (even with "time to heat" turned off) and seemingly the recorded temperature difference between feeling freezing cold and warm is about 2 degrees C in our draughty Victorian house, so not enough range to helpfully set any high/low limits to maintain an even temperature.

Turning it on and off from your phone is the only discernible benefit. If it had a boost function as Rich notes they have on the hive, that would be a lot more useful.