Hive active heating 2 and hot water... Any good?

[Du1point8]

Now it's £179, can it be added to any boiler, etc or is there some pre-requisites first before I can get one?

Have a10+ year old combi at the moment.

[Gren]

Should be okay - check out the FAQs on the website. It has a section on boiler compatibility. Obviously will only do the heating part on a combi boiler. It's basically a standard timer/thermostat with wifi access via your home network and an app/website to control it.

I've got the original one rather than the swanky new v2 and it's been great. One downside is their software testing. Every new version of the app seems to break something.

[Du1point8]

Worked out its only hot water if I have a hot water tank... But it should provide to be an easy fix for OH making the system come on from 5 when we are not back till late as we both forgot that day.

[Ug_lee]

I've got one, and it has been pretty good. Only problem has been that the thermostat transmits to the boiler unit via RF not via wi-fi. This proved problematic for getting the 2 to communicate in a big old house.

[whoami]

Ug_lee said:

I've got one, and it has been pretty good. Only problem has been that the thermostat transmits to the boiler unit via RF not via wi-fi. This proved problematic for getting the 2 to communicate in a big old house.

I hadn't realised that. What sort of range does RF give?

[Ug_lee]

I think the range is probably fine for 99% of newish houses, but in my house it's maybe 8m at best but the boiler is in a room where the partitioning wall is 600mm solid stone.

I've managed to get it to the hallway just, but would ideally like it more central but trying to get it to run another 30cm around a corner is enough for it to stop working.

[moles]

Bargain for today from screwfix. http://www.screwfix.com/p/hive-active-heating-hot-...

[onlynik]

Only £119 on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B011B3J6F4?ref_...

[toxgobbler]

Mine's fantastic, 1960s house, can turn it on when I'm half n hour from home on the mobile phone. It rocks.

[Pheo]

Or you could get Tado, which automagically turns itself on when you are on your way home based on geolocation

[Ug_lee]

Hive does a reminder system on geo location and you can then quickly adjust the settings via the app.

I can see the helpfulness of geo fencing so it switches on as you are within a certain distance. However I imagine it all depends on what type of house/heating and length of commute to make it effective.

I'd need a commute of about 400miles so the house is toasty when I arrive home. However I find the reminder handy when I'm on holiday or away with work for a while.

[mikeiow]

Not sure about the geo features of these systems: what when there are 3-4 people in a house, do the rest freeze because I am out?!
Interested in something like this: currently looking at Hve, Nest, Netatmo.....& the fact that there are others doesn't help!

I feel we may want to move the thermostat to the main living area (fairly open plan dining/kitchen/snug), so dropping a wireless thermostat in there may help (just leave the old one on the wall disconnected).

The slight complication: we have a mains pressure sealed system - currently a regular honeywell thermostat in the hallway and timer box in the airing cupboard, Worcester-Bosch boiler in attic, Virgin Superhub wifi....
....& I cannot easily find out whether these will work seamlessly with them (okay, I haven't spent massive hours reading their sites & forums - the boiler is generally seen as supported but it is the mains pressure bit I am moderately concerned about!).

Love to hear anyone using one of these with a mains-pressure system. I suspect that doesn't *really* make any difference.....but nonetheless, it is "not standard" !

(& I know, I also need to get in the attic to see if the wifi extends there.....).

I assume if the wifi drops off then the schedules set (on any of these) will just continue?

[DrDeAtH]

Is this a system that appears to solve a problem that doesn't really exist? A properly set up programmer should be easy enough to use for general heating.