hughesie27 Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 https://store.google.com/gb/magazine/compare_thermostats Getting a new boiler soon as the current one is about 40 years old. Any recommendations Also thinking g about getting one kf these as well as the money saving aspect seems pretty legit. Anyone actually got on that can vouch for it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real Maroonblood Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 I’ve had Vaillant boilers fitted twice (2 different houses) and would definitely recommend them. I think there are quite a few on the market which are also good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughesie27 Posted August 13, 2020 Author Share Posted August 13, 2020 Just now, The Real Maroonblood said: I’ve had Vaillant boilers fitted twice (2 different houses) and would definitely recommend them. I think there are quite a few on the market which are also good. Thats what the GF had in her old place and although it was on its way out the guy who came to fix it saod usually they are pretty reliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronJambo Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 I've a Vaillant and never had a problem with it. Worcester Bosch are meant to be very good. Viessmann have a very good rep also Be aware that most engineers only fit X, y or z boiler. So one that fits Vaillant won't also fit a Worcester Bosch. Their recommendations are going to fit their product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazo Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 (edited) Can’t comment on Nest but we have Hive which does the same job and would highly recommend it. My Gas engineer mate also highly recommends Vaillant boilers and he fits and is approved installer for various brands. Would also add if you do go with Vaillant they do their own thermostat that does a similar job to the nest/hive ones. He says they are better but we went with hive. Also depending on the size of house, amount of bathrooms and persons Etc I would recommend A boiler with hot water tank. Edited August 13, 2020 by Dazo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davemclaren Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 Bought a Hive Heating and Boiler thingy fromJohn Lewis. Big improvement on a normal thermostat and controls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughesie27 Posted August 13, 2020 Author Share Posted August 13, 2020 Sounds like a goer. Annoying there is no existing thermostat installed so getti g the nest on the wall anywhere decent will be a pain. You can just plug it into the wall but a permanent fitting would be better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davemclaren Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 23 minutes ago, hughesie27 said: Sounds like a goer. Annoying there is no existing thermostat installed so getti g the nest on the wall anywhere decent will be a pain. You can just plug it into the wall but a permanent fitting would be better. I just have my hive thermostat on a wee stand in the livingroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
¼½¾ Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 (edited) 26 minutes ago, hughesie27 said: Sounds like a goer. Annoying there is no existing thermostat installed so getti g the nest on the wall anywhere decent will be a pain. You can just plug it into the wall but a permanent fitting would be better. If Nest is anything like Hive, they'll fit a receiver near the boiler and you'll have wireless thermostat which can go anywhere. That's quite handy, as we can hide it from the daughter, who likes to feck about with the temperature to suit herself. When not in hiding, it's on a wee stand, like Dave's in the livingroom. The only downside to this type of thermostat is that if your internet goes down you can't control the temperature. Edited August 13, 2020 by Lemongrab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Winchester Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 We also have Hive. The thermostat is wireless so can be placed wherever you want and moved and the receiver was placed where our old thermostat was (which was in the depths of the Utility room and a pain in the hole to get to). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthVodka Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 I've also got several Hive bulbs - great for dimming without the need for a fitted dimmer switch. Also can be programmed so great for the winter when you would normally come into a dark house - plus you dont have to ***** around with old style timers if you go on holiday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughesie27 Posted August 13, 2020 Author Share Posted August 13, 2020 17 minutes ago, Dean Winchester said: We also have Hive. The thermostat is wireless so can be placed wherever you want and moved and the receiver was placed where our old thermostat was (which was in the depths of the Utility room and a pain in the hole to get to). Aye it will just get plugged in in the livingroom but would have preferred it on the wall. Presumably the thermostat and the box beside the boiler communicate of RF and not WiFi? So if thr WiFi dkes go down it will still follow the set routine? I think the boiler box also has a manual override button. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davemclaren Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 8 minutes ago, DarthVodka said: I've also got several Hive bulbs - great for dimming without the need for a fitted dimmer switch. Also can be programmed so great for the winter when you would normally come into a dark house - plus you dont have to ***** around with old style timers if you go on holiday Never thought about them Might get a couple for going on holiday etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughesie27 Posted August 13, 2020 Author Share Posted August 13, 2020 (edited) 17 minutes ago, DarthVodka said: I've also got several Hive bulbs - great for dimming without the need for a fitted dimmer switch. Also can be programmed so great for the winter when you would normally come into a dark house - plus you dont have to ***** around with old style timers if you go on holiday We've also got a few wifi bulbs. Will change to any colour and are dimmable as well. Connected to Alexa Echo Dot too so no need to ever use the switches for it. Believe the app has a Holiday Mode where it will randomly turn the lights on and off whilst you are away to simulate someone being home. Edited August 13, 2020 by hughesie27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazo Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 17 minutes ago, hughesie27 said: Aye it will just get plugged in in the livingroom but would have preferred it on the wall. Presumably the thermostat and the box beside the boiler communicate of RF and not WiFi? So if thr WiFi dkes go down it will still follow the set routine? I think the boiler box also has a manual override button. Hive you can fix to the wall no problem assume nest to be the same, unless it needs plugged in rather than run with battery ? Also if Wi-fi goes down you lose control of your heating from your phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughesie27 Posted August 13, 2020 Author Share Posted August 13, 2020 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Dazo said: Hive you can fix to the wall no problem assume nest to be the same, unless it needs plugged in rather than run with battery ? Also if Wi-fi goes down you lose control of your heating from your phone. Can definitely hook it up tona wqll however the issue is it requires to be connected to the boiler (or the nest box beside the boiler) which will mean it needs to be located on a wall right beside the boiler or a big rewiring job to get it into the living room. Think we will just have to plug it into a socket in the livingroom. Has anyone seen a significant saving on their energy with them? Edited August 13, 2020 by hughesie27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hmfcbilly Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 30 minutes ago, hughesie27 said: Can definitely hook it up tona wqll however the issue is it requires to be connected to the boiler (or the nest box beside the boiler) which will mean it needs to be located on a wall right beside the boiler or a big rewiring job to get it into the living room. Think we will just have to plug it into a socket in the livingroom. Has anyone seen a significant saving on their energy with them? @hughesie27 ive had a nest thermostat for 18 months. Cant say that I've seen any significant savings on my gas bill but definitely worth it for your house being a steady temperature all year round IMO. My youngest is 15 months now but when he was a lot younger we put the thermostat in his room (he has one of the colder rooms in the house) and just turned thermostats down on other bedroom radiators so the rooms didn't get too warm. Now he's older it sits on a sideboard in our hall. You can walk mount if you wish but I much prefer the flexibility of moving it if required. We have an extension so that part of the house is much warmer than the original part so its a bit of a balancing act for us but fortunately all radiators in our house have their own thermostat valves so we just adjust as necessary. One feature I like with it is the eco temperature you can set. You can change it to whatever think ours is around 13oC so when no one is home (not looking like we will need this feature for a long time due to covid) it changes automatically from your optimal temperature i.e 18oC to the eco one. Its a good feature if you go away on holiday etc, especially in winter. One other tip....i had a spark doing another job who reckoned he could set it up. He didn't do it right so in the end I got a nest engineer in to do it. The wiring was pretty much right but the guy couldn't get the thermostat to 'talk' to the bit that wires to the boiler. I'd recommend calling a couple of Nest engineers local to you (details on their website). Guy I got sorted the install and gave me a stand for £80 (its around £30 for the stand alone). Set up the app on my phone too and explained how to amend the schedule to suit. Worth checking how much they're going for online then giving them a call direct to see if they will do you a deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazo Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 1 hour ago, hughesie27 said: Can definitely hook it up tona wqll however the issue is it requires to be connected to the boiler (or the nest box beside the boiler) which will mean it needs to be located on a wall right beside the boiler or a big rewiring job to get it into the living room. Think we will just have to plug it into a socket in the livingroom. Has anyone seen a significant saving on their energy with them? I’m maybe not getting it or the Nest is different but why does it need to be near the boiler ? My hive is on the wall in the hallway and the boiler is in the loft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkbam Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 I have a Nest, haven't noticed any significant cost savings, but the functionality is handy of being able to control it from your phone. Plus the existing thermostat looked terrible. My usual central heating man connected it for me, we had a wired thermostat in hall and a programmer next to the boiler and a rats nest of cables under the hot water tank. Now we have Nest controller in hall, wired to receiver which is next to hot water tank (i believe this connection is just to supply the 12v power the nest controller needs). All the connections where the programmer was are just wired together to allow the nest and its receiver to do everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dunks Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 I've got Hive and link it to Alexa and a number of smart bulbs, sockets, motion detectors and the like. Everything voice activated or via the Hiva app. Allows you to create routines too, such as switching on lights as it gets dark, or when a motion detector is triggered. I've got a single command to switch everything off at night too. And yeah, you can have a going away setting for the lights and link to an app in Alexa that creates noise in the house to make it sound like you are in. You can then control it even when away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughesie27 Posted August 13, 2020 Author Share Posted August 13, 2020 21 minutes ago, Dazo said: I’m maybe not getting it or the Nest is different but why does it need to be near the boiler ? My hive is on the wall in the hallway and the boiler is in the loft. It doesn't need to be near the boiler per se, but it does need to use the same spot and cables that an existing thermostat uses. Otherwise you can have it installed in a new spot but I think the cables typically need to be connected to the boiler. As JKBAM above mentions though this might just be purely for power, rather than any form of data transfer to the main hub. Boiler guy is coming tonight to suss out the house anyway so will ask him about what he could do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthVodka Posted August 13, 2020 Share Posted August 13, 2020 3 hours ago, davemclaren said: Never thought about them Might get a couple for going on holiday etc... The white bulbs are about £15 each I think, I have a few of them and are pretty useful 3 hours ago, hughesie27 said: We've also got a few wifi bulbs. Will change to any colour and are dimmable as well. Connected to Alexa Echo Dot too so no need to ever use the switches for it. Believe the app has a Holiday Mode where it will randomly turn the lights on and off whilst you are away to simulate someone being home. You can get coloured Hive ones too, hive also connects to Alexa so you can do the same thing with lights and temperature too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughesie27 Posted August 13, 2020 Author Share Posted August 13, 2020 2 hours ago, DarthVodka said: The white bulbs are about £15 each I think, I have a few of them and are pretty useful You can get coloured Hive ones too, hive also connects to Alexa so you can do the same thing with lights and temperature too. Aye that was about what I paid for mines. Tuya I think are the brand. Got mines connected to my doorbell so when it rings the light flash on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkwhisky7 Posted August 15, 2020 Share Posted August 15, 2020 As a heating engineer for over 40 years, at the moment I always fit either Worcester Bosch or occasionally Vaillant, both German design and engineering (Worcester boilers made in Worcester) As someone else said you can talk to different engineers and they’ll have different favourites. Most of the time you get what you pay for, if you buy a cheap one, it might be ok for so many years but generally it won’t last or perform very well and may tend to have a few leaks etc. I always recommended to the customer to spend a bit more on a quality boiler if it’s 1or 2 hundred pound more than a not very reliable make because I’m sure you don’t want to see us back numerous times over the years and we don’t want to keep going back to a boiler that we know is crap. Generally, and it’s my experience over all these years, avoid Italian boilers, they are some of the worst for leaks, repeatedly as well. I hope I don’t offend folk with some of these I’m naming as yours may well have been fine for years but I got sick of continual problems and leaks with Ferroli, Biasi, Vokera (a lot of these in Edinburgh) and worst of all Ariston! So much choice nowadays but go for a better quality one, it’ll generally give you 10-15 years with only the odd callout over that time. I always fit Hive, done dozens of them, it’s the best of all the wireless kits, fitted a couple of Nests, had problems with both. Hope that helps a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughesie27 Posted August 16, 2020 Author Share Posted August 16, 2020 3 hours ago, Darkwhisky7 said: As a heating engineer for over 40 years, at the moment I always fit either Worcester Bosch or occasionally Vaillant, both German design and engineering (Worcester boilers made in Worcester) As someone else said you can talk to different engineers and they’ll have different favourites. Most of the time you get what you pay for, if you buy a cheap one, it might be ok for so many years but generally it won’t last or perform very well and may tend to have a few leaks etc. I always recommended to the customer to spend a bit more on a quality boiler if it’s 1or 2 hundred pound more than a not very reliable make because I’m sure you don’t want to see us back numerous times over the years and we don’t want to keep going back to a boiler that we know is crap. Generally, and it’s my experience over all these years, avoid Italian boilers, they are some of the worst for leaks, repeatedly as well. I hope I don’t offend folk with some of these I’m naming as yours may well have been fine for years but I got sick of continual problems and leaks with Ferroli, Biasi, Vokera (a lot of these in Edinburgh) and worst of all Ariston! So much choice nowadays but go for a better quality one, it’ll generally give you 10-15 years with only the odd callout over that time. I always fit Hive, done dozens of them, it’s the best of all the wireless kits, fitted a couple of Nests, had problems with both. Hope that helps a bit. Cheers for that. Good to see a Worcester recommendation as the guys we are getting in to do it fit those, Bosch and Pottertons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Potter Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 On 13/08/2020 at 12:39, davemclaren said: I just have my hive thermostat on a wee stand in the livingroom. Can put my heating on with my phone, hive is brilliant 😀. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davemclaren Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 Just now, Harry Potter said: Can put my heating on with my phone, hive is brilliant 😀. I prefer turning it off to save money. 😄 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Potter Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 1 minute ago, davemclaren said: I prefer turning it off to save money. 😄 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkwhisky7 Posted August 16, 2020 Share Posted August 16, 2020 10 hours ago, hughesie27 said: Cheers for that. Good to see a Worcester recommendation as the guys we are getting in to do it fit those, Bosch and Pottertons. No worries mate, you should be fine with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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