Non-motoring > Hive Active Heating	Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Fursty Ferret	Replies: 21

New Mon 17 Feb 14 10:37   Hive Active Heating - Fursty Ferret

Just installed one of these kits to replace a broken programmer on the boiler. It's truly awesome. I can now send text messages to my heating system. The future is here etc. £200 from British Gas (don't need to be a customer) or £159 for the DIY kit (option I went for). Reckon it'll pay for itself within a year or two. They're putting proper development into it too, with the kit being fairly future proof and the head of the project being very active on Twitter with regard to suggestions and improvements. Highly recommended. Takes about 20 minutes to install. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Feb 14 10:46   Hive Active Heating - Mapmaker

Bet it doesn't save most people a penny; in fact quite the opposite. You're much more likely to put the central heating on 30 minutes before getting home, than to leave it set to come on on the offchance! Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Feb 14 17:21   Hive Active Heating - Dulwich Estate

I'm a sucker for these modern "toys" but often SWMBO puts me straight. A couple of hundred quid to "save" money doesn't seem right. Jeff Howell, in Q2 of this piece, talks about remote systems but seems to favour good old timers. www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertyadvice/10629029/Jeff-Howell-are-air-to-air-heat-pumps-good-value.html Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Feb 14 17:58   Hive Active Heating - sherlock47

>>Jeff Howell, in<< ' Is this the guy who believes in continuous heating being cheaper to run than 'as required'? Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Feb 14 18:14   Hive Active Heating - Fursty Ferret

I'm paying the £160 for convenience more than anything. Being able to leave the heating off for a few days and have it ping back on before coming home is worth the cost. You can do it with a holiday option on most programmers, but they tend to only allow full days. Besides, I can *text my house*. That's worth almost anything. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Feb 14 18:41   Hive Active Heating - Crankcase

>> Besides, I can *text my house*. That's worth almost anything. What you gonna say to it? Where R U? Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Feb 14 18:46   Hive Active Heating - Fursty Ferret

>> >> >> Besides, I can *text my house*. That's worth almost anything. >> >> What you gonna say to it? Where R U? >> >> I've had nights out like that. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Feb 14 19:06   Hive Active Heating - Old Navy

>> You can do it with a holiday option on most programmers, but >> they tend to only allow full days. >> True, but then they activate the normal heating programme, or at least mine does. Once you have recovered the cost of the gadget (how many years?) the savings will be negligible. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Feb 14 19:21   Hive Active Heating - smokie

Last time I was having my bathroom done I nearly got a bath which you could control from the internet, so you could run it to the depth and temp you wanted while driving home from a cold day out. Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Feb 14 21:48   Hive Active Heating - Kevin

>Last time I was having my bathroom done I nearly got a bath which you could control from the internet,.. I have a home automation system that I can send commands to from my smartphone. I hesitate to use the word 'control'. It costs thousands of pounds a year to run and invariably responds with the "I'm busy!" signal. Reply to this message | Report message       3

New Mon 17 Feb 14 19:14   Hive Active Heating - Mr. Ecs

Reading Jeffs article about running the heating 24 hrs. He indicates turning the boiler down to minimum. Surely the hot water would then be almost stone cold? Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Feb 14 19:23   Hive Active Heating - sherlock47

>> Reading Jeffs article about running the heating 24 hrs. He indicates turning the boiler down >> to minimum. Surely the hot water would then be almost stone cold? >> Certainly not hot enough to destroy/prevent legionella :) Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Feb 14 19:33   Hive Active Heating - PeterS

Great - thanks FF. I was contemplating have one of these fitted; whilst we have a 7 day timer with 5 on/off times a day we still find it limiting when we're away at the weekend. As a result the settings generally get left unchanged, even when we're away for the whole weekend. I reckon we'd save the £200 it costs to fit it in 1 year. Plus controlling the heating from an iPad has to be a good thing right? :-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Feb 14 19:53   Hive Active Heating - MD

Hat n a scarf. Stop messing about wasting money. Wimps. Gadget Gits I say. Coat on and R U N N I N G > > > > > > Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 17 Feb 14 at 21:25 Reply to this message | Report message

New Mon 17 Feb 14 20:06   Hive Active Heating - sherlock47

The Hive site appears a little lightweight. Not a lot of info, lots of marketing puff:) Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 18 Feb 14 09:30   Hive Active Heating - Mapmaker

>> The Hive site appears a little lightweight. Not a lot of info, lots of marketing >> puff:) Agreed, but I thought it was light even on marketing puff! Definitely something to buy for convenience rather than money saving. Am vaguely tempted... Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 18 Feb 14 09:40   Hive Active Heating - Mapmaker

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Honeywell-Wifi-Programmable-Thermostat-Model-RTH6580WF-/111279535669?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19e8c6f635 What about this. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 18 Feb 14 12:32   Hive Active Heating - RichardW

Turning the thermostat down is a lot cheaper.... OK the house is not roasting when you get back, but it should soon warm up, unless the CH is antediluvian! I cannot see how anyone would save £200 (25% or more off your heating bill?) in a year - unless you are not there a lot of the time, and have the heating quite high. In which case, see my first sentance.... :-) Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 18 Feb 14 12:41   Hive Active Heating - WillDeBeest

Agreed, Richard - it sounds to me more like a device to encourage people to heat their houses when they're not there 'so it's warm when we get in'. That won't save any energy, unless they're in the habit (and people continue to amaze me with some of these things, so it's possible) of just leaving the heating on whether they're in or not. How long does it take to warm up a house from a cold start anyway? Ours is biggish but well insulated and it's pleasantly warm within 15 minutes of starting the system. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 18 Feb 14 12:52   Hive Active Heating - Zero

>> How long does it take to warm up a house from a cold start anyway? >> Ours is biggish but well insulated and it's pleasantly warm within 15 minutes of starting >> the system. Not when you have been away for two weeks in the sun, and come home to a house that is 6c inside. And if it does only take 15 mins to heat up, then what is the harm in turning it on 15 mins before you get home? If you lead a variable lifestyle, time wise, then stuff like this is a huge convenience, and probably won't cost you any more than regular heating controls. Possibly less. Last edited by: Zero on Tue 18 Feb 14 at 12:53 Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 18 Feb 14 12:53   Hive Active Heating - sooty123

I think some people just like the convience of it. I don't think they are trying to save money. Ours is an old system, even in a small house you wouldn't notice a bit of difference in 15 min, 30 min plus really to get it warmish. Starting a fire is quicker for us. Reply to this message | Report message

New Tue 18 Feb 14 22:44   Hive Active Heating - Dulwich Estate

We'll soon be back in a 2 foot thick walled house in France. It takes about a week, yes 7 days, to get it up to a reasonable temperature in winter. We have a coping strategy employing thermal underwear, hats, thick curtain room dividers, a roaring log fire and plenty of red wine ..... Reply to this message | Report message