Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Hive Active Heating Thermostat Without Professional Installation

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Russ

Easy to Configure Once Installed

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 25, 2020

I installed this myself for a warm air central heating system that originally took a pair of low voltage control wires from a thermostat. The biggest part of the job was adding a 3A fused spur to supply power to the receiver as well as tidying up some old wiring. I mounted everything on 30mm surface pattress boxes inside the boiler cupboard. Fitting the receiver and its plate on to the pattress was a bit fiddly but got there in the end. I wired the pair of control wires to terminals 1 and 3 in a single channel receiver.

With the receiver installed, I plugged in the hub, put batteries in the wireless thermostat, installed the hive android app and created a hive account. Once I rebooted the hub, everything worked like a charm. Easy to control and set up a heating schedule.

I also created an IFTTT account linked to hive and used this to turn the heating off when I leave the house and back on when I return. It uses phone location to know when you are in and out. You can turn heating on and off from the phone app, but nice to have it done automatically so you don't forget.

I was worried about it cycling the boiler excessively but the hysterisis seems just right at 0.5 °C either side of the set point. The hub is upstairs by my router, receiver in brick boiler cupboard downstairs, thermostat on other side of brick wall downstairs. No problems with wireless connection so far.

I got it on offer for £122, so absolute bargain. Wish I had done this years ago.

2 people found this helpful

Old Hui

Installation is easy but can be easier.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 2, 2018

Verified Purchase

I have a combi boiler with an internet-enabled control (Hive 1?) but it doesn't get all features of Hive. Upgrading to Hive 2 is relative easy on the hardware part. However, you still need to swap out the hub, receiver and thermostat as British Gas has changed everything.

My old receiver is a British Gas WR1 which has a compatible backplate with the new Hive receiver. Just power off, take out the old receiver, and put the new one onto the old backplate. That was easy.

The new Hive 2 thermostat is also super easy to set up.

Changing the hub takes some effort. First, the new Hive hub takes a while to get to the flashing amber light. The green light must have flashed for 5-10 minutes. Just be patient. However, the really trouble is linking the new Hub to the Hive app/account. There is no easy way to unlink the old nano hub from my existing Hive account, and thus no way to input the new hub ID. I have to phone Hive technical support to do the swap over. Basically they removed the old hub from my account and that initiates the Hive app to ask for the new hub ID. Hive could have made this easier! The support line works 7 days until 9:00pm, which is good. But I still waited > 11 min to get someone on the phone.

One warning on Google Home integration: Although Google Home claims to work with Hive, the integration is buggy. "Turn heating off" leaves the Hive thermostat in "schedule", not off, but sets the target temperature to lowest. "Turn heating on" does nothing: Hive is left in schedule mode, with no change in target temperature. That means heating won't come back on. I chatted with Google Home's support and they confessed that the features are not working yet. How disappointing? *** However ***, IFTTT comes to the rescue. IFTTT can really turn heating between off and schedule. The shame is that you cannot ask Google Home "what is my home temperature".

In conclusion, the weaknesses above are not with the Hive thermostat. It is either British Gas' or Google's problem. The product is very good.

3 people found this helpful

Lewis

A great solution - don't underestimate installation

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2016

Verified Purchase

A fantastic device and simple enough to install so long as you're competent and careful.

I've had mine for about two weeks now and am very happy with my purchase. The Hive 2 ticked all the right boxes - the thermostat looks good and is properly wireless (powered by 4 AA batteries) meaning I have the option to put it _anywhere_ in my house, even where there isn't a power socket nearby; the same cannot be said of Nest which was initially on my wish list. While the Nest can work wirelessly, it's for a few hours at most and needs to be positioned near to a socket. Imagining the location of most people's thermostats, I don't think they would want an extension cable and a USB adapter dangling off the wall - that isn't pretty anywhere.

The installation was not without its troubles - I was replacing an existing wireless thermostat wired in to different terminals than a 240v thermostat in my boiler so I don't mind admitting I asked someone for guidance. If I'm honest (and to make myself feel better), the main reason I had to ask for assistance was because the boiler's wiring diagram wasn't crystal clear. Asking for assistance can be a mine field. My boiler front cover is lined with foam and held on by a single 10mm bolt and two steel clips at the bottom (Vaillant 2013 model) - it is not a complex undertaking to remove it and replace it properly but some gas safe engineers insist on telling you only they are capable of removing and replacing something like this safely. Legally they're correct but replacing a 10mm bolt and two steel clips does not require a degree in mechanical engineering - just know what you're doing and if in doubt, speak to a pro. That said, if you are capable but don't have an existing 240v thermostat or the ability to interpret a wiring diagram, get a pro to do it.

When you first put batteries in the Thermostat you'll be asked whether you prefer comfort or energy saving, this determines the initial temperatures and schedule but these can be changed easily on the Hive website so don't agonise over the question too much. Once all the hardware is installed, you need to use the little booklet with a scratch off section at the back to get a code to use on the Hive website. This code is entered in to the Hive website at the URL provided in the bookley and then, once registered with your email address, you're on and customising. Get the app for your phone from your respective app store and use the username and password you created when registering on the Hive website to log in to that.

Shameless plug - if you're a Windows user and know what PowerShell is, I've abstracted the Hive API to allow control of the Hive (and therefore your heating system) using scripting (which you can schedule on a Windows computer of course). I call the project PoSHive and it's on GitHub. You can set the temperature, boost, switch to manual/auto/off and get properties like current temp.

11 people found this helpful

Darren Wright

Easy to fit, stylish and intuitive to use - great bit of kit!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2018

Verified Purchase

As someone who is away from the house a lot with work and very erratic finish times, the ability to have the heating switched on from my phone whilst on the way home and to come home to a house that is already warm is a bit of a game changer!

Also, the annual winter worry of being away from the house when the temperature drops and not being there to turn it on for a while meant that I either carried that worry all weekend or left the heating on a timer heating an empty house when it may not have always been necessary. This unit puts and end to all of that and I'm loving it!

I fitted two of these in two different houses, one replacing an old timer clock on an oil condensing boiler (the sort where you moved coloured plastic buttons round a circular clock face to set the on and off times) and one replacing an already wireless (but not "smart") Honeywell thermostat. In both cases it was a doddle to fit the controller unit to the existing wiring (with some changes needing to be made on one of the fittings) and once you understand the wiring, it's nothing that a semi-competent home DIY'er couldn't tackle themselves. As always, be careful when working on electrics and be doubly sure that you have isolated the supply before tackling it.

Highly recommended, works like a charm, all the pieces self-connect and "find" one another once fitted and the convenience is superb - love it!

My top tip is to create a new email address that you don't care about and that you will only use for the heating and setting up your Hive account (I used a free Gmail one) - this way, if you ever move house, you don't need to change any details on your account, you can leave the hub behind and just give the new homeowners your log-on details so they can use the system with all of its features and essentially "take over" your online account without causing you an hassle.

11 people found this helpful

Cheatin Jockey

Stylish, easy to use and very toasty!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 12, 2017

Verified Purchase

I love the Hive system, I'm so glad I got it. I did quite a bit of research up front, also looking at Nest and decided the way that tried to be clever about location etc. was asking for trouble.

The Hive smartphone app works really well and is really easy to use and very intuitive, though the way the web interface works for scheduling is a little confusing to start with. Even for the folks that aren't smartphone users, the way you can send a really simple text message is very useful. Also useful if you can't get a good data signal. I'm not mad about having a hub on all the time, but as a wired device (to access the internet, control is of course wireless) it does make it more secure than a normal wifi connection.

The device itself looks great - kinda retro in its own way but again very clear about what's going on. I've not tried to program using only that though, I'm sure the online web page or phone apps are simpler for that, but at least yo can if you need to.

The only reason I've given it four stars is really down to getting it installed and the information you can get up front, and the overall experience. I'm pretty handy with electrics and wiring, though I don't have a professional qualification. I looked on the Hive un-supported boiler page, and our Worcester Bosch boiler wasn't listed but a lot of models with really similar names/model numbers were (ALL incompatible boilers were Worcester Bosch when I looked). I found some Youtube videos of installation on similar boilers (by Worcester Bosch themselves), but nothing quite the same . In the end I decided to get the install done by British Gas by calling Hive. They were really helpful even though I'd bought a self install version, and arranged fitting for about £80; I told them the boiler model and they assured me that if it wasn't actually on the un-supported list I'd be fine. The lead time for fitting was nearly six weeks though, which I thought was quite a long time.

On the day of fitting, I got the usual good service with a courtesy call just before British Gas arrived, but the guy that came took one look at the boiler and told me he couldn't install it due to the gas being needing to interfered with on my model, and he's was just an electrician, and not Gas Safe registered. So when I said the model at booking time, it was ignored. They managed another appointment a week later, but I was pretty annoyed as I'd moved things around to be at home for the fitting and had to do that a second time.

So if you get the install yourself kit, be aware. If you can't be completely sure what's involved with your boiler up front (other than checking that one list of incompatible boilers) think twice and get the installation. For such an important (and dangerous) piece of kit in your home, it is worth the money IMHO. And just in case you're wondering, my boiler is a Worcester Bosch combi; a Greenstar 30Si MK IV.

Installation apart, I'm really very happy with the operation and the way to works - that bit is five star. It's REALLY great to come back to a warm and toasty home!

6 people found this helpful

Luthier

Having researched all the available smart thermostats I decided to go for this one as ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 23, 2015

Verified Purchase

Having researched all the available smart thermostats I decided to go for this one as it can also control hot water. I'm really pleased with it. It is lovely to look at and does everything I expected. Plus the thermostat is very easy to use and programme whether using a PC, an app on android or directly on the thermostat itself. Although via a PC or the app are the easiest.

I decided to go for the self-install version as having looked at my wiring behind my existing programmer, a 22 year old Potterton EP6000 which was capable of separate control for hot water and central heating, it looked very straight forward. I'm pleased I did. Obviously the most important part is to switch off the power first. I checked the wiring with a mains sensitive screwdriver first to be doubly sure. It took me less than 2 hours, working exceptionally slowly and carefully and checking and double checking at each stage. The only part which really wasn't covered in the instructions was what to do with the wiring behind my existing thermostat. I'd already checked what to do there and it was simply a matter of joining the two wires together using a proper connector. I labelled them so that anyone looking in future would know what they were.

The Potterton EP6000 does not have a universal 'square' backplate so I had to wire in the one that came with the Hive thermostat but if anyone has a universal backplate, I think the receiver just clips straight on.

If you are in any doubt, go with a professional installation, but if you understand electrics and central heating systems in particular, it's not difficult.

3 people found this helpful

Adam Dowsett

Great for those who love a smart home

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 3, 2019

Verified Purchase

So I already had Phillips Hue bulbs all around the house, and being a big fan of having a complete smart home I wanted to add a thermostat. I bought this when it was on a black Friday deal and was a great price so it was hard to refuse as I had been wanting one for quite some time.

I decided on this one over the Nest or any others because in my opinion it looked a little more sophisticated, but obviously that is down to personal preference.

I can say I couldn't be happier with the product, was so easy to install, simply went in place of my old non smart thermostats and then a quick set up with the hub and the app and it was done.

Alexa integration is brilliant all i have to say when I get a little cold now is "Alexa make downstairs/upstairs 22 degress" for example and its donw almost instantly. Does everything I needed it to do. Plus the app is great for setting heating when away from home and setting up schedules. Also the interface on the actual unit is really easy to use if you prefer to use that to change the settings. The boost function on the unit and the app is great too if you just want to put the heating on for half and hour or whatever you want.

I can't recommend this enough, if you are looking for a full smart home set up, this is a must.

2 people found this helpful

Andrew11

Economical way to heat the home

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 20, 2019

Verified Purchase

Been considering HIVE or Nest for a while but found it difficult to convince the other half of its uses. However, took the plunge during Black Friday week and went for purchase only and arranged for our own local fitting, though it is like wiring a plug so you could be brave and try yourself; for £50 installation I preferred to get it done professionally. Sod's law, I ordered and my boiler ended up condemned and needed replaced at an undesirable cost the week before Christmas but is why I'd taken some time to write this review.

The kit we bought comes in three parts so one replaces your current unit that connects to the boiler, one plugs in to your router and the other is the digital display that acts as your thermostat, albeit the latter is largely redundant if you use the app. We had no installation issues and it has worked flawlessly since that installation.

Whilst this doesn't have the learning capabilities of Nest, it more than meets our needs with the various options for scheduling and quick boosts. The ability to do all this from the comfort of your chair or when you are out and about is fantastic and, believe it or not, it's the Mrs that uses this more than me so a total convert.

What I do notice is once the optimum temperature is reached, HIVE maintains this so regulates the radiators rather than have them still pouring out heat until a time when you think 'this house is jumping with heat', surely that must reduce our bills but time will tell.

4 people found this helpful

Nidgster

Adaptable, but not without its disadvantages

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2022

Verified Purchase

I moved from a Honeywell Lyric that had no Alexa function to the Hive system.

Unfortunately I've had to mark the tech support down as no instructions were included in the pack and therefore, I had to look on line for wiring diagrams and YouTube videos. I know a bit about wiring, but not enough to do without a wiring diagram. The difficulty faced was the grey and black wires in ports A and B. Once I figured out the wire in A went in 1 and the wire in B went in 3 then the job was pretty easy. I'm on a combi boiler so it's pretty straight forward. However, if you don't know about wiring and you have multizone or heating and hot water, then I suggest you get a heating engineer in as links to terminals may have to be made.

Hive has manual geofencing only, this means that it only sends you texts to say to switch your heating off or on when you're at a certain distance, whereas the lyric does this automatically. Whether this feature is an advantage or disadvantage depends on your point of view. Personally, I found geofencing quite annoying in the end as

1) your house is usually warmer than the outside anyway if you have good insulation, so you're eating energy getting it up to the required temperature.

2) scheduled timing would automatically switch your gas off anyway.

3) you'd have to switch the geofencing off, if you weren't going out that day, otherwise the gas stayed on

The Lyric wasn't user friendly. If you had a power cut, or switched the boiler off for the summer, you had to go through the most arduous set of steps to reconnect with the system. The Hive is much easier to connect up. However, it takes 24 hours for hive to notice the new account (or it did in my case) if you haven't had an engineer come and fit it.

The Hive has more abilities than the Honeywell, including security cameras, alarms and lights. In time I will build up my system. Once you get use to it, it's easy to programme heat schedules and you're able to have more heat schedules during the day than the lyric. The thermostat collects finger prints, but is a lovely looking device.

A pretty good system, shame about the geofencing.

3 people found this helpful

Andrew P.

Auesthically pleasing, well designed and easy to install and operate

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 2, 2015

Verified Purchase

Very Impressed with the hive controller. It doesn't seem to be as 'smart' as the nest but its very simple to use and install. (it doesn't sense when there's no one home etc although you can set geo locations so it will send you reminders when you leave the house with the heating on full blast and a compatible motion sensor is available if that's your bag) A lot of thought seems to have gone into the design and function of this device. For example the receiver element of the hive can be slotted onto the base plates for many existing boiler controllers which means that no rewiring was required. Also the hive thermostat is battery powered and needs no wires or external supply. Merely pick a location and fit the back plate with the enclosed screws to the wall. The back plate of the thermostat is even designed with holes arranged so that it can be fitted to a standard single gang back box. The thermostat is simple and intuitive to use as well as being aesthetically pleasing. The temperature setting dial and buttons give positive, tactile feedback and are precise and solid. The user interface online and on the mobile is simple and concise and its easy to control the device and set schedules. I have a combi boiler in the attic with a controller where i could set a schedule and control the boiler in a cupboard up stairs, but didn't have any room thermostats So my main reason for installing the hive was to provide temperature control of my central heating system rather than relying on the position of the valves on the individual radiators. Installation was extremely simple, as mentioned I simply removed the front of the old controller and fitted the new transmitter to the base, plugged the wireless unit into my router and mounted the thermostat on the wall in my living room. (I just used a couple of command strips initially) Everything synchronised and updated and then it was just a matter of registering the device online and creating an account.

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