I've been looking at the Hive systems to control CH, including hot water. We've a modern gas powered system with basic timer and thermostat at the moment. Timer is fitted on, what (as far as I can tell) is the 'standard' backplate for such things.
Looking at the various videos etc., it seems you should be able to just remove the existing timer from the standard backplate, clip on a Hive gizmo, set up the rest of the system (plugging things in, pressing buttons etc) and off you go.
However, what about the old thermostat? Doesn't that need to be disconnected?
Also, I know someone who moved into a house with a system which, while it basically worked, the previous owner had taken part of the system (I think the hub) with them. Looking on the net, this seems to be the habit- take your hub with you as it is set up to your profile. (Life patterns if you will.) You can, of course, buy a hub if you move to a house with a missing hub. Is this correct, please? (No plans to move etc, I'm just trying to understand how it all works.)
We had Hive fitted when we had a new boiler fitted in Feb. I didnt actuall y do it as I just paid for the system and the guy installing the boiler add ed £30 on top for fitting Hive.
I dont think our old controller/timer used a standard backplate so it had t o be swapped for the Hive one. It is my understanding that if we were to s witch in the future, any new system should just clip on (assuming the curre nt backplate is still the standard and the replacement uses it).
Our old thermostat was a Danfoss wireless unit which had its receiver next to the wiring centre in the airing cupboard. I fitted this many years ago. This was completely removed as part of fitting Hive.
My MIL had Hive. When she moved BG (who fitted it for her) told her to tak e the hub but leave the thermostat/programmer and the receiver.
We had a bit of trouble setting ours up. The installed normally fitted Nes t and was his first time doing Hive. The thermostat looked like it was con nected but the heating wouldnt turn off when it reached temp. I had to con tact BG. The removed the devices and we went through the process if adding them again. Worked fine since then.
I've been using a Hive for a while now. On mine, the old thermostat was powered, and the sender/receiver replaces that. The thermostat is a standalone mount-where-you-like battery powered wireless unit (still on the same 4 AAs 2+ years on). Mine's one of these:
If I moved I'd probably take it with me, and replace the sender with a basic thermostat - it cost a few quid after all. I did get mine at quite a discount on one of those black days - coming up in November I think ,so might be worth waiting.
I fitted one myself. It would have fitted the backplate with a bit of a push, but I decided to change the backplate for the near identical Hive one supplied, a trivial job. Initially I kept the existing wireless thermostat and just turned it to maximum, but later disconnected it.
I installed Hive last year, as someone has already said the thermostat is wireless and clips to a backplate that can be situated wherever convenient. The receiver simply replaced the previous programmable thermostat. Like so meone else I initially found it would not work turned out the zero volt swi tch needed a live supply which just involved a short wire from one connecti on to another within the receiver and all was well, the installation instru ctions did not make it clear that for my boiler this was required. Have bee n very happy with it since even got Alexa to switch it on/off.
You mentioned Alexa, which brings to mind another question.
How dependent is the system on the internet working externally? Eg, if you link to the internet goes down, do things like the one off cycles still work? (I accept remote functions won't- I'm thinking of preset timers).
I ask as, while our internet is actually reliable, Alexa does 'fall over' from time to time. This causes minor issues with things 'she' controls- some lights etc. However, for the heating, it could be more irritating.
We use Alexa to control some lights and a few of those plug in things which we use with an electric blanket or fan etc.
I bought some of the Ikea 'smart' bulbs which are Alexa compatible. If you have an Echo, as we do, you just need to buy the bulbs, not the control gizmo. Then you can control it from the Echo or a Dot (the smaller one). You can also control them from 'anywhere' with the mobile phone app- useful for security.
Alexa isn't perfect. Sometimes it takes a couple of attempts to, say, turn a light on or off. We noticed when we had a visitor with a strong US accent a week or so back, Alexa really struggled.
An acquaintance who is visually impaired was telling us he finds it very useful. Things like radio, audio books etc I believe. I'm not sure he uses it to control things. We tend not to use ours for radio- I prefer DAB or internet radio. Sometimes we use the music.
We've and Echo and a Dot. A couple more would be nice so we can control a few things from other rooms.
I havent actually tried it but my understanding is that the schedule is stored on the thermostat so if there is no internet connection, it continues to work.
I beleive that it is possible to setup the schedule on the thermostat but again, I havent tried this as its very easy to do it via the web site (and probably easier too).
I've fitted two - one at my holiday flat and one at my main home.
The holiday flat has two zones - one for the radiators and the other for the hot water cylinder, forming an S-Plan system. Before I fitted the Hive there was a 2-channel programmer on a standard backplate = and a wireless programmable room stat.
The Hive receiver fitted straight onto the existing backplate (I checked that the connections were correct) and worked straight away. I removed the wireless thermostat and linked it out in the wiring centre.
My main home has three zones - radiators, UFH in the kitchen, and hot water, forming an S+ Plan system. Before Hive, the radiator zone had a wired programmable thermostat, the UFH had a wireless programmable stat and HW had a (mechanical) cylinder stat.
The recommended Hive approach was to use a multi-zone system comprising a Hive heating and HW system for one heating zone + HW, plus a separate Hive thermostat and receiver for the other heating zone. But I took a different approach. I left the existing programmable stats in place, and connected them in series with the Hive system. My main reason for wanting Hive was to be able to turn the heating on and off remotely. To achieve this, I have the Hive heating zone set to manual and set the temperature to Max (32 degrees) for ON and Frost (7 degrees) for OFF. Actual temperature control is performed by the Honeywell wireless stats. [They do a better job than Hive anyway because they work on a P-I-D basis, and have far less temperature overshoot.
A few more random thoughts about Hive ...
Be aware the the 2-channel (Heating and HW) and single channel (Heating only - aimed at combi boilers) receivers work differently from each other. The single channel one has a voltage-free change-over relay which can be used to switch anything you like - including low voltage if that's what your boiler needs. The dual channel receiver can *only* be used to switch mains devices. It has two change-over relays - one for each channel - but their COM terminals are internally connected to Permanent Live, and are not accessible.
A Hive system can be controlled in three different ways - directly via its wireless thermostat, remotely using a web browser on a PC, or remotely using a smartphone app. They are not identical in capability. In my view, the web browser route provides the easiest interface and the greatest capability - but the phone app is useful when you don't have access to a computer. Doing things directly on the thermostat is a bit cumbersome - but will still work even if the internet fails.
The Hive wireless thermostat is intended to be mounted on a wall, and is supplied with a wall plate (no wires, of course) for the purpose. Alternatively, you can buy a grossly over-priced desk stand if you want to move the stat from room to room. With both of my systems I have made my own desk stands - using two pieces of wood in an inverted T configuration, with the wall plate screwed to the upright in order to attach the stat to the stand.
At the moment I'm just looking at our main house which is a 2 channel system with a wired room stat. (I avoided a wireless one as it worked on a frequency in the amateur band.)
The remote operation appeals for various reasons- both via Alexa and mobile phone.
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