Hive - A Review

Just over a week ago, we had Hive installed by British Gas, and now that we have had it for a week I am now in a position to give something of an overview for anyone who may be considering one, or indeed who doesn't even know what it is to even consider it!

In short, Hive is a wireless thermostat/controller for your heating and hot water (the hot water control depends on your current boiler setup); this wireless controller is internet linked which allows you to control your heating and hot water from your smartphone no matter where you are - - there are versions available that are not internet connected, but for the purposes of this I am referring to a dual channel (heating and water) that is internet connected.

Installation for me wasn't particularly quick as the wiring of my boiler was completely different to any that the engineer had seen before, but all credit to him he worked away for a good couple of hours to get things wired up and working. The installation is included in with the purchase price (£249, although I have seen deals at £199).

Once installed, you create an online account which lets you set schedules for each of the heating and hot water; each day has its own schedule, and is broken up into about five or six chunks of time that you can program accordingly - the duration of those time chunks is fully adaptable by simply dragging a mouse on the chart to shift the times as you want.

Heating:
Essentially, you set the size of the time chunks to those when you are at home, when you are in bed and hen you are out, and each one can have a different temperature that you decide in half degree increments. You can adjust these temperatures via the internet, via the wireless thermostat or via your smartphone. Whenever you are making adjustments, it tells you exactly (to 0.1ºC accuracy) what the current temperature is as well as the temperature outside (not exact, but close enough).

We have found the thermostat to be an absolute boon. Prior to having this, our heating was either on or off, with only thermostatic radiator valves to control the temperatures - the net result was that we would either be too cold or roasting hot, and rarely in between. Since getting the Hive system in, the temperature in the house has remained pretty much the same during the times that we are in, and only dropping away when we have the system set to a much lower temperature (15ºC is our bottom cut off for the sake of our wee dog) - what is really impressive is that it maintains this temperature by running the boiler for only a small amount of time once in a while, so I reckon we are going to save a good few quid with this fellow. The other really impressive thing is that we never actually feel the difference - - without hearing the distant rumble from the boiler (which I can only hear with the TV turned down), I would have no idea when the boiler was running and when it wasn't!

Better still, if you are coming home early (coming home sick from work?) you can boost the heating from your phone in advance so things are nice and toasty when you get in.

Also included with this are free email alerts when the temperature exceeds an upper or lower threshold (chosen by you) - I have set our upper one to 26º which will be handy in the summer if I need to get home in a hurry before things get too warm for our wee dog.

Hot water:
Very similar to the heating, you set the spells when you want it to be on and when you want it to be off. NOTE - this will only work if you have a system boiler and a hot water tank, it will not work if you have a combi boiler. During the periods when the hot water is on, the controller is also taking into account what the tank thermostat is telling it, so once the water reaches the desired temperature (recommended is 60ºC) it will switch off even if the controller is in an 'on' period - again, saving money as it is only going to run the boiler when it is needed.

Customer service:
As mentioned above, our install was a tad difficult for the engineer, and although he was pretty sure he had cracked it when he left (it seemed to be working fine), it transpired that we had a problem. The following morning, we awoke to sauna like temperatures and the radiators were still belting out the heat - yet according to the app, online and the controller, the heating was off. The water however, was on.

Later in the day, we ran out of hot water and no amount of playing with the controller would get the tank to warm up - every time we tried, the radiators would belt the heat out, but nothing for the hot water.

The engineer had very kindly left his mobile number, so I dropped him a quick text (I didn't want to ring as it was the weekend), and he text back almost immediately and advised that I contact British Gas and they would send a boiler engineer to take a look. I emailed them on Sunday, and had a few emails back and forth explaining things which was then followed up by a phone call from a very helpful lady wanting to arrange a time for a boiler engineer to visit. At my request, I chose today as someone would be in (I could have had it earlier, but that would have meant a day off work). She confirmed the appointment by email, and asked me to get back to her to let her know how things went.

Today, whilst at work (Mrs C was home) I had a call from British Gas to tell me that the engineer had become badly delayed during the morning, and with profuse apologies would it be OK if he came this afternoon.... as most of you know, my work is managing a team of controllers who try their hardest to give the best bus service they can when things are at their worst - in short, I know more than anyone just how Donald-Ducked our roads can be, so of course I fully understood the engineers predicament.

I was home by the time the engineer arrived (he even rang to tell me he was ten minutes away), and talked him through the problem. He had a good look at the wiring, and within minutes found that there was one connection that had been linked out that shouldn't have been, so rectified that and all was well. Was he happy at that? Well no, he wasn't. He didn't like the look of our old tank thermostat so went off to his van and replaced it with a brand new one, then set about testing it to make sure that the boiler and three way valve were doing as they should. Even that was not enough for our man - he was then at the boiler as the pressure was a few fractions of a PSI out - between us (the inlet is on the first floor and the boiler is in the loft), we added a bit more to the system and got it absolutely bang on.

Fantastic. Well, not for our champion engineer - - he then went round ALL the electrical connections, not just the ones he had done, but literally all of them and also wanted to make sure that back boxes were tight and secure. After that, he was happy.

And the charge for the new thermostat and the additional work? Nothing, nada, not a sausage.

The verdict:
About twelve years ago, I had a major falling out with British Gas over roughly £400 that they owed me from a card meter (long story) and I would not have pee'd on them if they were on fire. However, this experience has completely changed my view of them - they are NOT the same company that I remember. The customer service I have received has been second to none. Yes, it would have been better if it had worked fully first time round, BUT I was fully aware that the wiring of my boiler was a bit of an oddball before I started, and the mark of any company is how they handle things when something has gone wrong - - and in this respect, I have to say that I could not have asked for better.

The Hive is a fantastic product - not only does it make your home more comfortable, but it also makes it extremely easy to change your heating and hot water to be there when YOU need them; furthermore, it saves you money (I am taking a wild guess purely based on the boiler cycles I have observed, but I reckon easily around £5 a week saving as a minimum). Better still, they are adding components all the time, such as the ability to control lighting and mains sockets remotely via the Hive app or the online interface.

Seriously - if you are even remotely considering a product like this, get the Hive. It is remarkably good!

 

Excellent review. I can see the advantages in your sort of circumstance.

For ourselves, usually at least one of us is at home most of the time and we already have our heating settings down to a fine art and I can't remember back to when we used to go to work as we only had the thermostats and boiler controls in those days.

Of course, we don't have smart phones either

 

If you don't have a thermostat I can see this being a good option. My house didn't when I moved in so I fitted a wireless 7-day programmable thermostat and it has been fantastic.

The Hive sounds great, but I have never seen the need for remote internet control of my home temperature. What happens if the website goes down?

 

For us, the cost of adding a decent wired thermostat was getting remarkably close to the cost of Hive - although I am more than capable of adding a wired thermostat, I am not actually certified to do so, and that would leave my landlady in a bit of a spot; so, by the time the thermostat, wiring and labour were factored in, Hive was looking like a bit of a no brainer.

There are a number of ways you can control things, and they are not all internet based. In the package there is a wireless thermostat (wireless, but not wi-fi, so if the internet is down it still works) and that gives you full control over your water and heating. In the event that the internet is down AND your wireless thermostat has ran out of batteries, there is a control unit (usually near the boiler or water tank - essentially wherever your current controller lives), and on that unit there is two buttons - one to boost the heating and one to boost the water, so even then you are not left without.

I must admit, I couldn't see the need to control things from my phone when nobody is in the house, but now that I have it I can see occasions when it would come in handy. With our old system, we could come home earlier than expected and therefore the heating would be off and the house would be like a fridge - whereas with this, you can check before heading home and whack the heating on so things are toasty when you arrive home.

Or what about getting all muddied up at the allotment - - need a tank of hot water for a bath? Have it ready when you get home.

Realistically, I don't see me using the 'away from home' part of it all that often (especially once the novelty wears off , but even as a thermostat and timer it does a remarkably good job

 

We're fortunate in that we have fairly modern controls and they work well. Individual thermostats, a multi-timer, a well insulated hot water cylinder that always has hot water in it and a good boiler and pump that sends hot water through the system very quickly.

The house is well insulated so retains heat, the rads are hot within three minutes of the boiler pumping the water and the boiler can cope with continuous baths or showers.

We have a slightly oversized boiler and bigger than necessary rads in the rooms. Some people say that if you have an oversized boiler it will not work properly and wear out quicker. Our previous boiler was oversized and was still working OK when we had to change it after 26 years(revamping the house). The oversized rads would make the rooms too hot but that's what the rad thermostats are for. So our rooms can be heated up quickly.

The only time we really need the extra power is when we return from as winter holiday. We turn the heating up when we get in, go to the loo , keep our coats on whilst we unpack, shove things in the washing machine, make a cup of tea and read our mail/emails and listen to phone messages. By then the place is warm.