Nest vs Hive (Smart thermostats)

Evening. We're currently looking at smart thermostats and both Google's Nest and British Gas' Hive are on our short list. Edging towards the Hive at the moment because it'll allow us to control our hot water as well (we have a hot water tank as opposed to a combi-boiler), and it also has ego-fencing built in as standard (with the Nest you have to use a third party app which I'm wary of given that support for it could be prevented).

Probably a long shot, but if none has experience of both I'd be very interested in your views.

Simon

 

Couple of threads here if you have not already found them...

Nest launches in uk tomorrow... | Page 6 | AVForums
British Gas remote heating | AVForums

Tado is another worth considering

 

i have a nest smoke and co alarm and its very good, the app is easy to use.
as i have this id look into a nest thermostat, but i have heard that the hive is a good product

 

cant u get one of these free by changing gas suppliers ?

 

npower supply nest on one of their products. not too sure on the comparison though

 

might look into it, we have to change next month, if its not much dearer i think ill be going with whomever gives me one cheaper

 

I've had nest installed in May/June last year had it removed in May/June last year due to overheating wifi chip which was not compatible with bt home hub 4 I think (nest still don't mention this until after purchase) it might be fixed something to look at.

I went with tado 2.0 used that for about 6 months and in my experience it is total and utter crap. The geo part wouldn't work with my partners phone ss3 if I went out with my daughter it would switch off heating even with my wife at home. Pointless for us anyway because I have a teenage daughter and nine times out of ten when we go out she stays at home and her friends come over. Oh I'm at home most days so in fairness the geo part wasn't for us. But the worst part is when your wifi fails you loose heating and there is sod all you can do....! Also the thermostat and control unit runs out of batteries fast like 4 months. I did like the fact it was wireless and it looks neat.

So I went back to nest new hub all been ok except the thermostat in nest reads two degrees lower so had to re adjust all settings! But that might be due to wifi issues mentioned before. I've been quite happy with nest since then until BST screwed it up now having to redo times lol you think nest would have know.. Even though this has not got geo it has got a presence detecter which works really well better with nest protect im guessing (and better for us than the geo)I'm not sure of time scales but on a couple of occasions we have been out and it has lowered the temp because no one is home the down side cold when you first get in but it does switch on straight away with detection. In short if I had to recommend either I would say with a gun to my head nest because that's what I'm using not because it's great.

Oh I haven't tried hive yet!! But Worcester Bosch have one called sense I think that looks ok as well.

 

@simonfr What did you decide in the end? I'm on the same boat. I'm getting a new combi boiler, and can't decide between Hive and Nest.

 

@S11YBM Currently neither as following a successful school placing request we're considering moving house. Did also start considering Tado, but didn't actually come to any conclusion other than that while the Nest looked sexy and probably does the heating side very well, it's of no use for hot water control as well (which is what I'd want). Sorry i can't be of help.

 

Congrats on the school placement.

Ye I'm going towards the Nest mainly because it ticks all the boxes and as you said it looks pretty good too! The only thing is that as the current generation of Nest is a few years old, I'm not sure whether a new version is in the pipe line.

 

Thanks And yes, would like to think a new version is planned, but I've not read anything indicating there is. Likely later this year until I'm looking again so hopefully a new and improved version is released.

 

I got the Hive recently. Mainly because it does hot water as well as heating. It's a doddle to use and although not as futuristic looking as he Nest, it still looks cool. I had a play with a demo Nest in John Lewis and I prefer the Hive.

 

I chose Hive as it also does hot water. Had it a few months - no regrets. Brilliant smartphone app that allows a lot of control. I work fairly random hours, so the Nest "learning" ability would be useless for me. Plus I have a hot water tank and not a combi, so hot water control was a must.

 

Thanks for the input... I'm getting a combi, so either one should work. I'm suprised that the Nest cannot control the hot water

 

Well. The Nest is just a smart thermostat that replaces the usual dial type on the wall. The Hive needs a new boiler control panel installed as well as the display unit itself, so the whole thing has much more control over the system than the Nest. I'm not slagging off the Nest, but ultimately it is just a switch.

 

What about netamo? I haven't got one myself but have heard good things about it.

 

Netatmo is the correct spelling sorry!

 

Don't they both need a box up at the boiler? They are both wireless from the controlling thermostat up to the box at the boiler? I thought the Hive was merely more traditional as a timed thermostat but can do water as well, Nest is heating and cooling and self learning for the timers and automatic for away and so on?

 

Yeah, sorry in fairness there is also a box called a Heat Link that takes over the job of the programmer box most boilers have - in essence so the Nest can take over the "call for heat" circuit. As you say, the Nest and Heat Link box communicate wirelessly even if they are connect by wires.

 

Another to throw into the mix is Heatmiser, I have just the wi-fi roomstat (problem free for 3 years or so and available long before the others on the market) they do a combined hot water/roomstat unit....a new model to mine is also now available...tech help are also great if you want to DIY.

SmartStat - Smart Control of Your Heating |

 

I have just ordered a V3 Nest as I was waiting for hot water control. Can anyone recommend any electronic TRV's to use with Nest.

The Hige has been great but Nest looks better, gives better info on how much your hearing has been on, heats up to temp depending on ambient temperature and also integrates better with IFTTT.

 

Do the latest generation still need to be mains powered? I currently have a wireless 7 day programmable stat where the main unit is battery powered and the receiver is hard wired and next to the boiler (which is in the loft)?

The first generations needed mains power and the thought of having a bit of trunking up the wall from a socket... well I'd rather have no heat.

 

Nope. Do people really accept this:



Because I wouldn't

 

Hopefully the Honeywell Lyric will be fully wireless when it hits the UK.

 

I have the old thermostat wires in three so I should be ok.
We're the first 2 versions wireless?

 

No, and that's problem. My current thermostat (Honeywell CM927) is battery operated. Been in since August 2013 and no sign of batteries needing replacement.

 

I have Hive which is wireless and make for easy installation in most houses but my thermostat is in the hallway directly below my hot water tank so I'm lucky. The idea of a nice looking thermostat is not to have silly wires coming from it.

 

I got my v3 Nest yesterday and is now installed so I am putting my Hive in the classifieds if anyone is after one.

 

You don't have to do that: you can use existing thermostat wires in the wall if you have them to provide power, or you can put the Nest on a table or similar using the supplied USB power plug (with or without the official stand)... you don't have to have it wall-mounted.

 

Nest has a feature called 'Auto-away' which turns off the heating if it detects there is no-one home (using an occupancy sensor in the thermostat). You can also use the 'Skylark' phone app to turn on/off the heating based on your geographical location. Oh, and you can also manually set the thermostat to Home or Away settings using the Nest phone app or website.

The newest (generation 3) Nest Thermostat can also control hot water.

[ I appreciate that you're happy with the Hive, but thought this information might be useful for others reading this thread. ]