Remote Home Monitoring
Remote Home Monitoring
I have seen some posts on this but still struggling with the whole concept. I would like to monitor (yes and control....maybe...sometimes) the heating in our property remotely. I have had comments over winter that the house has been cold for guests on arrival and its difficult for us to get there and switch heating on. I know its true as I have experienced it myself! I have also had the occasional situation others mention where heating is set to the level of a core reactor and would like to intervene! Not sure I need any of the other functionality. I don't care if my cleaner spends 2 hours or 4 hours and recognise cleaning is swings and roundabouts and sometime the house will need more love than other times. I just want it clean. I also don't want my guests to feel I am spying on them. Can anyone explain why else I might want remote home monitoring? What is Z wave technology. Do I just want B Gas Hive or is Vera Lite useful. Do I need special appliances and boiler? Are there others? Aaaargh. Any advice based on experience very much appreciated. I thought it was difficult to pick towels and bedding..... if that was the Moon this is Mars. Help please.
I've got the British Gas remote heating and I couldn't do without it. I don't live on site so it's fantastic for getting the house just at the right temperature before guests arrive.
I don't like to tamper with it when guests are there. However, I am on bottled gas, which is twice as expensive as mains gas, so if a guest were to turn it up to very high for a long period of time, I would definitely intervene at some point, but thankfully this has rarely ever happened. In fact, if anything, I tend to turn it up a little as I don't want guests to feel cold. This year, I've had a lot of guests who don't want too much heating and just want the wood burner, so have actually had texts to have the schedule turned down a little.
It's also invaluable for letting you know if anything could be wrong with the heating. If the house is not heating up to schedule, then I know something is wrong and can send in a plumber. Again, this has been rare and has been more to do with issues with the gas bottles than the boiler itself, but very useful during cold snaps when you don't want to run the risk of freezing pipes.
It will also send you alerts to let you know if thermostat batteries are running low, etc, or if the thermostat has been turned up above a certain temperature or falls too low.
I'd recommend this to anyone who can't be on site or have a property manager to manually control the heating.
I don't like to tamper with it when guests are there. However, I am on bottled gas, which is twice as expensive as mains gas, so if a guest were to turn it up to very high for a long period of time, I would definitely intervene at some point, but thankfully this has rarely ever happened. In fact, if anything, I tend to turn it up a little as I don't want guests to feel cold. This year, I've had a lot of guests who don't want too much heating and just want the wood burner, so have actually had texts to have the schedule turned down a little.
It's also invaluable for letting you know if anything could be wrong with the heating. If the house is not heating up to schedule, then I know something is wrong and can send in a plumber. Again, this has been rare and has been more to do with issues with the gas bottles than the boiler itself, but very useful during cold snaps when you don't want to run the risk of freezing pipes.
It will also send you alerts to let you know if thermostat batteries are running low, etc, or if the thermostat has been turned up above a certain temperature or falls too low.
I'd recommend this to anyone who can't be on site or have a property manager to manually control the heating.
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Joanna
- Posts: 1091
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:12 pm
- Location: Chester, North West England & Sidmouth, East Devon
- Contact:
Like Jane, we got Hive from British Gas (you don't need to be a BG customer - it's a one-off installation cost). It works with most boilers (there is a list of the few incompatible ones on their website). Cost is about £200. You'll need a broadband router on 24/7 and a spare socket near the router to power the Hive unit.
I love it - I can turn the heating on a day or so before guests arrive to make sure it's nice and warm when they get there. If they adjust it I can reset it remotely before the next guests arrive. I don't tamper while they're there - although sometimes I look at the settings out of curiosity.
I've told them that it can be controlled remotely so if they don't like the programme they can tell me and I'll adjust it for them. So far no-one has, although it's still early days (installed last Autumn).
The only issue at the moment is that there's no 'boost' feature - if guests arrive home late at night, after the heating's turned down they can't press a 'boost' button for say 1 or 2 hours heat before it goes back to the schedule. Instead, they can turn the heating up, but it will stay like that until the next scheduled change which could be all night and make it too hot once people are in bed. This is something Hive are working on and we've had some upgrades already so I expect it will happen sooner or later.
So far it's been very easy and I'm sure our heating bill will be going down this year. It should be well worth the installation cost.
I love it - I can turn the heating on a day or so before guests arrive to make sure it's nice and warm when they get there. If they adjust it I can reset it remotely before the next guests arrive. I don't tamper while they're there - although sometimes I look at the settings out of curiosity.
I've told them that it can be controlled remotely so if they don't like the programme they can tell me and I'll adjust it for them. So far no-one has, although it's still early days (installed last Autumn).
The only issue at the moment is that there's no 'boost' feature - if guests arrive home late at night, after the heating's turned down they can't press a 'boost' button for say 1 or 2 hours heat before it goes back to the schedule. Instead, they can turn the heating up, but it will stay like that until the next scheduled change which could be all night and make it too hot once people are in bed. This is something Hive are working on and we've had some upgrades already so I expect it will happen sooner or later.
So far it's been very easy and I'm sure our heating bill will be going down this year. It should be well worth the installation cost.
Jo
Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
It can become a bit of an obsession as I find myself looking at it several times a day, not to check on guests, but to make sure everything is working ok. I have the app on my phone and it tends to be the first thing I check when I wake up or before I go to bed at night - but ultimately this gives me peace of mind as I don't live on site.
I invite guests to alter it as they please by simply pressing the + or - on the thermostat. Most do this and usually turn it down once they feel warm enough, or the fire is going, or until it goes on to the next scheduled setting. The temperature goes down from midnight, so this usually covers guests who have come in and turned it up during the evening.
I invite guests to alter it as they please by simply pressing the + or - on the thermostat. Most do this and usually turn it down once they feel warm enough, or the fire is going, or until it goes on to the next scheduled setting. The temperature goes down from midnight, so this usually covers guests who have come in and turned it up during the evening.
Hi, Another thumbs up for BG Hive from me.
I have a vera lite in my place but to be honest that is more of a hobby thing than being required. There are a number of solutions depending on what design you like, the NEST thermostat is a very cool looking device, very apple like but it only does heating and not hot water.
Hive has been great for us, very reliable, no issues and the BG engineer that installed it was very helpful. You can buy an install yourself but BG only charge £40 for the install so not really worth it.
I think it makes a big difference to arrive to a nice warm house and a tank full of hot water. It also means you can turn it all off when they leave.
I have a vera lite in my place but to be honest that is more of a hobby thing than being required. There are a number of solutions depending on what design you like, the NEST thermostat is a very cool looking device, very apple like but it only does heating and not hot water.
Hive has been great for us, very reliable, no issues and the BG engineer that installed it was very helpful. You can buy an install yourself but BG only charge £40 for the install so not really worth it.
I think it makes a big difference to arrive to a nice warm house and a tank full of hot water. It also means you can turn it all off when they leave.
More DIY,but http://www.smartthings.com/ is worth a look. End to end home automation vs just the central heating part.
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nuneatonmark
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2012 3:25 pm
- Location: newquay
Slight tangent but has anyone installed a Nest CO detector?
https://nest.com/uk/smoke-co-alarm/meet-nest-protect/
We've just had a log burner installed so are tempted.
https://nest.com/uk/smoke-co-alarm/meet-nest-protect/
We've just had a log burner installed so are tempted.