Internet Thermostats

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
Stephen
Posts: 141
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 4:33 pm
Location: Northumbria/Cumbria Border / Florida
Contact:

Internet Thermostats

Post by Stephen »

We are about to have our 1/4MB Broadband upgraded by BT to fibre optic Broadband 55MB - We are considering using a an internet thermostat so we can turn the heat on/off for guest's arriving.

Can anyone recommend a thermostat that is easy to use for us and guest's.

Thank you.
Stephen
ianh100
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:37 pm
Location: Sherborne Dorset

Post by ianh100 »

Hi,

There has been quite a lot of discussion on this point. We only have 1.5MB and find ours reliable.

I have used a variety of these, I am currently using BG Hive in 2 properties and have to say that I am quite pleased with it. There are some that are aimed at this market and allow the owner to lock certain functions from the guest (max temp for example). I had one guest keep the heating at 28C day and night for 2 weeks which I could see but felt I could not really adjust (morally).

If you just want to keep an eye on things and make sure it is warm for a new guest I cant fault it.

If you want to understand energy costs I can also suggest "Your Loop" these can show you daily costs for energy and recommend the best tariff to switch to.
Joanna
Posts: 1091
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:12 pm
Location: Chester, North West England & Sidmouth, East Devon
Contact:

Post by Joanna »

+1 for Hive. They've also started doing motion sensors and smart plugs which we're looking into. (Could be useful when the houses are empty).
Jo

Joint owner of Baker's Cottage in Chester & Chandler's Cottage in Sidmouth
zebedee
Posts: 1270
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 2:57 pm
Location: yorkshire dales

Post by zebedee »

We have the Salus both at home and at the cottage. Cheaper than Hive and you can fit it yourself (or rather OH can :D :D ).
It works on oil central heating as well.

It's a nice service to offer guests that you can have the property warm for their arrival without much effort on you half.
tchn
Posts: 229
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:02 pm
Location: Lake District

Post by tchn »

I've posted before on this and still haven't actually committed, but having monitored the market for a while and got a remote oil monitor to work, I think we'll go with the Heatmiser SmartStat this summer. I was going to get the Neo, but the SmartStat is cheaper, connects directly to the router (not through an attached modem) and I think has all the same features if you don't have zoned heating. It has guest features.

That said, it fits our requirements, but it won't fit everyone's - the questions I would ask of each modem you might consider are:
1. do you want wired or wireless connection to the boiler?
2. do you have combi boiler or separate heating?
3. do you want the thermostat mains wired (and is the wiring in place) or battery powered?
4. do you want to be able to lock and/or limit the settings for guests? can you prevent guests from overriding the settings, or seizing control?
5. what is the frost setting temperature, can you change it and what does your insurance company decree?
6. do you want geo-location, and if not, can you turn it off?

There are probably even more factors, but that's all I can manage off the op of my head.
tchn
Posts: 229
Joined: Mon Jun 11, 2012 11:02 pm
Location: Lake District

Post by tchn »

In addition, this was a full previous thread (obviously the market has moved on though)

viewtopic.php?t=16631&highlight=
Stephen
Posts: 141
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 4:33 pm
Location: Northumbria/Cumbria Border / Florida
Contact:

Post by Stephen »

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it.

Our speed is 0.25MB until 14th May - it sometimes took about half an hour to answer an email.

We use the Proliphix system in our Florida villa - which is great and saves money but they aren't available in the UK as far as I'm aware.

We just want to turn the heating on/off so the place is warm for guest's, plus maybe turn some lights on although we do use timers to turn lights on for guest's arriving late.

Thank you
ianh100
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:37 pm
Location: Sherborne Dorset

Post by ianh100 »

Hi Stephen

The amount of data reuqired to manage the heating is almost nothing. THermostats like Hive run a web interface on a remote server (proabably on Amazon web services) it only sends a very small amount of data to check the temp and make changes.

If you link is reliable but very slow it would probably work now.
ianh100
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:37 pm
Location: Sherborne Dorset

Post by ianh100 »

Hi Stephen

The amount of data reuqired to manage the heating is almost nothing. THermostats like Hive run a web interface on a remote server (proabably on Amazon web services) it only sends a very small amount of data to check the temp and make changes.

If you link is reliable but very slow it would probably work now.
DEP
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2015 6:15 am
Location: Moray Coast, Scotland

Post by DEP »

+1 for hive. We installed it last year and have found it really useful. Easy installation and simple interface. You can set it to receive alerts when temp goes over level you determine. Like previous post we don't interfere with it when guests are in though, but just good to know.... :lol:
Stephen
Posts: 141
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 4:33 pm
Location: Northumbria/Cumbria Border / Florida
Contact:

Post by Stephen »

Do the thermostats need to be hard wired to router or are they wi-fi, we have a thermostat in the dining room and was wondering if we could just replace it with the new internet one.

Also do they work on all heating systems, we have a n LPG Worcester Greenstar

Thanks.
ianh100
Posts: 598
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 4:37 pm
Location: Sherborne Dorset

Post by ianh100 »

Hi Stephen

They vary, Hive is made up of 3 parts.

A hub that plugs into the router
A Thermostat that is battery powered and can be mounted anywhere
A control box with relays to turn on the heating/hot water, normally located close to the boiler

I think there are some that have direct WiFi and just 2 components.
User avatar
petemcveigh
Posts: 78
Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 2:26 pm
Location: Davenport, Central Florida
Contact:

Post by petemcveigh »

I am very interested in migrating to internet-based control systems for our villa but have on query (I tried Googling but got myself more confused by references to static internal and external addressing!!) - if you go down this route do you need to get your broadband changed to a static IP address?
" Do I really look like a guy with a plan?"
Stephen
Posts: 141
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 4:33 pm
Location: Northumbria/Cumbria Border / Florida
Contact:

Post by Stephen »

petemcveigh wrote:I am very interested in migrating to internet-based control systems for our villa but have on query (I tried Googling but got myself more confused by references to static internal and external addressing!!) - if you go down this route do you need to get your broadband changed to a static IP address?
We have the Proliphix system in our villa, the iP address changes often but Proliphix updates the system with the new iP address automatically and sends us an email telling us.

I didn't think about the iP changing for our UK thermostats - Do you need to change the ip address regularly.

Thanks
Stephen
russellt
Posts: 353
Joined: Tue Dec 09, 2014 8:03 am
Location: Ivybridge, Devon, UK
Contact:

Post by russellt »

petemcveigh wrote: do you need to get your broadband changed to a static IP address?
I doubt it.

I can't answer for remote thermostat systems specifically, but in general, you could use a service like Dyndns or Noip (google them). I use noip for other things. These services assign you a unique url, then recognise when your broadband provider has changed your dynamic ip address, and automagically re-direct your records to your unique url accordingly.

Noip.com gives you 3 free host/redirect addresses though, in order for it to be free, you have to go into their service and confirm your settings each month(takes about 20 seconds, and they email you a reminder). Alternatively, you pay for a continuous redirect. Something like $25 pa for 25 addresses.

Also, some routers include a way to set-up dyndns from the router directly.

I should imagine the thermostat providers have already worked all this out for you. They may even provide their own dynamic IP addressing/redirect service.
Web: https://yofftoo.com/property/esmes-cottage
Twitter/Facebook/Instagram: @esmescottage
Post Reply