# Hive or Nest smart thermostat ??



## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

Morning, looking to get a new thermostat as ours is getting on a bit and looking at possibly swapping over to a smart one… 

We have a conventional heating and hot water (cylinder) system

Been looking and Hive do one specifically for our system, so all good, but obviously there is the Nest version as well.

Looking for peoples thoughts that have one or the other - pros / cons if any ??

Thanks 👍🏻


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## sharrkey (Sep 11, 2017)

I’ve had my Hive system for about 7/8 years can’t complain about it at all, Find the app is great and easy to work plus also have Hive Plugs & multiple lights also connected to it. 
Control everything from my phone 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## packard (Jun 8, 2009)

Hive here, nice and easy to use Just works.

ignore any of the additional paid subs you do not need them.


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## BTS (Jul 22, 2013)

I have has Nest before which was nice to look at but for the best performance and flexibility I would go for the Drayton Wiser system. Used it in my last two houses and its been brilliant.


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## IvorB1H (6 mo ago)

Drayton have manufactured valves and some controls for many many years and are generally quality products- I’ve used them commercially (schools / offices etc) for a long time and no issues. Not used thier domestic offerings though.

personally I’ve had a next for about 6 years and aside from connectivity issues early on which was sorted with a decent mesh system due to the size of the property its done what you’d expect it to.


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## gatecrasher3 (Jul 21, 2006)

BTS said:


> I have has Nest before which was nice to look at but for the best performance and flexibility I would go for the Drayton Wiser system. Used it in my last two houses and its been brilliant.


Glad to read that. I am having Drayton Wiser thermostats fitted tomorrow.


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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

sharrkey said:


> I’ve had my Hive system for about 7/8 years can’t complain about it at all, Find the app is great and easy to work plus also have Hive Plugs & multiple lights also connected to it.
> Control everything from my phone
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


Cheers mate -do you have conventional system or Combi ? If conventional, with hot water cylinder, how does it work for the hot water heating ??

👍🏻


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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

packard said:


> Hive here, nice and easy to use Just works.
> 
> ignore any of the additional paid subs you do not need them.


That's good to know re the subs 👍🏻

Do you have conventional system or Combi ? If conventional, with hot water cylinder, how does it work for the hot water heating ??


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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

BTS said:


> I have has Nest before which was nice to look at but for the best performance and flexibility I would go for the Drayton Wiser system. Used it in my last two houses and its been brilliant.


Interesting - I’ll have a look at that 👍🏻


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## GeeWhizRS (Nov 1, 2019)

Been using a Nest thermostat (Gen 2) for about 9 years. Been rock solid. 👍


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## Alan62 (May 13, 2021)

We’ve had the original version of Hive for years pretty much problem free, although occasionally it needed a reboot, maybe once or twice per year. We recently upgraded to the latest version and so far it hasn’t needed a reboot so maybe they’ve cured that.
Ours is a conventional system with a hot water cylinder. There are two different types of receiver - one for combi boilers and one for dual systems (ie like ours), ensure you get the right one. The app/controls have two different parts to it so you can set timers etc separately for water and heating.


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## bluechimp (Dec 21, 2017)

If you have conventional boiler you’ll need Gen 3 of the Nest. I’ve had them in last two houses and been brilliant (Gen 2 on combi) love the flexibility. i’m sure they will both do great.


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## packard (Jun 8, 2009)

Andyblue said:


> That's good to know re the subs 👍🏻
> 
> Do you have conventional system or Combi ? If conventional, with hot water cylinder, how does it work for the hot water heating ??


have a conventional boiler I.e gravity fed system, with hot water tank, and rads Independently controlled on hive.

friend is a sparky who fits hive and nest weekly both are on par with each other and are similar price and spec. I had a boiler change few months back took a few mins to swap over with no issues at all.

I have the older hive module on wall, tbh we never ever touch it and it works fine can’t even remember the last time it was “down”. That said if the app or serve fails you can manually control on the physical device.


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## JB052 (Mar 22, 2008)

We have a Combi boiler and replaced the old controller/timer with a 'Nest' a few years ago, it all appears to work quite well, slight issue with power cuts as the 'Nest' battery doesn't last very long so we occasionally need to reconnect to the WiFi.


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## Teamleader 21 (May 7, 2019)

Have a Condensing boiler and was installed in the garage, went for the Hive and have had bother with the distance between the hive/receiver/router and a loss of signal which got frustrating, a booster managed to get this sorted. Having said that, after just come back from 2 weeks away, wife wanted the house warmed up a bit and the thermostat was showing no signal, the receiver was showing a solid Amber light, followed the steps ie switch everything off etc and all ok, took around 15mins for everything to pair up. Sometimes had an issue with the App which doesn't send the signal if you want to switch the heating on remotely without having to set up any schedules. I think it's good you can locate the thermostat in various rooms to gauge the best place to have it positioned for the temperature.


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## Podie (Mar 5, 2019)

We've had Hive since it came out (originally Mk1, and now the current version). It's been pretty good overall. TRVs can be a bit of a pain sometimes and you have to recalibrate them (have the heating on for 3 hours). The advantage of Hive is that it has plugs, bulbs and sensors as well. Integrates nicely with Alexa too.

There is also Tado that is worth a look.


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## LeeH (Jan 29, 2006)

I went Nest gen 2 as it’s a much nicer looking unit. No issues with in over 5 years or so.


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## IvorB1H (6 mo ago)

I just realised I actually have a nest thermostat E boxed & unopened here ! I’ll pop at it in the selling section should anyone reading this thread be interested (£50 + postage ?) think they are around £150 currently ?


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## Coops (Apr 26, 2008)

We moved into a new house earlier in the year and it came with Hive heating as standard - it's a conventional system with 2x Hive thermostats to enable independent control for downstairs & upstairs.

Seems to work ok, I don't have it linked to a phone.


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## Andyblue (Jun 20, 2017)

Podie said:


> We've had Hive since it came out (originally Mk1, and now the current version). It's been pretty good overall. TRVs can be a bit of a pain sometimes and you have to recalibrate them (have the heating on for 3 hours). The advantage of Hive is that it has plugs, bulbs and sensors as well. Integrates nicely with Alexa too.
> 
> There is also Tado that is worth a look.


cheers mate - interesting about the TRV’s as I was looking at them as another possibility for a couple of radiators downstairs, so we could just heat the odd room - rather than all downstairs (think I’ve got that right that you can have one in a room, that doesn’t have the thermostat in and just switch that room on…)


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## Podie (Mar 5, 2019)

Andyblue said:


> cheers mate - interesting about the TRV’s as I was looking at them as another possibility for a couple of radiators downstairs, so we could just heat the odd room - rather than all downstairs (think I’ve got that right that you can have one in a room, that doesn’t have the thermostat in and just switch that room on…)


Yep - means you can heat individual rooms to certain temps. You would need a TRV on every rad to do that though. We've done that over time, with the exception of the bathrooms - so we can pick which rooms we heat by app or by timer.

We seem to have three TRVs that like an annual reset. Not really a big hardship, just odd.  

I know Tado does TRVs as well. Not sure about Nest, as I've never looked into it. These things are often discounted in Black Friday.


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