Hive Thermostat (2024): one-minute overview
Hive is a trusted title within the heating and sensible machine market, and the Hive Thermostat is its flagship product. The Hive Thermostat has gone by way of a number of iterations over time, beginning because the Hive Energetic Heating earlier than changing into the Hive Energetic Heating 2, then merely the Hive Thermostat we now know. However this is not the same smart thermostat we reviewed back in 2022 – it is a newer mannequin with some upgrades.
Whereas the design is basically the identical, Hive has achieved away with the bodily buttons of the sensible thermostat’s predecessor, choosing touchscreen compatibility as a substitute and making for a extra glossy and trendy design. However this thermostat would not simply look good – it is bought the products, too.
The most recent Hive Thermostat lets you simply schedule your heating and Enhance it on a whim, however signing up for a Hive Plus subscription is the important thing to unlocking a few of the machine’s finest (and best) options, together with invoice insights, saving recommendation, and the power to make sure you’re not heating your property while you’re not dwelling. It is an additional value that is value investing in if you wish to have extra management over your heating invoice.
Nonetheless, like its predecessors, the Hive Thermostat would not include native zonal/room management. Hive Radiator Valves should be bought for room management, which value £59 a pop (the thermostat and its equipment are solely available for purchase within the UK). Different extras, just like the Hive Hub and set up, may also rapidly enhance its £119 price ticket, however in case you’re in search of an easy-to-use and handy thermostat, you’ll be able to’t go unsuitable because it’s one of many best smart thermostats available on the market.
Hive Thermostat (2024): value and availability
- £119 (hub {and professional} set up additional)
- Solely out there within the UK
- Obtainable from Hive online store
The Hive Thermostat is just out there within the UK and prices £119, making it £20 greater than its £99.99 predecessor. That value can rapidly enhance, relying in your required extras – although supply is free. You want a appropriate Hive Hub for the Hive Thermostat to work, which prices an additional £70 if you do not have one, bringing the entire to £189. Likewise, if you wish to add on knowledgeable set up from British Fuel, this may add one other £109 to the fee. Including the Hive Thermostat, Hive Hub, {and professional} set up will increase the entire value to £298.
Different non-obligatory extras embody a stand for £29 in case you do not wish to mount the Hive Thermostat on the wall, and a Hive Plus subscription (£3.99 a month / £39.90 a 12 months). Zonal/room management would not come low-cost, both. To warmth rooms individually, that you must buy a Hive Radiator Valve – costing £59 every – for every room you need management over.
For this overview, I acquired the Hive Thermostat, Hive Hub, 5 Hive Radiator Valves, knowledgeable set up, and a 12 months’s value of Hive Plus – which might usually value an eye-watering £613.
The worth of the Hive Thermostat is available in barely lower than the Honeywell Evohome, with equally priced extras, however the Hive Thermostat affords extra refined options. For those who’re on a price range, it is value contemplating the Drayton Wiser, particularly in case you’re after room management. Just like the Hive, the Drayton Wiser is just out there within the UK.
Hive Thermostat (2024): design
- Simple-to-use digital show
- Sufficiently small to be inconspicuous
- Skilled set up non-obligatory
Straight out of the field, you get your Hive Thermostat with its 4 required AA batteries, a Hive receiver that connects to your boiler, and a Hive Hub (in case you ordered one) that plugs into a traditional electrical socket and your router through an ethernet cable. The Hive Thermostat comes with a 12-month guarantee, however signing as much as Hive Plus extends this.
The Hive Thermostat is trendy and inconspicuous, with the choice to mount it in your wall or, in case you purchased a stand, set it on a flat floor. Measuring simply 95.9mm x 95.9mm x 46.2mm (together with the dial), it’s significantly smaller than the 10-year-old Hive thermostat it changed on my wall, and would not look imposing in my hallway. It is also a lot prettier than my previous thermostat, with its black show, white encompass, and silver dial giving it a up to date look. There are additionally two discreet buttons on the highest – one for the machine’s Enhance function, and one for Sizzling Water Enhance (if in case you have a separate water heater).
Whereas not in use, the show is clean, however press the dial, and the thermostat springs to life, with its touchscreen show exhibiting a pink again button, inexperienced tick button, and menu button (indicated by three horizontal strains).
The displayed textual content is simple to learn, with giant textual content exhibiting the precise temperature and the goal temperature. Simply how toasty your required temperature will make your property is indicated by the colour of the textual content. For instance, 21C seems orange (heat), 7C blue (chilly), and over 25 pink (scorching). I discovered this very useful, because it gave me a tough indication of simply how scorching I used to be making the home – very, apparently.
Whilst you can set up the Hive Thermostat your self, the Hive Thermostat FAQs say, “It’s worthwhile to be competent in electrical wiring and DIY.” If that is not you, that you must add on knowledgeable set up when inserting your order. The skilled set up is completed by a British Fuel engineer, however you do not must be with British Fuel for this service or to make use of the Hive.
As talked about, I already had an previous Hive thermostat put in, however the engineer simply eliminated it and put in the brand new one, in addition to the Hub and receiver. Alongside this, he put in my additional 5 Hive Radiator Valves, however this is not usually a part of the service. It’s worthwhile to set up the valves (in case you purchase them) your self, nevertheless it’s fortuitously a fairly simple course of. My engineer additionally gave me a rundown on how you can use the app to regulate my new thermostat. Total, the engineer was at my dwelling for 2 hours, however a typical set up takes about an hour and may be booked on-line while you order your Hive Thermostat.
Hive Thermostat (2024): efficiency
- Handy sensible app compatibility
- Extra environment friendly heating
- Linking with Siri may be complicated
The Hive Thermostat is a pleasure to make use of and there are many options tucked away on this pint-sized heating machine.
A click on of the menu button brings up choices for Warmth, Vacation, and Settings. Below Warmth, you’ll be able to manually alter your present temperature, alter your heating schedule, or just flip the heating off. Vacation mode lets you enter while you’ll be away for an extended interval and while you’ll return, so your heating would not come on whilst you’re away however your property is heated in your return. Due to Frost Safety, the thermostat activates when your property reaches beneath 7C as default to stop your pipes from freezing, whereas dad and mom will probably be happy to see the Little one Lock operate, which prevents little fingers from adjusting the temperature.
The aforementioned Enhance button on the highest of the machine lets you warmth your property to a desired temperature for a set interval, so that you can provide your property a managed warmth burst. The opposite button, for Sizzling Water Enhance, lets you flip your scorching water on for a set interval however would not management the temperature – this button is redundant if in case you have a combi boiler like me, although.
Whereas the Hive Thermostat is pretty simple to make use of, I discovered controlling the machine through the Hive app a lot simpler. Controlling my thermostat’s schedule was rather more simple; I may rapidly use the Enhance function, and I used to be in a position to management my heating from wherever. There’s nothing like the easy pleasure of coming dwelling from an evening out and popping the heating on so the home is heat while you get dwelling. It’s also possible to arrange Fast Actions so you’ll be able to activate predefined settings on the click on of a button, however I discovered these a bit difficult and they’d be higher suited to those that personal a number of Hive sensible units.
Much more handy are the Away Mode and Geolocation options. Away Mode lets you inform the Thermostat while you’re out so it would not unnecessarily warmth your property whilst you’re away, whereas Geolocation provides you a notification while you get a sure distance from your property and have left the heating on.
These options are solely out there with a Hive Plus subscription, nevertheless, which I counsel getting if you need help with saving in your gasoline invoice and recommendation on utilizing your heating extra effectively. This subscription features a Saver Mode which predicts your invoice and helps you narrow it, a Funds Tracker that may warn you while you’re overspending, and a Schedule Help function that advises on essentially the most environment friendly technique to schedule your heating. Sadly, these three options do not work if in case you have Hive Radiator Valves (as I do).
Thankfully, regardless of the Hub’s ethernet connection, you’ll be able to nonetheless use your Hive Thermostat manually in case you lose web connection, however you will not be capable of management it through the app.
The Hive Thermostat’s efficiency is not fully flawless, although. Whereas the machine is appropriate with Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, Google Assistant, Siri, Philips Hue, and Mixergy, I struggled to attach my thermostat with Siri – and the app’s “Ask Hive” assistant did little to assist. After I lastly linked it, the voice command did not work correctly. This is able to be positive if there have been clearer directions on precisely how this compatibility works.
One other pesky challenge is the ‘Precise’ temperature studying. You set a temperature cap for the Hive Thermostat, so it ought to by no means warmth your property above that temperature. Nonetheless, the Precise temperature is usually unsuitable. It appears the temperature is measured from the world instantly across the thermostat, which is not essentially a real reflection of the temperature in your house.
For instance, my thermostat is in our downstairs hallway, close to no radiators, so the Precise temperature seems on the time of writing as 14.8C when it is really 16C two ft away, so if I cap my heating at 25C, it may probably attain 26 or 27C in my home earlier than the thermostat registers it at 25. That is truthful sufficient with the thermostat, which clearly cannot observe each room in the home, nevertheless it’s value noting it is not a real reflection of your property’s temperature. This turns into a extra obvious challenge in case you get the required Hive Radiator Valves for zonal management. I usually discovered the temperature of a room to be larger than the Precise estimate of the valve. For instance, proper now, my small workplace is 16.6C, however the valve says it is 15.5C. A level is not a lot, however in case you’re setting a temperature cap, it is value doing it a level decrease than you really need and it is also value noting in case you’re attempting to save lots of in your gasoline invoice.
I additionally discovered a big delay (round 15 to twenty minutes) between my radiators being Boosted and once they really activate, regardless of having Warmth On Demand enabled, which ought to kick the thermostat, and due to this fact boiler, into motion. This resulted in me growing the Enhance time to offer the thermostat and boiler time to register the Enhance.
A smaller challenge I had with the machine was its use of lithium batteries. Nobody likes altering batteries, and whereas it makes for a neater set up, it does imply we have to hold a inventory at dwelling for once they run out.
Total, although, these are solely minor issues, and the Hive Thermostat has made heating my dwelling rather more environment friendly – particularly with the addition of the Hive Radiator Halves. With the press of a few buttons or the flip of a dial, I can warmth my home, whereas the additional options guarantee I do not use my heating after I needn’t – which ought to in the end assist my gasoline invoice in the long term. It is made me extra conscious of how and after I warmth my dwelling, so as a substitute of being scared to activate the thermostat (and keep in mind to show it off), I fortunately flip it on, understanding I’ve higher management of each.
Must you purchase the Hive Thermostat (2024)?
| Attribute | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Worth | The thermostat itself is sort of reasonably priced, however set up and extras can quickly enhance the worth. | 4/5 |
| Design | The thermostat is small, glossy, and appears trendy when put in. It is easy to make use of too, and an enormous improve from its predecessor. | 4.5/5 |
| Efficiency | Controlling your heating with the Hive thermostat is a bit of cake, notably utilizing the cellular app, and the vitality use insights are wonderful. | 4.5/5 |
Purchase it if
Do not buy it if
Hive Thermostat (2024): additionally think about
For those who do not stay within the UK, listed here are two different sensible thermostats to contemplate: