Hive Thermostat: A Guide to Smart Heating Control
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The Hive Active Heating is a smart thermostat that allows you to control your home's heating and hot water remotely using your smartphone or tablet. With features like geolocation, scheduling, and voice control, you can maximise the efficiency of your energy usage and save on home heating bills. Prices range from €80 to €145 depending on the model you choose and where you purchase it from.
Where Can I Buy a Hive Thermostat in Ireland?
You can buy Hive thermostats either online or in store. We recommend checking availability before making a purchase.
You can buy online at the following sites:
- Hive offical site
- Amazon
And instore at:
- Currys PC World
- Harvey Norman
- Local electrical stores
Prices depend on where you purchase your thermostat. The table below offers an oversight of the price range for Hive thermostat and its accessories:
| Device Name | Price Range |
|---|---|
| Hive Thermostat Mini | €100 - €145 |
| Hive Thermostat | €150 - €200 |
| Hive Radiator Valve | €60 |
| Hive Thermostat Stand | €35 |
Source: Irish Online Retailers
Last Updated: December 2024
How Do You Install a Hive Thermostat?
To install your Hive thermostat, it is necessary to follow these steps:
- Gather together the necessary equipment including the hub, thermostat and wiring.
- Turn off the power to avoid any accidents.
- Disconnect the old thermostat.
- Connect your new Hive thermostat following the guidelines provided.
- Place the Hive hub in a central location with strong wi-fi reception.
- Connect your hub to the wi-fi network.
- Create a hive account and link it to your thermostat.
- Following the instructions to configure your thermostat to your desired temperature, etc.
Professional Installation Required
While it is possible to install your Hive thermostat by yourself, we recommened getting a professional to install it to avoind any unwanted complications or accidents that could occur when installing it yourself.
What Is the Hive Thermostat?
The Hive Active Heating is a smart thermostat that allows you to control your home's heating and hot water remotely using your smartphone or tablet.
It offers features like:
- Remote Control: Adjust your heating and hot water from anywhere with an internet connection.
- Scheduling: Create custom heating schedules to optimize energy usage.
- Geofencing: Automatically adjust the temperature based on your location.
- Voice Control: Compatible with voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
- Energy Efficiency: Help reduce energy consumption and lower your bills.
The Hive Active Heating system typically includes a thermostat and a hub, which connects to your home's Wi-Fi network. You may also need additional components, such as radiator valves, depending on your specific heating system.
How Does a Hive Thermostat Work With Your Heating?
A Hive thermostat works in the following fashion:
- It detects the temperature in your living space.
- If heating is necessary, it will inform your boiler to heat your water.
- The hot water gets distributed through your radiators.
- This increases the room temperature accordingly.
By automatically controlling your home’s temperature, your boiler and central heating system will only function when necessary.
In turn, this means a reduction in energy consumption and thus reduces your energy bills.
What Are the Pros and Cons of the Hive Thermostat?
A Hive thermostat can provide convenience and energy savings. However, it requires a stable Wi-Fi connection and may have higher upfront costs compared to traditional thermostats.
Let's have a look at the advantages and disadvantages of the thermostat:
What Are the Hive Thermostat Advantages?
Apart from the obvious energy-saving advantages of the Hive thermostat, here are some of its main features over other smart thermostats like the, Nest, Netatmo, or Tado.
- Good Appearance
It is extremely attractive, with a cutting-edge responsive display combined with buttons for ease of use. - Flexible
It can be wall-mounted or kept on a shelf. - Heating Controls
It comes with the ability to control your heating, boost your heating for an hour, etc. - Smart Heating
The Hive thermostat turns off the heating when you leave home through a sensor on your front door. - Special Features
Hive also boasts frost protection and holiday mode features. Keeping your pipes safe and without paying the earth for heating an empty house. - Hot Water Control
It allows you to control your hot water, which is a big plus in our books.
What Are the Hive Thermostat Disadvantages?
Like any product, there are some drawbacks to the Hive thermostat. Here is a quick summary of what these are.
- Only Allows Other Hive Products
Doesn’t allow non-Hive devices to connect to the hub. The only exception is Philips Hue bulbs. - Costly
It is a little expensive as you’ll have to shell out an additional €20-€25 for a frame in a different colour and around €30 for a stand. - Limited Features
The option to turn off the heating when the front door closes is only really useful for a single household, or where every family member leaves at around the same time. - Complex Setup
The setup of a Hive thermostat is a little more complicated than other smart thermostats, which are generally a bit more plug-and-play style. - Risky To Install Alone
You can risk buying the thermostat independently and try to get it to function with other Hive add-ons such as the Hub, although we’d recommend just getting a package that includes everything you need plus professional installation, more information in our Hive prices section.
Efficiency makes your bills cheaper! We’ll also take this opportunity to remind you that in the name of efficiency (and cheaper bills) your heating should really be turned off half an hour before you leave, not a minute or two before you leave.
What Are the Hive Thermostat Reviews Like?
Reviews for Hive Heating controls and thermostat mainly come from the UK section of Trustpilot.
Here, Hive receives a 4.1 out of 5-star rating from over 31,762 customer reviews.
Customers were overall satisified with the product along with professional installation service.
Wish we would have installed Hive years ago. Super easy to use. When ordered had loads of communication on product arrival and next steps until installation. The set up engineer was really knowledgeable on the product helped us get started and it was installed with no hiccups. Can't recommend enough.
Helen Park on Trustpilot, November 2024
The Hive app, currently available for both Android and Apple devices, is designed to pair with the Hive Hub or Hub 360, and control all your smart home devices, not just the thermostat.
The Hive smart thermostat app averages 3.9 out of 5 stars on Google Play and 4.5 out of 5 on the Apple Store.
It would seem that recent updates to the app have left some customers frustrated.
The previous version of the app worked well. I was asked if I wanted to trial the new version, which I did. I didn't like it and found the heating came on at random times, not at the scheduled times. I gave feedback and reverted back to the older version. Since being forced to use the new app, this issue is still happening. A joke to force us to use the new app when it was identified as an issue before the rollout happened?! As a mechanical engineer by trade I will not recommend to any Clients!
Helen Park on Trustpilot, November 2024
Hive Heating Thermostat FAQs
What is the Hive Hub?
The Hive Hub connects all your Hive products so you can remotely access light bulbs, cameras, door sensors, smart plugs, and the thermostat. It is an integral part of the Hive offering and normally ships with the Hive thermostat. New Hive purchases are now being shipped with the Hub upgrade, the Hive 360.
Is There a Monthly Fee for a Hive Thermostat?
No. You do not need to pay monthly fees to use the Hive thermostat. There are extra features via Hive Heating Plus that may incur recurring monthly or yearly fees.
Can I Install a Hive Thermostat Myself?
Although not quite as straightforward as other smart thermostats on the market, you can install the Hive thermostat yourself and save yourself the cost of an engineer.
Can I Replace My Thermostat With Hive?
Not only the Hive thermostat, but any smart thermostat, can replace existing conventional programmers. These work with most oil, gas, and condensing boilers.
Where Is the Best Place To Put My Hive Thermostat?
The thermostat unit can be wall-mounted or kept on a shelf within reach, as with the Google Nest.
However, we’d strongly recommend you keep it in one of the most commonly occupied rooms, such as the sitting room, in order to better gauge the temperature that is most comfortable for you.
You’ll also need to keep it out of the path of any drafts or direct sunlight which could cause it to incorrectly read the temperature as too hot or too cold.
What Is a Hive Signal Booster?
If you have a particularly large or long house, or maybe just some extra thick stone walls, you may have negated the idea of getting a smart thermostat due to signal issues.
You will probably have already noticed signal problems with your Wifi when attempting to use your smartphone in different parts of the house.
The Hive signal booster is smaller and less obtrusive than traditional signal boosters, simply plug it into any socket, and it will increase and spread the quality of your Wi-Fi signal, for only €29.
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