Hive active heating and other smart home devices. Anyone use any?

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Harrison

Harrison

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I've just had Hive active heating installed by British Gas. Anyone else got it? Or use other smart home systems/devices?

We are British Gas customers, using their homeserve cover for boiler servicing and covering all parts and labour for both the boiler, all pipes, waste pipes and electrics in the house. We've been using this cover for years now with great service. When we've had a boiler issue they have come out within a couple of hours to fix it. So when we had a deal to get Hive installed we thought it was a good idea, especially as Hive is made by British Gas.

After booking the install we had a date for 10th Jan 2017, but we had the annual boiler service today, and when the engineer arrived he said he saw we had booked the Hive and said if we cancelled the booking for the Jan install he could then rebook it and install it today, which was great. In addition he could offer it £100 cheaper at £149, instead of the £249 we initially paid. Go great deal.

It didn't take him long to install and we now have wi-fi controlled central heating and hot-water. And in addition Hive acts as a complete Smart home hub, so I can get some smart Hive lightbulbs which can be set to scheduled on and off times and can be dimmed when on.. great for the outside lights and the hallway when coming home in the dark or late at night. You can also get smart plug sockets and smart security devices for door and window sensors and motion sensors, so a great way to add some security to the house too. I'm going to start off with a couple o Hive lightbulbs for the front outside light and the hallway, and then might set some window sensors in the new year.

Definitely a great system, and at the £150 price to install via British Gas at the moment you can't go wrong at that price.

Is anyone else using Hive? Or any of the alternatives from Philips, Samsung etc? Are you happy with it? Any issues?
 
I'm thinking of getting a Nest system although I'm not sure if it will be worth it as our combined fuel bill is max £55 winter and £45 summer months...

Free on a certain tariff with npower at present or £280 installed locally.

Similar system all with saving fuel at least but I guess you have to factor in the initial cost!
 
I wish there were similar services here in Spain at as affordable prices. Technologically everything on offer by utility companies is 30 years behind, despite massive public spending on infrastructure.
 
You could buy and fit yourself. You can with the Hive. Although I'm not sure if the hub is country specific.

It does surprise me how some EU countries are so far behind in some areas, but ahead in others. The UK definitely seems to be moving ahead with technology these days.

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I've now discovered Hive works with the Amazon Echo, and the new much smaller Amazon Echo Dot. So you can use voice control to adjust your heating and hot water, as well as lightbulbs and other smart devices around the house. That's quite cool. The Echo also works with a lot of other devices and online services too.

When I originally saw the Amazon Echo advert I thought it was a bit pointless. But I'm starting to really see the usefulness of it. The Echo Dot is also much cheaper at £50 compared to the Echo, and has a lot more features such as audio out and bluetooth streaming to bluetooth speakers. The normal echo has the much larger speaker so is better if you need a standalone speaker for streaming music, as well as Alexa, but with the Dot you can connect it to a better sound setup anyway.

I've also just looked to see if there is any Sonos speaker integration, and the good news is this will be coming next year as a free software update for both Echo and Sonos. So that's good as I'm planning on setting up a Sonos 5.1 setup in the living room soon.

I'm also thinking this would be really good for my sister because she is blind and her mobility is limited. At the moment she has to rely on helpers to change a music CD for her, or turn Sky over. With an Amazon Echo Dot she could just ask for different music, an audio book, or even for it to read a Kindle book to her. Could be a really good device for her to have.
 
If you had the security devices installed I guess that might help to lower your home insurance premium, maybe?
 
Possibly. I would need to see if that is true. You can get Hive window/door sensors, as well as motion sensors. And they can warn you if they are open as the system detects you leaving the house. As well as the usual warning if it detects one being opened.

Plus you can pair them to other Hive devices to setup an if.. then action. For example when motion is detected turn hall light on. It even when front door is opened turn heating on. Quite a few possibilities.

Wouldn't it be interesting if the Amazon Echo could pair up with the sensors. You could ask if any windows are open before leaving the house.

One thing Hive don't make yet are smart light switches. That would be useful in a room where you have a set of lights that can't be replaced with smart light bulbs, such as a strip of spotlights or a chandelier. If you could just replace the light switch with a smart one that would be cool, so you could switch on and off, as well as dim.

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I thought of a use for the smart plugs. Christmas decorations! Could turn the outside lights on and off when needed, and even check the Christmas tree is off when you are out.

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I have the Nest thermostat and two Nest Protect carbon monoxide/fire alarms. They all work together quite well and they also work with Amazon Echo. I've been very happy with all of them. The monthly reports from Nest are quite nice too. :)

Heather
 
In my new job I'm working with a couple of guys from Spain. I know one of them (maybe both) are working in their spare time on an open source project to control lights and possibly other household devices via a wrist-watch. I'm not sure of the name of the project.
 
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