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According to The Energy Saving Trust, an average home in the UK spends a huge chunk of energy on heating and hot water. This not only results in hefty bills but is also bad for the environment.
The good news is that smart heating controls, such as those from Hive, can help you save as much as £120 a year by being “smart” about heating your home and adopting all the best practices.
Hive is a product of the energy giant British Gas and is one of the most popular smart heating controllers in the UK.
Read on to find out more about Hive smart heating installation, the typical costs, how smart heating can be energy efficient, and how Calder Electrical Services can help:
Smart heating is a generic term used to define a heating system that you can control remotely through a mobile app. By using smart heating controls connected to the internet, you have complete access to your home’s heating through your smartphone, laptop, or tablet.
Using smart heating, you can control your heating system from anywhere in the world, as long as you are connected to the internet.
You can also receive trends and insights on your energy use and see how much you are spending as you go. This is an extremely useful feature as it helps cut back on your use and minimises energy consumption, saving you money on your bills.
Smart thermostats can also be integrated with other smart home devices and can be controlled via voice assistants such as Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
Here are some reasons why you may want to install smart heating controls in your home:
To understand how smart heating controls work, let’s look at how they are different from traditional and digital ones.
Traditional heating controls work by manually setting the temperature of the thermostat, inside which there is a thermometer connected to a metal strip that completes an electrical circuit.
The circuit signals the boiler to turn on, heating the metal strip and your home. When the desired temperature is reached, the circuit breaks and turns the boiler off.
Digital heating controls are controlled by a thermometer that automatically turns off the boiler as soon as the desired temperature is reached.
Smart heating controls are more intelligent than their traditional and digital variants and connect to the boiler as well as the Wi-Fi network. This connectivity enables the system to be a part of a smart home solution.
You can easily adjust your heating settings with the simple download of an app and control them from anywhere in the world, as long as you have an internet connection.
Here are the simple steps that you need to follow to remotely control your smart heating from absolutely anywhere:
People often get confused between smart thermostats and smart meters, but the two are very different things. Both are useful when it comes to heating your home but they work in a very different manner and serve a different purpose.
A smart meter uses a display unit in your home to show information regarding your energy usage throughout the month and how much it will cost.
A smart thermostat, on the other hand, allows you to control your home’s heating system through advanced features and technologies.
Hive is one of the biggest names in smart heating and has a range of smart thermostats suitable for all types of homes.
A brand by British Gas, Hive is now in its second generation and has an updated look with a more modern interface.
It can control a multi-zone heating system and offers a range of devices that you can incorporate into your smart home, including the Hive Radiator Valve, Hive View, and the Hive Hub.
The Hive Radiator Valve lets you control the temperature of each room, maximising savings compared to using only the Hive thermostat.
Hive View is a livestream of your home and its smart devices including smart lights, smart plugs, and sensors that alert you when a door or window is opened. All the components are connected with the Hive Hub, which is installed at the same time as your smart thermostat.
As you would expect from any smart heating system, Hive heating controls are also compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri.
Although installing a Hive thermostat is pretty straightforward, Hive recommends they be installed by a professional who possesses the required skill and knowledge to work on the systems.
They will be able to walk you through all the features so that you can make the most out of your smart heating system.
In most cases, a plumber, boiler engineer, or electrical contractor would be the best person to carry out the installation as they would need to make sure your Hive thermostat is connected to the system correctly.
For a standard boiler setup, the installation should be straightforward and shouldn’t take more than an hour to finish.
However, if you have an old boiler or a complicated heating system, it is always best to consult with specialists for their professional advice.
If you’re looking to change or upgrade your existing boiler, it may be a good time to install your Hive thermostat along with it. It might save you labour time and, therefore, lower the installation cost.
When having a Hive thermostat installed in your home, make sure you:
Hive smart heating controls are incredibly energy-efficient and help you save money. Not only do they help with cost savings but also with reducing carbon emissions and are better for the environment.
Here are a few extra ways you can save money and energy with a Hive thermostat:
One of the most important steps you can take to reduce your energy usage and lower your carbon emissions is to install an efficient heating system that you can control and manage easily.
After your Hive thermostat is installed, make sure to download the Hive app so that you can control the thermostat using your phone, laptop, computer, or voice assistants.
You will have instant remote access, regardless of where you are. This way, in case you forgot to turn off the heating when you stepped out of the house, you can use the app on your phone to switch it off. You may turn it on again 30 minutes before you come back home.
To prevent energy bills from skyrocketing, make sure the heating is on only when you actually need it, and that is where setting schedules comes in.
Smart thermostats, like most thermostats, allow you to set schedules for heating your home. You can set the thermostat to switch off when you leave for work in the morning and turn it on a few minutes before you reach home.
A great advantage of smart thermostats, like the Hive thermostat, is that they allow you to adjust the schedules through the app.
You can save further by linking your Hive thermostat with other smart devices in your home such as motion sensors.
The system can use the sensors to see when you have left the house and when it is time to turn off the heating. This integration is easily doable through the Hive app.
It can be very easy to end up with huge bills by heating areas of your home that you are not using, which is a serious waste of energy and resources.
You can save up quite a bit by dividing the rooms in your house into zones and controlling their temperature individually.
This can be achieved by replacing your standard radiator valves with smart radiator valves and selecting the temperature, setting the heating schedules, and turning off the radiators.
By heating only the parts of your house that you actually use and not wasting energy and money on empty rooms, you will see a difference in your energy bill over time.
For example, if you work in your home office from 9 am to 5 pm on the weekdays, you can set a schedule accordingly and turn off the heating everywhere else in the house.
Hive smart thermostats come with great additional features, such as ready-by and geolocation, that can help you save money.
It can often be tricky to determine how long it will take for your house to warm up at the right temperature, and that usually results in wasted resources by setting the heater to come on much earlier than needed.
Hive thermostat’s ready-by feature is the answer to this issue as it will pre-heat your home at exactly the right temperature at exactly the right time.
Geolocation works by tracking your location using your phone so that it can alert you if you’ve left the house with the heating still on.
Installing a Hive thermostat is a great decision whether you are looking to cut down your energy bills or want more control over how your home is heated. It is incredibly easy to set up and use and can save you up to £120 a year by not heating an empty home.
A Hive thermostat is one of the best products and provides great value for money. For only installation, the average labour cost lies somewhere between £60 and £120.
It usually takes around 1 hour to install a Hive thermostat and some contractors even charge an hourly rate. It might take longer than an hour if it is an older model with different wiring.
For material and professional installation, you can expect to pay anywhere between £270 and £310. These prices are not definitive and may vary depending on factors such as:
If your Hive thermostat needs to be installed directly onto a combi boiler, it should be a simple process and mustn’t take too long.
If, however, you have an old boiler system that is wired in a certain way, you can expect to pay extra labour charges for it. If the boiler is not easily accessible, this may increase the labour time, and therefore, the costs.
For an accurate quote, you can tell your contractor the make or model of your heating system. You may also send a photo if it helps.
Hive makes several different types of thermostats. They all differ in their features and, therefore, come at different price points.
Depending on the model you choose, it may affect the material cost as well as the labour cost. A complex and more feature-rich model will most likely be more expensive than a basic thermostat. The former may also require special skills to install and may incur additional charges.
Hiring experts and contractors in some areas is cheaper compared to other areas. Prices in the south are generally higher than in the north.
Expect to pay extra labour costs if you live in London and surrounding areas. Also, if your home requires extra travel to reach than usual, you may be charged extra.
If you are looking for someone to install a smart heating controller such as a Nest, Hive, or Honeywell Evohome, look no further!
With so many great products out there, it can often be difficult to choose the best one for your needs, especially since not all are compatible with every type of heating system.
At Calder Electrical, we can take out the hassle and guide you to select the best smart heating control for your property that not only gives you added control and convenience but also helps maximise energy savings!
We understand the importance of reducing your energy consumption which will not only help you lower your bills but also allow you to play your part in reducing harmful carbon emissions.
Our energy-saving services include installing smart systems for lighting and heating, installing or upgrading to energy-efficient products such as LED lighting, a wide range of smart home solutions, and ways to maximise an existing solar PV or wind turbine installation so that you can store excess energy rather than feeding it back into the grid.
If you would like more information on installing a smart heating controller in your home or business, please get in touch. Contact us here or call us on 0800 612 3001 right away!
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash
Or would like us to provide a survey and quote then please contact us and we will be happy to help.
Call us on 0800 612 3001