Hive Thermostat smart heating installation

[@kyransharpe3578]

Best video there is this guys need’s commission! I pulled my hair out for days thinking thjs was a straight swap, this video solved all my problems 👍 Thanks

[@MrShizzell]

Hi Nigel, you deserve a medal. I was really stressing out as all of the other videos are made to look easy. I have virtually the same system with a spaghetti juction going on with the wiring as they were all the same colours unfortunately for me. You really helped me out after i was pulling my hair out! Kudos to you! Thanks!

[@Andy-q9x6x]

Nice one Nigel, thank you! Ordering one on screwfix now to pick up today. I will ensure I purchase the one for a conventiional boiler like yours as many are for a more modern combi boiler. Cheers

[@danielursu1140]

Fantastic description literally took me 1h after watching your video many thanks

[@electronut]

Thanks for the great video, it helped me to go ahead and buy a Hive, HW&CH. I'm moving from a wired in the hall thermostat to the wireless thermostat in the living room. A couple of minor comments. 1. I'm going to put the controller directly on to the old back plate as they are completely compatible ( I hope!). 2. At the old thermostat I'm going to short the red and yellow out in a chocolate block trminal, I don't then have to change any of the wiring in the wiring box jungle. I hope this simplifies the change over to a very simple task. Please check this out and feel free to ignore this if your not happy with it. I'll finish of the old thermostat location with a blank plate so that once I'm happy everything's working I can go back and extract the cable and change the terminal wiring.

[@richardnash8492]

Brilliant Video. Clear instructions that everyone should view prior to installing this system

[@GHOOGLEMALE]

Thanks - I've ordered mine off the back of your vid, great explanation

[@tahirsiddique5307]

Thank you for making this video. Very helpful!

[@DavidCushion]

Very well explained and diagrams helpful.

[@ryanstobie6558]

Great video, thanks, particularly the wiring diagram. I've used it to 'successfully' remove the old thermostat. The function of the system is the same as it was before so I'm calling that a win. However it hasn't solved my problem but I didn't think it would, I was just crossing it off my list. If you have some time could you offer some advice. My problem is that when I switch on CH it also activate DHW, both lights on receiver come on. This means that when the tank comes to temp the system switches off. I made my own wiring diagram, which was fun, and I think it is the same as yours. The only exception is that instead of wire going from my boiler to water pump (labelled Sw L (Switched Live?)), there is a wire going from the pump to your junction 6. Would this explain my problem? It seems a tricky thing for an amateur to fix.

[@NigelEaland]

I don’t think that is the problem as the sw L wire from the boiler is fed from terminal 6 to the boiler. I found the whole heating system wiring very confusing hence making a drawing to get my head around it. I think you have an existing wiring mistake. Do a google search for how to wire a three port valve and you will find pictures of system wiring diagrams. Then have a look at your cylinder stat wiring which has a 2 pole switch. It could be wired wrong and you have the wrong wire to the common terminal of the switch.

[@markjhorsley]

Just the vid I was after - thanks mate

[@richardkelseykelsey6078]

very impormative and clear, thankyou very much

[@train4905]

Exellent job sir ,really well explained ,,thanku

[@GladeElectrical]

Great Video ❤

[@bgoodbourn]

Thanks for doing this....we have virtually the same system. Was thinking to make this installation easier you could replace the thermostat with single block connector to join the two wires with the same effect. I have space to put a blanking plate. The advantage is that you can go back to a traditional setup as well. Anyway lets enjoy greater control on the heating and hot water!

[@NigelEaland]

Thanks for watching. Yes you could do that. The cabling for my old stat is taped and in the wall behind the Hive stat. I preferred to isolate that cable for safety as it will carry mains power and a new owner might not know that when redecorating.

[@bgoodbourn]

@@NigelEaland hood point. I’ll write a note and put it in the back plate.

[@lloyd9742]

So do I need to disconnect my wall thermostat dial for the hive heating to work?(cables at the back) The HIVE hot water is working fine But not the HIVE heating? As I think the dial thermostat on the wall is cancelling out the HIVE thermostat and stopping the boiler kicking in

[@NigelEaland]

@@lloyd9742 to correctly install you need to remove the room thermostat from the system by bypassing it in the junction box as I did at 7’19”. That thermostat is wired in series and so can stop the Hive receiver from switching on the heating if the temperature is set low.

[@markpalmer9679]

Hi Nigel….so just for the DIYer….if I wire up the Hive as per the existing programmer….can I just use a block connector behind the existing wall Thermostat to link the existing wires together so the circuit is closed and leave it at that? Appreciate your method takes power away from the thermostat, which is better but struggling to follow the wiring back to do your modification.

[@RichieAustinMagician]

Now if you have a old thermostat like in this video could your for example leave the thermostat wired and just have it turned up fully all the time and that would complete the circuit to let the hive system work ?

[@NigelEaland]

@@RichieAustinMagician yes but a bad solution. Don’t bother wiring the Hive in series with it, just bypass it. It’s not making it any easier to install.

[@amiraziz-music]

Nice video 👏🏼👏🏼, shall I just disconnect the old thermostat which is in my living room, or I will need to disconnect from the back box as well?

[@NigelEaland]

I disconnected the thermostat and removed it as well as disconnecting from the box. You can then fit the Hive Thermostat over the old thermostat back box.

[@amiraziz-music]

@NigelEaland I have the old convention boiler, when I disconnected the honey well room thermostat my hive stopped working.

[@iancjudd]

Hi Nigel, I've got a Honeywell controller but no room stat, just a temp sensor in the hallway. Would I just eliminate the temp sensor and join the wires as you did with the room stat wires? Great vid by the way, very informative without too much waffle. Thanks in advance. Ian.

[@NigelEaland]

Yes you should be able to join the wires. I don’t like unexplained wires left in walls particularly if they carry mains electricity that’s why I completely disconnected and bypassed up in the junction box. Thanks for watching. I’m glad you found it useful and waffle is not my thing 😃.

[@premierdeal]

I don't seem to see any content that shows what you actually do with the old wall thermostat? I see the white and black wires were moved in the block, but no mention of what you do with the old thermstat or it's wires!? Apols if I've missed something!

[@NigelEaland]

After I removed the wires from the block I pulled the cable out of the box to make things safe. Downstairs in my lounge I disconnected and removed the old thermostat but left the old wires in the wall box in the wall. I then screwed the new hive thermostat backplate over the hole and fitted the new box.

[@premierdeal]

Thanks so much for the fast reply Nigel! I understand now. Have a great Christmas!

[@NigelEaland]

@@premierdeal and you. Thanks for watching and good luck with the install.

[@vjtodmsf]

Hi @nigelealand - great video! Thank you. However I don't appear to have the existing red wire connected to terminal '1' in the original receiver. Any thoughts? Thank you.

[@NigelEaland]

I think that’s because you don’t have a 3-port valve which switches the hot water from the boiler to either water, radiators or both. This is because your boiler is plumbed with two outlets, one for CH and the other for HW. Should make no difference to the hive installation.

[@playid69]

I have just purchased a new hive hot water/central heating controller with a hub & thermostat. Do I need to remove the old manual thermostat? If I wanted to remove it should I just disconnect the wires and terminate them safely? If I do terminate them do I then need to go to the old main controller and disconnect the same coloured wires? I currently have a Drayton controller and the back box connectors look the same. Does this mean that I can just slot in the new hive controller as it is a 6-pin fitting. I am relatively proficient with electrics but have never installed a wireless system. Thanks

[@NigelEaland]

The old thermostat needs to be removed otherwise both it and the new thermostat will be trying to control the heating. What to do. The new controller should be a straight swap. The old controller should have a wiring diagram on the back that you can check and compare the wiring to the Hive controller. There’s two options to get rid of the old thermostat. You should disconnect and change the wiring in the junction box as I did in the video. The alternative which I’m not so keen on because the thermostat wires has mains volts. You could disconnect the thermostat two wires and join them together with a choc block and make safe. What I then did was fit the Hive thermostat back plate over the top of the old thermostat back box.

[@edlloyd976]

Superb clip. One question, what procedure do you follow in replacing the batteries?

[@NigelEaland]

The thermostat is clipped onto its back plate. Lift it off and replace the batteries and it will then auto reconnect to the hub.

[@JP_Raptor]

My wiring is a little different and confusing. My Honeywell controller has a 5 core flex. (N Blue, L Brown, 1 Black, 2 empty, 3 earth, 4 grey). Also my honeywell dial has three wires (N Blue, L Brown and a Black wire). The white wire for the port is connected below the Black Wire for the dial. Any ideas?

[@NigelEaland]

These installations are wired by plumbers and not electricians so following a standard colour code does not happen. It’s necessary to trace which coloured wires connects to which to get the full picture. That’s why for the video I created a system drawing because it was difficult for me to figure it out. Remember power off before you start! If I’ve read this right in the junction box you’ve found the white wire going to the three port valve and that connects to the black wire from the thermostat. Well done. Now trace the grey wire from the programmer back plate terminal 4 (HW ON) down to the junction box to find the second part of the thermostat connection which I would expect to be the brown wire. Once found then disconnect the thermostat wires and shift the white as I did. Over wire complete. Finally clean up. You have found two of the thermostat wires. Find and disconnect the blue from the junction box and pull the cable out of the box. Good luck. Let me know how you get on and thanks for watching.

[@JP_Raptor]

@@NigelEaland Hi Nigel thanks for your response. I've figured it out. I moved the grey wire above the white wire in the wiring centre and then straight swapped the wires for the receiver. Everything is working perfectly.

[@CASHSEC]

Does the Thermostat show any indications on exterior when on during normal use.

[@NigelEaland]

No it’s blank all the time unless you press the button.

[@GeordieAmanda]

Would it not have been easier to replace the thermostat with the 'receiver switch' and then turn the central heater boiler to be on 100% of the time. But then the Hive system will have the timer settings as well as the thermostat controls. Would that not make the wiring a lot easier. I know a lot of older style thermostats have a similar backplate to the Hive receiver, so they are possibly interchangeable without any wiring. Although, a small jumper wire with a switched live may be needed.

[@NigelEaland]

The receiver is designed to replace the programmer. It controls the hot water and heating systems. Doing what I think you are suggesting would only give you control of the heating and you would need an additional live and neutral power feed to the old thermostat location. No it wouldn’t be easier and would defeat the whole app base control system Hive is meant to achieve.

[@GeordieAmanda]

@@NigelEaland Ah, I was thinking of my Dads system which uses a 230V switch in his thermostat (it is quite old) and also has the same backplate as the Hive switch. I wondered if all you had to do would be put a small jumper in to give a live feed for the switch. I realise that hot water is another thing altogether. Thanks for the video

[@GeordieAmanda]

I should add that I was thinking that the thermostat in the Hive App would be set to say 1 degree, when no heat is wanted, as this is effectively switching the heat off unless the house is freezing.

[@NigelEaland]

@@GeordieAmanda as you can see in the video the backplate and wiring for the programmer is the same as the Hive receiver. I replaced mine because I wanted a new fresh backplate that came with the Hive. The simple way to bridge the old thermostat wiring is to join the two wires at the thermostat backplate. That avoid diving into the junction box choc block. I don’t like that method as it leaves live mains at the old thermostat location which could be dangerous if someone didn’t realise when decorating.

[@GeordieAmanda]

@@NigelEaland I looked at my Dads' thermostat last year when I broached him getting a better system. I popped the thermostat off to have a look and as you say the traveller of the switch needs a live feed and in his case it's a mains voltage switch, quite common I believe in older thermostats. It's something Hive does that Nest doesn't do, live mains switching. I'm not a spark, but have a passable working knowledge of electrical things, but a little knowledge is of course, a dangerous thing. It made me wonder how difficult it would be to change over and it looked like as the backplate is the same - it is, so it's a simple change over to the new switch (apart form the mains feed for the traveller). It's all a bit hypothetical of course, but it does look like it's a 10-minute job to fit and then probably 4 hours of swearing at the app as something won't talk to something else.... :D

[@mgbroadsterJ]

Why don't you use a 5 core like eph and Salus ? .

[@TMckenzie007]

Great video just order a hive, question is my junction box is Honeywell model 42005748-001 on a s plan system with two, 2 port valve will the wiring be the same?

[@NigelEaland]

You are lucky. I looked up that junction box and it’s beautifully labelled inside and identifies the room stat connections. You just need to disconnect the stat wires and replace with a wire between the two room stat terminals in the box to take it out of circuit. Thanks for watching.

[@auracazac9650]

I can't find the id 😫

[@NigelEaland]

It’s the hub ID. Look on the back of it.

[@Standupuk]

I think you could have used the old back plate of old programmer. It's the same design.

[@NigelEaland]

It’s true they were the same but I prefer to use the new one as I had it. No issue then with old contacts in the future.

[@murdogordon3091]

I don't have a thermostat on my system, so should be presumably easier.

[@anthonymachin564]

Not actually showing how to use the app to install / pair the stat

[@NigelEaland]

Just needed to put in the hub code and it searched and paired itself. I had to do nothing.

[@markjhorsley]

Loads of vids on that

[@Simlife101]

I don’t have a programmer only a thermostat can any one help me

[@mgbroadsterJ]

That costs more to let the cylinder go cold .

[@phillipbrown2236]

This is very inaccurate to what is exactly needed to make it function on the programming side.

[@phillipbrown2236]

Tbh the nest/Google is a much easier and better device to use