Possibly free energy saving measures.

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Nah I was thinking that moisture in the house gets trapped in. Massive condensation issues apparantly so more mold etc in the main house
Interestingly fitting trickle vents to windows was a requirement before I can get the boiler. They came round yesterday, but quickly realised I already have chimney vents in every room but 1 and also a wall vent in that room. Only required trickle vent was in the living room, apparently the chimney doesn't count there as it's in use but we don't use the gas fire anyway. Still, they put that in and I should get the boiler in 2 weeks.
 

kyoto49

Well-Known Forumite
Just had a missed call from someone from broadoak, who are the contractors for eon. I no longer meet the requirements for them so a bit late!
I think it's all a bit of a scam. I had the whole house surveyed and then heard nothing. The measures they were suggesting just weren't suitable for a Victoria Terrace and would have brought more issue than they were resolving, I'm convinced of that
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
I think it's all a bit of a scam. I had the whole house surveyed and then heard nothing. The measures they were suggesting just weren't suitable for a Victoria Terrace and would have brought more issue than they were resolving, I'm convinced of that
It's a government scheme, of course its a scam!

Broadoak seem to have the government contract round here, they're doing all the housing association properties. My mum got external wall insulation done, basically polystyrene on the outside of your house and a bit of render, they charge over 10k! Its the exact same stuff i got from a factory in Birmingham for about 20 quid per cubed meter when i did my floor. I'm assuming the energy companies must spend x amount on these measures, so agree a huge cost with the supplier then split the difference?

Every scheme I've looked into was just a way to move taxpayers money into the private sector, they're always terrible value for money if you were really paying the bill. Iirc the green homes grant one on my roof was a 6k job, with a further admin cost on their side of 1k to a non UK firm. Of that I had to pay 1/3 of the quoted cost, so 2k, meaning the taxpayer spent 5k. A local firm quoted 3k to do the job, so I only saved 1k from that 5k spend, 80% of the taxes spent just disappeared. I always think of this when I hear they're spending so many billion on something.
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
So apparently we have the boiler fitted today, but there has been a few 'discussions' shall we say. Called last week to arrange, all sounded great, then at the last minute told me due to stock issues it'd be a different boiler, when pressed further they said they were fitting cheaper controls too. The boiler itself is fine, still a WB just the last generation, I checked with a mate at Parsons and they said it's a good one and parts will be manufactured still for 10 years or so, but the boiler controls are a sticking point. To fix it I've asked for hive TRVs to go with my current hive setup, if they can provide them they can install. They agreed, waiting to see what turns up. Also got them to agree to fit 3 new radiators for me, were going to charge but now free.
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
So, that went well!

TBF, not the installers fault other than 1 thing, but basically all went badly and I'm sat here without heating still. First the solar panels mean you can't reach the flue, we had to access from next door and fashion some boarding over the panels, that added a lot of time. Next the previous owner had built a cupboard around the current boiler, with no regard for the boiler itself. You can't reach anything, and lots of things are simply not possible - like the flue seal, without causing some damage. At this point I already realised this wasn't going to be done in a day, but to top it off he lost a spring clip into the void under my floor. Can't get to it because of the aforementioned cupboard, can't get another one til today, so we had no heating other than the gas fire last night. Decided may as well send him home at 6, even though new radiators still needed plumbing in, as we had a reservation at the college for burns night.

He's already been round this morning very apologetic, but Wosely plumbing said they had delivery but can't find it. It's on their list, not in the box. There is some in Derby though, so he's currently driving there to fetch. Also hive TRVs are out of stock for collection everywhere, he has 1 but I'm meant to have 3. Can get from Amazon next day but need to sort out how that would be paid for.

Once I have one up and running I'll be replacing them all apart from the hallway anyway, so need to order some myself, but that can wait til I've seen them in action!

EDIT: Should add it's a rather specific spring clip, that holds the expansion vessel. Not some generic thing.
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
So, that went well!

TBF, not the installers fault other than 1 thing, but basically all went badly and I'm sat here without heating still. First the solar panels mean you can't reach the flue, we had to access from next door and fashion some boarding over the panels, that added a lot of time. Next the previous owner had built a cupboard around the current boiler, with no regard for the boiler itself. You can't reach anything, and lots of things are simply not possible - like the flue seal, without causing some damage. At this point I already realised this wasn't going to be done in a day, but to top it off he lost a spring clip into the void under my floor. Can't get to it because of the aforementioned cupboard, can't get another one til today, so we had no heating other than the gas fire last night. Decided may as well send him home at 6, even though new radiators still needed plumbing in, as we had a reservation at the college for burns night.

He's already been round this morning very apologetic, but Wosely plumbing said they had delivery but can't find it. It's on their list, not in the box. There is some in Derby though, so he's currently driving there to fetch. Also hive TRVs are out of stock for collection everywhere, he has 1 but I'm meant to have 3. Can get from Amazon next day but need to sort out how that would be paid for.

Once I have one up and running I'll be replacing them all apart from the hallway anyway, so need to order some myself, but that can wait til I've seen them in action!

EDIT: Should add it's a rather specific spring clip, that holds the expansion vessel. Not some generic thing.
Hope you get your heating sorted today. At least it's a bit warmer now...
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
So, still no heating. He's coming back at 07:30 once he can get some more parts, . Then to add to the poor guys woes he gets a flat tyre just as he leaves mine, and didn't have a jack, so I ended up helping him change his tyre.
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Just to say not only do I have heat, it's too bloody hot! As house had been cold for three days the new boiler went mental, by the time we hit the correct temp there was enough extra flowing round to go up another few degrees. Evening itself out now.
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
Just to say not only do I have heat, it's too bloody hot! As house had been cold for three days the new boiler went mental, by the time we hit the correct temp there was enough extra flowing round to go up another few degrees. Evening itself out now.
You're never happy :roll:

:D
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Decided that I want full heating control, ditching the supplied radbots after less than 24 hours and ordered more hive TRVs.
 

The Hawk

Well-Known Forumite
Decided that I want full heating control, ditching the supplied radbots after less than 24 hours and ordered more hive TRVs.
If I was starting again I would avoid Hive.

I had Hive installed around 6 years ago, when I replaced my combi boiler. I started with the Hive hub, thermostat and radiator valves, afterwards adding indoor and outdoor cameras.

My indoor camera failed after just over two years (and my outdoor camera would have soon after if I hadn't replaced it) because of a design fault, that has resulted in Hive announcing that it is ending its support for their cameras, effectively making any remaining, working ones, useless. No compensation offered. Following that they announced that they were downgrading the hubs.

So, pretty much all that is left, is their heating controls.

Now for the good news: I have to admit that their heating controls and app have worked well, over the 6 years I have used them.

However, given the way they have let me, and many other customers down, I will move away from them when the opportunity arises (probably the next heating upgrade). Put simply I don't trust them anymore.

But between December 2022 and August 2025 Hive will switch off the functionality for the following devices:

  • Boiler IQ wifi - this will stop working on 1 August 2025.
  • Hive camera - this will stop working on 1 August 2023.
  • Hive HomeShield - this will stop working on 1 August 2025.
  • Hive View indoor camera - this will stop functioning on 1 August 2025.
  • Hive View outdoor camera - this will cease to work on 1 August 2025.
  • Hub 360 sound detection - this will stop working on 31 December 2022.
  • Leak sensor - this will stop working on 1 September 2023.
  • Nano 1 Hub - This will stop working on 1 August 2023.
These devices can't be used with other providers, so once they stop working that's it.
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
If I was starting again I would avoid Hive.

I had Hive installed around 6 years ago, when I replaced my combi boiler. I started with the Hive hub, thermostat and radiator valves, afterwards adding indoor and outdoor cameras.

My indoor camera failed after just over two years (and my outdoor camera would have soon after if I hadn't replaced it) because of a design fault, that has resulted in Hive announcing that it is ending its support for their cameras, effectively making any remaining, working ones, useless. No compensation offered. Following that they announced that they were downgrading the hubs.

So, pretty much all that is left, is their heating controls.

Now for the good news: I have to admit that their heating controls and app have worked well, over the 6 years I have used them.

However, given the way they have let me, and many other customers down, I will move away from them when the opportunity arises (probably the next heating upgrade). Put simply I don't trust them anymore.

I only use their heating controls, no interest in the rest as it was all way more expensive than I wanted to pay. All my cameras are cheap Chinese ones (kami), my smart plugs are another make as they were about £7 each with energy monitoring, I know it means they all have different apps but it's only the cameras I check really, the rest are set and forget pretty much.
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
We have a hotchpotch of Tado for the HVAC, and various makes and nationalities for cameras, smart plugs, lighting etc. All controlled through Google Home. In fact GH controls everything in Formby and France as well as business premises. Once you know what you're doing it's very simple.
 

Lucy

Well-Known Forumite
We've got a tado sitting in the garage because they had a load to give away at work.

@tek-monkey My OH has basically built his own, and given your line of work I'm sure you would be able to too. The boiler is 'on' permanently according to the controls but there's a relay that the server sends a signal to when the rooms are cold enough to switch it on.
 

tek-monkey

wanna see my snake?
Having a 1 year old means time to play is very limited, but my aim is to be able to say when I have spare solar do extra stuff. No idea what yet admittedly!

I do have bluetooth thermometers all over the house, so mapping these with the hive TRVs could be interesting.
 
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