Nest launches in uk tomorrow...

jouster

Yes you canon definitely see the apple/ipod influences.

Greg Hook

Does this work with any boiler? Ours is about 4 years old I think and only has a crappy 24 hour manually timed control. I'd love something that would allow me to control the boiler to a better degree.

The boiler is a Pro Combi A32.

jouster

Take a look at the home page.  Tells you everything

Greg Hook

Thanks, I see going through the guide it says it will work with my boiler, although I have no idea how.

I have no thermostat and all the videos on YouTube about the Nest all show it replacing an existing thermostat.

jouster

There must be A thermostat. Or how could you control the temp in your home.  It might not be as straightforward as you think though

Greg Hook

There is no separate thermostat other than the one in the boiler. The boiler is on until the thermostat in the boiler reaches the right temperature (which it never does) or the radiators individual thermovalves are all off.

We have a problem due to the boiler being located in the kitchen which is a single storey extension with a flat roof and by far the coldest part of the house. We frequently have to turn the boiler off because the rest of the house just gets far too warm.

I realise now that we were short changed when we had our new boiler and radiators installed in that no thermostat was fitted in the lounge, which is the most used room.

I'm just trying to get my head round how this Nest system would work on a heating system with no separate thermostat, although after doing a bit of reading I think this is probably how:
What is Heat Link?

jouster

Well as the nest control itself, which is the thermostat, can be wirelessly linked to the boiler, you should be able to locate it where it really needs to be...ie the coldest room in the house...if the boiler has an internal thermostat, then the Nest system will replace that function and it will be turned off and replaced with the heat link in the box...at least that's how I understand it

Greg Hook

Ok that's fine. We don't want the thermostat in the coldest room as it just makes the rest of the house too warm. That heatlink seems to be the answer and would allow the Nest thermostat itself to be installed in the lounge which would be ideal. I guess when the temperature is reached the thermostat communicates to the boiler and turns it off.

One question though, how does it differentiate between the heating and the hot water? Say I want a shower but the thermostat has clicked off, does this mean the water will be cold or does running a hot tap override this and allow hot water to come through?

Not 100% sold on this at the moment, some rather bad reports of the device found after some quick googling. But some good too. I really like the information you get on energy usage as I'm into gadgets.

neilball

Nest will not replace the boiler thermostat (this sets the temperature of the water fed to the radiators) but will wire in to the terminals that the room stat should have been connected to (but was left out by the plumber). It amazes me that plumbers can get away with installing systems without room stats, one of the most basic controls that any and all systems should have irrespective of whether TRVs are fitted to radiators.

Greg Hook

Thanks for that bit of info and to jouster's posts too. I'm going to look at this more over the weekend but as an Apple fanboy and a gadget freak, this is screaming out to me!

I definitely agree about the room stats. I was at work when this system was installed and assumed it would have a thermostat in the same place as the thermostat for our old boiler. Now looking back the plumber obviously saved a few quid by leaving that out altogether!