Hive Active Heating Thermostat Review

Coming home to a cold house, after a long day at work, is depressing. Companies like British Gas have come up with surefire ways to beat the cold and get you warm as soon as you enter your house.

The Hive Active Heating Thermostat Review

Developed by British Gas, the Hive Active Heating guarantees you a warm house and allows you to control your heating via an app on your smartphone. At CleverHab, we love this heating device. In the review below, we take an in-depth look at its features. So, what exactly makes Hive Active Heating standout from other heating devices?

Manufacturers specs

• Requires 4x AA batteries (included)
• Weight: 821g
• Dimensions: 16.2 x 12 x 10.8cm

Features of the Hive Active Heating

The Hive Active Heating is a smart heating system that you can easily control via an app on your tablet, smartphone or laptop. Via this app, you can control your central heating and water heating.

Its sleek design allows it to blend easily in your home. The interface design is large and readable. The Hive Active Heating layout includes a knob that when turned clockwise shows the actual temperature and when turned anticlockwise shows the target temperature. When the house reaches the target temperature, the thermostat turns off the heat until the temperature drops.

You can still increase the temperature above your set maximum. On top of the thermostat, there are two physical buttons. These buttons allow you to raise the temperature of the water or for the room as high as you like and for as long as you want, even if you have already reached the optimum temperature.

Below the knob, there are three buttons; a back button, an extra settings button for frost protection and child lock, and a confirmation button. British Gas purposely designed this smart heating system with a simple visual design so as to enhance the user experience, especially useful with elderly users.

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What’s is in the box?

• Receiver
• Hive thermostat
• Hub
• Installation guide

Unboxing

Once you have received your Hive Active thermostat, you will find the items named above. First, you will have to install it or have a British Gas engineer install it for you.  If you are installing it, make sure you understand how to connect the hub to your router and the receiver to your boiler. You can use the hub to connect any other Hive products you have to your router and smart home.

If you are unsure, use the card in the package to book an appointment with an engineer. This smart heating system is compatible with most boilers. However, it is not compatible with some Worcester boilers such as 4731180, 4731175, and 4731157.

Apart from heating your house and water, the Hive Active has a holiday mode option. This is especially helpful when you are away on holiday. Hive Active Heating automatically sets itself on frost protection mode. This means that when the temperature inside the house falls below 5 degrees, Hive smart heating turns on the heat, preventing the pipes from freezing.

Hive App control

Once you are through with the setup, download the Hive app. Though Hive Active thermostat visual layout is easy to use, using the Hive App to control heating remains the best way to control this thermostat. Imagine being able to control your heating from the beach or on the train on your way home. Sounds fantastic, right?

The Hive app allows you quick access to the thermostat’s settings from anywhere in the world. With this app, you can quickly schedule your temperatures and what time you want to heat. Simply create a one day schedule and then copy it for the rest of the week. This is incredible since you don’t have to be in your house physically to control the heating.

It is important to note that unlike with other smart heating devices, like Nest Learning Thermostat, that learns your schedule and programme themselves, with Hive Active Heating, you have to enter the schedule manually. Another great feature of this app is the holiday dates settings. This means your heating will go off for the period you have set to be away and will come on just in time for your return.

Through this app, you can reduce your power bill up to £130 per year. With the Hive app, you will never heat an empty home again. This app also comes in handy in case you have elderly relatives in your care. You can monitor the temperature settings of their homes from your phone. So, you don’t have to worry about your elderly parents sleeping in a cold house anymore. Hive app is available for iOS and Android.

Besides using an app on your smartphone, you monitor heating via the Hive website. The web version allows you to view your average temperature details. This enables you to know when and where you are using your heating the most. Whilst using the Hive app is useful and easy to do, integrating your Hive Active system with Alexa takes it to the next level!

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Alexa integration

This Hive smart home heating system integrates easily with Amazon Alexa. This allows you to control your home heating with voice. Saying, “Alexa, turn up the heat” never gets old. To set up, download Alexa. Then add your Hive account details. In two minutes you will go from pushing the knob on the thermostat to giving a voice command.

Positives and negatives

The Hive Active Heating is a fantastic smart home heating device. We take a look at some of its positives and negative features below.

Positives

• Alexa integration.
• Easy to install and use.
• Easy to use with your current boiler.
• Protects pipes with frost protection.
• Features child lock settings.

Negatives

• Does not support motion sensing like Nest Learning Thermostat.
• The initial cost of set up might be a bit costly.

Conclusion

In summary, the Hive Active heating system is one of the best ways to automate your home’s heating system. It has a stylish, sleek design that easily blends with the rest of your devices.

Sure, if you have to get an engineer, the initial cost of set up might be costly. But, ultimately it makes up for this by helping you save up to £130 per year. So in the long run, you will save more by spending less on your power bill. The Hive app allows you to set up a daily heating schedule, enable holiday mode, and boost temperature. With Hive Active Heating System, you can have peace of mind knowing that all your heating needs will be met.