Hi Gang

Just wondering if anyone has fitted a NEST thermostat (and related gubbins) on a standard system boiler.

My Boiler is 12 years old and works fine but i'd like to venture into the world of Nest etc. I have the boiler in the utility room, timer/programmer in the airing cupboard upstairs and the analogue thermostat on the hall wall.

Trying to work out what goes where and wonder if any of you guys have done/had this done.?

Thanks Ash
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2016 SDV8 AB

Yep

Did just that yesterday.

You get a nest thermostat in the box and a base unit.

Base unit goes where your timer would be in the airing cupboard

Thermostat goes where the stat is in your hall, though they recommend putting it in a room you use more often..... There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
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Last edited by northernmonkeyjones on 17th Dec 2017 9:19pm. Edited 1 time in total

Hey - thanks - Was it an easy fit..? Did you do it yourself.?

I think I have a "normal" setup so it shouldn't be too much of a challenge to fit it myself. Ash
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2016 SDV8 AB

I'll shortly be installing a Honeywell Evohome system, but if my understanding is correct, isn't the Nest thermostat more suited to flats houses with only a small quantity of rooms / radiators ?
If you've got lots of rooms / radiators, they're better being controlled by individual thermostatic radiator valves (trvs) or smart trvs such as the Honeywell system or other similar systems - as the nest is only capable of adjusting everything in 1 go if no trvs are fitted or very little if trvs are fitted. Paul,
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Thanks - Interesting question...

I have trvs on all rads (bar one) which control individual rooms temps but the entire system is controlled by a master stat in the hall and the hot water is on a simple timer.

I'd like the idea of an intelligent timer so it can adjust the overall house temp and schedule based on when its actually needed rather than a set timer. Also I guess the hot water adjusts itself accordingly.

I also understand there are other "devices" that are compatible for home automation via the NEST system.. gadgets I guess but I'm a bloke and like that kind of stuff  Ash
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2016 SDV8 AB

pretty straightforwards if you understand how heating wiring works. took me longer to feed the cables than wire it up. I do it at work when we wire up new houses so its all in my head, if you are coming to it fresh it can take a bit of figuring out.

you feed power to the base unit which goes in the airing cupboard has 2 sets of switching on it, one for the hot water motorised valve and one for the heating valve.

in a non nest system the wiring to call for heat or hot water will usually run in a basic config:

power supply - timer - stat - motorised valve - call heat on boiler, with a power feed to the motorised valve and a switched feed back from the valve which provides the final call for heat feed to the boiler.

when you put nest in its place it will run,

power to nest base (poss via boiler but depends on system)

heat side : power bridged to common in nest base - motorised valve - boiler (nest replaces the stat)
water side : power bridged to common - tank stat - motorised valve - boiler

the nest stat just needs USB power, comes with a power plug and lead and wall mount, seems to be battery powered too.

if you have a wired thermostat, its even easier. the nest stat runs on 12v power and there is a 12v out supply on the base unit, so you can use the wires which run to your current stat as the power feed for the nest stat. (don't connect to 240v.)

there is reasonable wiring diagrams with it, but it will basically sit in the place of your existing programmer and probably use some of the same wires, but that will depend on how yours is set up.

hope this makes sense.  There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
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the evohome is a much more comprehensive solution, however it comes at a much higher cost.

with an evohome you can fit the individual controllable rad valves gviing you as many zones as you have radiators. which is nice. but expensive.

the nest basically replaces the stat in your standard set up and the timer for your hot water, however it only really gives the same amount of control over the system as a standard stat. It will work perfectly well with thermostatic valves, and is doing fine so far in my 15 rad setup.

It also give the option to add cameras, lighting, smoke and co detectors, and link to amazon alexa. it will not however let you turn on the heating in 1 room..... but not many folks actually want that.

Heating zoning in modern houses is rather pointless. we currently have to put one zone per floor in the new houses we build, makes no difference. and you can end up with cold or hot spots or one stat inadvertently controlling a different zone because of poor siting.

personally i would give it a go, its a nice gadget to have, and if you can balance your system up well, so you get an even heat using your trvs and nest stat then it should all function very nicely. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
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Last edited by northernmonkeyjones on 17th Dec 2017 9:47pm. Edited 1 time in total

Thanks - That makes sense.

Will i end up essentially removing the current programmer in the airing cupboard and replacing with the NEST Heat Link?

I have 4 wires coming into the current stat (but not labeled very well) - I assume 2 of these could be used for the 12v feed.? Ash
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2016 SDV8 AB

base unit in airing cupboard, replaces timer. nest controller on wall replaces stat.

depending on how many wires are behind your current programmer, you may need some extra links to the wiring centre box for your heating (the rectangular junction box with the wires to the valves coming out of it......

if you have 4 wires in the stat it is probably a powered one but so long as you have 2 you will be ok you will be disconnecting whatever is at the feed end of them anyway. it will work wirelessly, the wires are just to send the 12v from the base unit to it. if you have wires, great, if not you can use the USB adaptor supplied.

(if you aren't confident they will do a professional install for you, you just order the nest with the install cost included then book an engineer visit)

can draw you a wiring diagram if you want  There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
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I have one and love it but I bottled the fitting and paid a bloke. It works great and is so easy to set and adjust.

I put one in a few months ago after being re assured by the so called specialist in currys that 'YES' it will learn your routine even though I questioned if it could learn my shift pattern that covers days and nights and takes 8 weeks to repeat.

Short answer is I got sold a lemon, it has a 7 day calender so doesn't stand a chance of learning my routine.

Lastly i'm not 100% sure if its the Nest or my phone but the home/away assist does as it chooses.

I needed a room thermostat anyway and wanted wireless so it ticked those boxes and its simple to fit if electricary doesn't scare you. Current
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At the other end of the price scale, i fitted one of these last week to replace dead Vokera wireless setup:

SALUS RT310I INTERNET THERMOSTAT

I have 4 thermostats and 5 timer boxes. Most radiators have thermostatic values (which don't seem to work half the time). All in a listed building. I have hardwired smoke detectors and a separate alarm system that also has smoke/CO detection.

Any point in me looking at something like Nest? I doubt I'd ever fiddle the system when out and about.

I've got 7 Nest thermostats and 7 Nest hard wire smoke detectors.

Massive overkill but i like that I can turn the bedrooms on before we go to bed and the living room on just before we get home. And the dining room etc.

I could have done it much cheaper with wifi TRVs but the tech was in it's infancy when I begun my project, whereas Nest were relatively established.

Fitting is easy, but ought to be done by a sparky if you're not "a competent person". __
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I have Hive which I like and if the internet goes down it has stored the information previously so will still continue to work on the schedule I have set.

It's great when coming back form holiday and can turn everything on remotely so the house and water are warm for when you get home.

cheers Alex

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