Sounds like a lack of understanding of the controls, sadly.
I'm not going down this rabbit hole, save to say that I've been consistently disappointed at the apparent lack of knowledge of/interest in controls from the 6 engineers who have quoted for work so far. Feels like I know more (probably not of course!!) from Google - think I've just defined the most annoying customer trait ever! The installer I'm going with appears to have experience with WeatherComp at least (good & bad) and is a registered Intergas installer, plus he's just installed one for a mate who is happy.
Why burn to 70 degrees when you may only need 50 degrees because it’s mild outside?
My interpretation of Intergas manuals is that even with just Hive controlling in an on/off mode, the boiler will still use its WeatherComp in-flue sensor and modulate to some extent. It supposedly also learns patterns of usage, which might be interesting...
Boilers.... I think Viessmann are seriously over priced and over complicated for what they are, but then again, I do also have concerns about some Intergas features... Personally, if your installer is able to fix the thing and they come across good, nothing ultimately wrong with either.
Agreed completely. After getting 6 quotes across Viessmann and Intergas, I'd suggest Viessmann are eye-wateringly expensive (or their installers are.) Their base model 050 installed by a registered agent comes in at way over £1000 more than higher model Intergas. You do often get what you pay for of course so I may regret this consideration... Bear in mind from my perspective and that of the 6 engineers who have quoted, my request is an easy job as its basically a case of removing the old boiler and installing the new one in place. Pipework, gas supply, etc. are all relatively new and in good state.
Most the houses I have been involved with, up stairs the rooms seem to stay warm naturally and all that is needed is to stop them over heating.
Our house is of post-war solid wall construction, and due to the layout most rooms have 3 outside walls. It does not retain heat well! As a result, and due to orientation, my daughter's bedroom can drop to a much lower temp. than the rest of the house overnight - my plan is to use the Hive TRV's to keep her room from freezing without the system heating the rest of the house unnecessarily. It will take a bit of faffing with Hive settings but should be worth it.
Also spending a couple of hundred quid which would probably take decades to recoup is nuts.
Stick with Hive and focus on your schedule and the best use of your TRVs.
This is where I've got to - no point swapping Hive (especially as I have a ton of other Hive stuff around the house and it all works with Alexa too.)
Intergas Xtreme manual
As such, yes, you can keep your Hive and have weather compensation without any issues and save some £££s.
Yes, thanks - I re-read it and agree it looks like I will still see benefit.
Does that mean Hive programmable TRV's or old wax TRV's?
Currently got liquid TRV's - Danfoss RAS 2's that I fitted throughout the house last year - and I'll gradually replace the Danfoss heads with new Hive ones. Whilst not cheap, the control it will allow us, both for the temp differences across rooms I mention above, plus the fact I work random hours, will be worth it.
However so should a good boiler using just return water, where it gains is when the boiler does not have the built in algorithms to reduce the return water temperature as it output reduces.
Agreed - and this is where I think I should see some benefit from the inbuilt logic of the Intergas.
Try and think more about what you want to achieve. It's quite possible to operate an ON/OFF control at the same energy cost as a modulating control particularly if you have regular patterns of usage and a suitable boiler.
If you want remote control of the heating only and like Hive stick with it.
If you want remote control of the heating and the control to modulate the boiler use an Open Therm Control and or weather compensation but don't expect to save the planet.
If you want remote control of the heating, to modulate the boiler and but also have remote access to the boiler itself use a control from the boiler manufacturer as they're better integrated often.
Good summary. To your first point, when we moved in we inherited gas/electric suppliers from the previous family. They were both NHS workers doing differing shift patterns and had 3 kids below teenage years. We are a family of four, with equally random heating requirements. Nearly 7 years ago when we moved in we were given an estimate of ~£350/month for gas/electric. Since then I've installed a wireless 'stat and then upgraded to Hive to replace the original clock on the boiler; installed TRV's all round the house; insulated the loft; bought the wife and kids bigger jumpers... We pay ~£145/month now. I don't actually expect a new boiler and controls to massively impact that.