Moving home, moving Hive...

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Ledbury, Herefordshire
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I can't be the first to ask this question but I can't find the answer in here, or anywhere else come to that.

I self-fitted my Hive system about a year ago and then decided to move home, the way you do. So far so simple.

So, having kept the old thermostat and programmer it is but the work of a moment to retro-fit the original stuff and de-Hive the house for the new owner, more because I don't want to buy new than because they don't want it, I doubt they even know it is there.

Now, I can understand why British Gas tell me I have to leave the receiver and thermostat and take my Hub with me, they want to sell both me and the new owner more expensive stuff.

So, the question I can't find the answer to is this:

Technically speaking, if I take my Hub, Receiver and Thermostat with me, connected to the same BT router I'm taking with me, will it all work in the new location?

And, as a follow-on, if not, why not?

Thanks in advance, Brian
 
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Yes. It will work. You may just need to give them a call to update the address.
 
Thanks for that. Can I ask if this is based on personal experience.

My concern is that, being the money-grabbing so-and-so's that they are, they will have some secret, computer-based reason why they can't (or rather won't) simply update the details. Brian
 
Sorry to disappoint, I don’t have Hive, although I fit it for people and have experienced the “fun” customer support to get them to update stuff, but it’s part of GDPR, they have to ensure your personal details are correct and they don’t really have a choice.
 
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Sorry no it wont work, you will need a new hub, all the rest will be OK though, crazy yes but unfortunately that is how it is
 
The not done it with Hive, I have done it with Nest, the old hub, TRV's, sockets, and router all taken from old house, however on requesting broad band in new home, sky sent me a new router in spite of them telling me to take old one with me.

With Nest the hub is not part of main thermostat but part of the TRV's I did look at Hive, but it is part wired com is internally connected, where with Nest you have access to all terminals. So first point is if Hive is suitable for new house, as it's so limited as to where it can be used.
 
Sorry no it wont work, you will need a new hub, all the rest will be OK though, crazy yes but unfortunately that is how it is
Looked up just for you
https://community.hivehome.com/s/article/If-I-buy-Hive-products-and-then-move-home-what-should-I-do
You should bring your Hive Hub and any other Hive products with you so that you can install these at your new home.

They tell you to leave the Thermostat, Receiver and Signal Boosters but “take your hub and other Hive components” - this is simply a health and safety issue, they don’t want to encourage DIY on central heating by you taking the bits that are hard wired into your heating system. After all, Hive does not promote self-installation.

As such OP, just take it all with you.
 
And so you see my confusion...

The Hive system (as far as central heating is concerned) consists of a Thermostat (which replaces the conventional thermostat and timer portion of the conventional programmer) and a Receiver (which replaces the boiler and valve activation portion of the conventional programmer. This is a stand-alone system which allows manual or programmed control of the system from within the home.

The second portion of the Hive system, which is not required to use the stand-alone system above, is a Hub (router to you and me) which connects the heating system (and any other Hive devices you buy, to the internet and which allows for remote control of all your devices from outside the home.

Hive say to leave the receiver and thermostat 'so the new owner can control their heating system' (manually or by programme, but not remotely unless they buy a hub as the old hub is 'in my name').

Hive also say the old Hub will work at the new address and to take it, along with other Hive products such as plugs, bulbs, sensors etc. when you move (but leaving the receiver and thermostat).

What Hive don't cover is those of us who are perfectly competent to follow a simple wiring diagram and replace a thermostat and a programmer with a Hive thermostat and receiver, (which is what I bought and installed as Hive do sell for self installation with all the guides and support in place for us DiY'ers) and then want to remove and refit the original components for the new owner so they can control their heating system etc.) or have a friendly professional heating engineer to do it for them.

My 'limited' understanding is that the old Hub will be reassigned/re-registered to the new address after the move but they expect me to need/buy a new thermostat and receiver.

The thermostat and the receiver, as far as I can tell, are 'dumb' (as opposed to intelligent) devices which don't know where they are and 'should' work perfectly as simple boiler control devices in any new home which accepts Hive and as such I will take them with me.

However, the reason for buying Hive was to be able to control my heating and hot water remotely as I am often and unforseeably away from home. To control the 'dumb' devices remotely, I need the Hive Hub which, obviously, does know where it is in terms of connectivity to the internet via my router and via the Hive servers, to my registered address.

So, I have a Hive hub which Hive say I should take with me to the new address and they will re-register it for me once I have moved. I will also have a Hive receiver and thermostat ready to connect to the new system and the old Hub.

So, unless the Hive system can somehow 'mark' the receiver and thermostat as having been installed at 1 Old Street and so stop it being installed at 2 New Street, I can see no reason why it won't all work.

I guess what I am looking for is someone who has done it, either for a customer or for themselves and found it all worked, or it didn't.

At the end of the day, I may end up being the guinea-pig, I just can't believe the internet isn't full of folks saying they did this.
 
British Gas/Hive will not stop the thermostat working in the new address.

You are 100% right that the thermostat and receiver are dumb, they just have a comms channel to talk to the hub as well to receive additional commands.

I have installed 2nd Hive Units and a quick factory reset and voila - they are back online at the new address.
(https://www.mrstat.co.uk/knowledgebase/Hive-Active-Thermostat-4/Resetting-back-to-factory-a2)


By not unpairing the unit and simply doing an address change, it will just work when plugged in (Doesn’t need to be the same router, it’s not MAC or IP locked), just needs to be able to call into the Hive servers.

There is no logical reason for British Gas to stop you from bringing your own HAH setup with you apart from the complexity of de-installing and re-installing. When you look at the cost of Hive, it is simply cheaper to leave the old kit and sell a new Hub to the new home owner and a new thermostat to the existing user. Otherwise if you didn’t keep the old controls you’d also be buying an additional room stat and clock which could set you back another £100 and thus, cheaper to just buy new. After all, energy efficiency legislation prevents you from “downgrading” a homes energy efficiency. By removing Hive, you have to put compliant control back. The price of these controls vs Hive as a blister pack is not massively different.

In answer: Take your Hive with you.
 
Exactly what I thought. Thank you for the explanation and the time taken to give it and also for the useful link to the factory reset. Hopefully that is the one bit I won't need in this exercise.

Once the move is complete (assuming it all goes ahead as planned) I shall report back on the outcome, hopefully with glee :)
 
It will work. Done it loads of times, even in my own house and I've still not changed the address a year on. Probably never will.

Why not buy a timer that fits on the "industry standard" backplate and take the rest with you too? Don't believe the energy efficiency guff, it's a load of nonsense.
 
I still have the 2 year-old 'new' thermostat that I took off when I fitted the Hive, along with the original programmer, so they'll be going back on.

And, when I fitted the Hive I also cleaned up the rat's nest of wires and chocolate block in the hole in the wall behind the programmer and installed a proper wiring centre, so this time it's a doddle to refit the stuff.

Thanks for the reassurance on it all working.
 
as an aside
if you are selling the house and the new buyers where aware off a permenant system [affixed or secure to the house structure rather than just plugged in]that subsiquentley you have removed and it forms part off the sales contract they are within there rights to challenge its removal
 
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Sounds like the move is an opportunity to leave the Hive behind and get a Drayton Wiser for your new property.
 

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