I wired a Hive into my Worcester Greenstar 28CDi Compact Combi Boiler using a Dual Channel Hive Receiver (Heating + Hot Water) last winter and all went well / has been good since.
This is the thermostat - https://www.screwfix.com/p/hive-active-v3-wireless-heating-hot-water-smart-thermostat/246jk - it's the two channel version (Heating + Hot Water) but only the single channel version (Heating only) is required as explained below.
Just wanted to note down some detail here as to how I installed it in case it's useful for others - as despite there being various videos and bits of advice out there - I couldn’t find any specific guidance for my 5/6yr old Worcester Bosch Greenstar 28CDi Compact Combi Boiler.
Note: For a combo-boiler like this - the water comes on demand and is heated instantly when the tap is opened - so the second (Hot Water) channel on the Hive is not needed for this boiler (I could have just bought the single receiver). The dual channel one I bought is designed for non-combi boilers I think, so that the second channel can be used for controlling the heating of a hot water tank which I don't have. Anyway. Instead of leaving the second channel un-wired - I wired it into the pre-heat function that this boiler has. This means that I can also program the pre-heat to any time of day using Hive*
*My understanding of pre-heat is that when the pre-heat function is on, it makes sure the hot water tank is always 'ready' by heating the system at set intervals. Whilst this is convenient as you get hotter water faster, it is arguably a waste of money and most people probably wouldn't bother setting it up with their hive - but if you don't, then the only option you have with this boiler is to either have it on all the time, or off all the time I think, so actually if you do use it, it might be sensible to control it using the Hive controller so you can limit it to just the times of day you use it. I believe it's the eco button on the boiler that turns this function on and off - when eco is on, the hot water pre-heat function is off and vice versa.
Anyway - if you have a pre-heat function on your combo boiler like this one and you have a dual channel receiver and wanted to - like me you can wire your second channel of the hive to the pre-heat function - if you have a single channel receiver then you will only control the heating via the Hive Greenstar 28CDi Compact Combi Boiler.
Here is how I wired it (guidance only - please check with other means before you do the same).
Wiring Diagram between Hive Dual Channel Receiver and Worcester Bosch Greenstar 28CDi Compact Combi Boiler
Hive Dual Channel Receiver Wiring
Worcester Bosch Greenstar 28CDi Compact Combi Boiler Wiring
Some other points:
⦿ When wiring this in - I had to remove the default white loop connections that were in place between the L & HW/CH terminals
⦿ When researching this wiring I learnt that the Hive Dual Channel receiver is mains only. So it has permanent main inputs (L & N) - and then 230V outputs on each of the other 4 ports. Some receivers have different / low voltage outputs etc.
⦿ I have left the internal Comfort | RF controller integrated into the boiler, which means that the heating (and water) must be set to ON on the controller on the boiler AND the remote stat must have batteries in and the stat set to the highest temp, in order to make sure the boiler is always controlled by the Hive. It is probably smarter to also remove this from the equation, but I left mine in
⦿ You can see the connections are nice and easy to get at the front. I ended up taking the front big lower hinged flap assembly off but I'm not sure you actually need to. If you do - don't be like me and let it drop - I broke one of the hinge parts but fortunately they're readily available - here's the LH version, but there's a RH one too (https://www.screwfix.com/p/worcester-bosch-87186866190-lh-hinge-assembly/900TP). If you take this big lower flap assembly off, just be aware these parts are super temperamental - so you may have to replace the left one, or the right one, or both
⦿ Obviously isolate everything at the mains isolators / consumer unit before opening up the boiler & only do this if you're confident / happy this is the right approach
⦿ The little transparenty white grommets (kind of cubes with the circular cable entry points) that the cables enter through are easy to remove if you pull them out the correct way, Don't be like me and put too much pressure on and try to remove them the way you assume - check first - if you get the right orientation (can't rmbr which way sorry) - then they'll slide out without too much pressure.
Hopefully that's helpful to some. Good luck if you're doing this yourself.
This is the thermostat - https://www.screwfix.com/p/hive-active-v3-wireless-heating-hot-water-smart-thermostat/246jk - it's the two channel version (Heating + Hot Water) but only the single channel version (Heating only) is required as explained below.
Just wanted to note down some detail here as to how I installed it in case it's useful for others - as despite there being various videos and bits of advice out there - I couldn’t find any specific guidance for my 5/6yr old Worcester Bosch Greenstar 28CDi Compact Combi Boiler.
Note: For a combo-boiler like this - the water comes on demand and is heated instantly when the tap is opened - so the second (Hot Water) channel on the Hive is not needed for this boiler (I could have just bought the single receiver). The dual channel one I bought is designed for non-combi boilers I think, so that the second channel can be used for controlling the heating of a hot water tank which I don't have. Anyway. Instead of leaving the second channel un-wired - I wired it into the pre-heat function that this boiler has. This means that I can also program the pre-heat to any time of day using Hive*
*My understanding of pre-heat is that when the pre-heat function is on, it makes sure the hot water tank is always 'ready' by heating the system at set intervals. Whilst this is convenient as you get hotter water faster, it is arguably a waste of money and most people probably wouldn't bother setting it up with their hive - but if you don't, then the only option you have with this boiler is to either have it on all the time, or off all the time I think, so actually if you do use it, it might be sensible to control it using the Hive controller so you can limit it to just the times of day you use it. I believe it's the eco button on the boiler that turns this function on and off - when eco is on, the hot water pre-heat function is off and vice versa.
Anyway - if you have a pre-heat function on your combo boiler like this one and you have a dual channel receiver and wanted to - like me you can wire your second channel of the hive to the pre-heat function - if you have a single channel receiver then you will only control the heating via the Hive Greenstar 28CDi Compact Combi Boiler.
Here is how I wired it (guidance only - please check with other means before you do the same).
Wiring Diagram between Hive Dual Channel Receiver and Worcester Bosch Greenstar 28CDi Compact Combi Boiler
Hive Dual Channel Receiver Wiring
Worcester Bosch Greenstar 28CDi Compact Combi Boiler Wiring
Some other points:
⦿ When wiring this in - I had to remove the default white loop connections that were in place between the L & HW/CH terminals
⦿ When researching this wiring I learnt that the Hive Dual Channel receiver is mains only. So it has permanent main inputs (L & N) - and then 230V outputs on each of the other 4 ports. Some receivers have different / low voltage outputs etc.
⦿ I have left the internal Comfort | RF controller integrated into the boiler, which means that the heating (and water) must be set to ON on the controller on the boiler AND the remote stat must have batteries in and the stat set to the highest temp, in order to make sure the boiler is always controlled by the Hive. It is probably smarter to also remove this from the equation, but I left mine in
⦿ You can see the connections are nice and easy to get at the front. I ended up taking the front big lower hinged flap assembly off but I'm not sure you actually need to. If you do - don't be like me and let it drop - I broke one of the hinge parts but fortunately they're readily available - here's the LH version, but there's a RH one too (https://www.screwfix.com/p/worcester-bosch-87186866190-lh-hinge-assembly/900TP). If you take this big lower flap assembly off, just be aware these parts are super temperamental - so you may have to replace the left one, or the right one, or both
⦿ Obviously isolate everything at the mains isolators / consumer unit before opening up the boiler & only do this if you're confident / happy this is the right approach
⦿ The little transparenty white grommets (kind of cubes with the circular cable entry points) that the cables enter through are easy to remove if you pull them out the correct way, Don't be like me and put too much pressure on and try to remove them the way you assume - check first - if you get the right orientation (can't rmbr which way sorry) - then they'll slide out without too much pressure.
Hopefully that's helpful to some. Good luck if you're doing this yourself.
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