Google Nest - Electric Ireland Offer

Tazium

That's what I asked too. Turn one on and let's see what heats up, but the installer didn't want to troubleshoot it. I can understand it's more involved to mount them in the original wall thermo position although it might also be a case of multiple appointments in a single day and not able to commit the time necessary to complete the job. I'm waiting on the call to inform me of next steps.

Electric Ireland: Una

Tazium wrote: »

I was looking forward to the Nest install today. Needed two to provide cover for hot water, zone 1 and zone 2 and had it organised with Electric Ireland. installer arrived and wanted to put the thermostats on stands which I understand is more flexible but I wanted downstairs one to replace the wall thermostat. Anyways, the installer couldn't do it. For reasons explained as not being able to identify the valves in use he couldn't proceed and needs to call out a gas installer to progress.

If I wanted to have the Nests on stands the job could have been completed. This is a new build house and I'm surprised that the installer couldn't do it. Now I'm back to the original system and the nests have been taken away while I wait on a future date to have it attempted again.

Anyone else have similar issues?

Tazium wrote: »

That's what I asked too. Turn one on and let's see what heats up, but the installer didn't want to troubleshoot it. I can understand it's more involved to mount them in the original wall thermo position although it might also be a case of multiple appointments in a single day and not able to commit the time necessary to complete the job. I'm waiting on the call to inform me of next steps.

Hi Tazium,

We saw your query here on Boards and we sent it to another relevant department. They would like to look into it for you.

Can you send me a private message confirming your name, telephone number and address, for passing on to them?

They will contact you ASAP then, if you are happy for them to do so.

Best regards,
Una

Tazium

Electric Ireland: Una wrote: »

Hi Tazium,

We saw your query here on Boards and we sent it to another relevant department. They would like to look into it for you.

Can you send me a private message confirming your name, telephone number and address, for passing on to them?

They will contact you ASAP then, if you are happy for them to do so.

Best regards,
Una

Thanks Una,

Im waiting for the new date to be arranged and expecting a call to confirm. I can send a PM now.

Tazium

Two nests installed yesterday, thanks.

Running through configurations today and I've noticed that my heat links are gen 2. Everything seems to be working although I am wondering why they aren't gen 3 heat links supplied with gen 3 thermostats and how interchangeable these bits are. I wasn't present for the installation so couldn't ask at the time.

cormie

Hey folks, will be setting up a nest protect in my friends house. Only bought the one for now. It's a 70sq meter house, 35 down and 35 upstairs. The fireplace, soon to be stove is downstairs in the open plan sitting room/kitchen and the gas boiler is in the corner of the kitchen, I actually have the exact layout in a plan here: https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/19234/401190.png under the right hand column labelled NEW

I'm just trying to think of where the best place to put it is if it's just going to remain the one in the house for the next few years.

The door between the hall and sitting room is pretty much always left open. Would on the ceiling upstairs in the hallway be ok or would this be too far from possible problem sources like stove and boiler? The only reason I'm thinking of here is it's kind of a central location in the house and if the gasses and smoke rise, then it'll be alerted here for what happens downstairs and what happens upstairs too.

Other reason is that it will provide the light in the dark and given that the bathroom is downstairs, it'd be nice to have this for trips down at night.

Any feedback would be great

ted1

cormie wrote: »

Hey folks, will be setting up a nest protect in my friends house. Only bought the one for now. It's a 70sq meter house, 35 down and 35 upstairs. The fireplace, soon to be stove is downstairs in the open plan sitting room/kitchen and the gas boiler is in the corner of the kitchen, I actually have the exact layout in a plan here: https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/19234/401190.png under the right hand column labelled NEW

I'm just trying to think of where the best place to put it is if it's just going to remain the one in the house for the next few years.

The door between the hall and sitting room is pretty much always left open. Would on the ceiling upstairs in the hallway be ok or would this be too far from possible problem sources like stove and boiler? The only reason I'm thinking of here is it's kind of a central location in the house and if the gasses and smoke rise, then it'll be alerted here for what happens downstairs and what happens upstairs too.

Other reason is that it will provide the light in the dark and given that the bathroom is downstairs, it'd be nice to have this for trips down at night.

Any feedback would be great

If put in the room with the Carbon monoxide source.

To my knowledge Carbon monoxide detectors are meant to be put mid height as it doesn't always rise

cormie

Thanks a lot. What if there were leaks in the chimney flue a few meters up, if the nest was downstairs, I'm guessing it wouldn't detect the leaks and anyone in the bedrooms could be in danger?

bk

cormie wrote: »

Thanks a lot. What if there were leaks in the chimney flue a few meters up, if the nest was downstairs, I'm guessing it wouldn't detect the leaks and anyone in the bedrooms could be in danger?

I'd recommend picking up a cheap dumb CO detector to put upstairs too until you can afford more Nest protects.

Nest protects are cool, but I wouldn't recommend people putting off buying cheaper detectors in order to save for a more expensive Nest protect, could be dangerous.

I've bought a bunch of cheap CO and fire detectors to put in multiple rooms, with the idea of upgrading eventually to Nest protect.

I plan to get one Nest protect to start with and put it in the most central location (the hall) so that I'll have at least some notification of fire when I'm away/out. In time I may get more, but no rush due to having multiple dumb devices in place which will do the most important job of protecting my family when we are home.

The dumb alarms won't go to waste either, I plan to give them to less well off family and friends who don't have any.

The point is don't focus on Nest Protect to start with. If you can't afford multiple Nest Protects upfront, buy one less and put the cost of that one towards buying a few dumb CO and smoke alarms first. Proper coverage is more important then the admittedly cool features of Nest protect.

cormie

Thanks BK, completely understand that approach, although how many detectors does a 35sq meter downstairs and a 35sq meter upstairs house really need I wonder? If one more will do the trick for the whole house, then may as well spend it now, but on the other hand, as long as you have one nest, you should be covered in most serious cases where any major harm will come I'm guessing?

bk

cormie wrote: »

Thanks BK, completely understand that approach, although how many detectors does a 35sq meter downstairs and a 35sq meter upstairs house really need I wonder? If one more will do the trick for the whole house, then may as well spend it now, but on the other hand, as long as you have one nest, you should be covered in most serious cases where any major harm will come I'm guessing?

Yeah, I was talking in general terms for anyone reading this, rather then your particular needs.

Remember, I'm no expert at this, but looking at your specific layout I'd:

- Put you current Nest Protect in the area just between your living room and kitchen, half way between the Fire place and Combi boiler. This should cover fires starting down stairs and CO from those two sources.

- Put a second Nest Protect or alternatively a dual fast and slow burning "smoke" alarm at the top of the stairs in the hall between the three bedrooms. This would cover smoke and fire coming up the stairs and alert the three bedrooms. I think this location is normally required by modern building reqs. A Nest Protect would be nice here, as a fire downstairs would also trigger the Nest protect up here, thus you are more likely to hear it and giving you more time to exit the building.

- I'd also put a cheap CO alarm in each of the two bedrooms that the chimney goes through.

I really would recommend all 4 devices, though they don't all need to be Nest protects.

I know you say your place is small, but CO is the silent killer, it could leak into either of those rooms from the chimney and already do serious damage, before it would leak out into the hall and trigger the Nest Protect there. For the sake of €30 for two dumb CO detectors, I wouldn't risk it.

cormie

Thanks BK. You always put things pretty well into perspective

bk

BTW Combi boilers are great, your friend won't know themselves, almost instant hot water 24/7 without having to worry about the immersion.

One thing, if they haven't already done it, a small rad in the old hot press can be handy in order to use it as a drying room, if they don't have space for drying elsewhere in the house.

cormie

Yep, it's going to be a world of difference, they are in the house less than two months and the immersion is broken and rather than waste money on replacing it, they are going to expedite the upgrade to a combi and remove the old cylinder. At the moment they are having to put on the existing boiler to heat the water in the cylinder and it takes a good while before they have hot water, so a Combi will be a vast improvement

That's a nice idea about the rad where the cylinder was. They don't actually use the hotpress as a drying room and never have, but I've always used mine to give a final air to clothes that have been dry hanging. I'll suggest it though

Stovefitter

Building regulations say you must have a carbon monoxide detector and smoke alarm in every room that has a heat source whether it's solid fuel gas or oil you must also have open air ventilation in the room. Try looking up part j of building regulations it explains everything that is needed for insurance purposes

ted1

Stovefitter wrote: »

Building regulations say you must have a carbon monoxide detector and smoke alarm in every room that has a heat source whether it's solid fuel gas or oil you must also have open air ventilation in the room. Try looking up part j of building regulations it explains everything that is needed for insurance purposes

Building regulations don't apply retrospectively

bk

ted1 wrote: »

Building regulations don't apply retrospectively

True but pretty sensible to consider them, because there is a reason they exist, usually to improve safety.

cormie

So nest protect has been bought and set up for my friend.

Next on their list is to upgrade the heating system and I think the nest thermostat is going to be used.

One plumber mentioned that you'd need thermostat valves or something like this if getting nest, and something else which I forget now, but you'd also need a central controller if there are going to be two zones (upstairs and downstairs).

He also mentioned the nest can't be put in the same room as a heat source, or maybe it was just the same room as a stove and given the main room (sitting room/kitchen) has a stove in the centre, it can't be put in here so I think it would have to go in the hallway, but then thinking where to put the second one as the temperature between the hallway and the upstairs landing would probably be very similar, whereas the temperature between the sitting room where the stove is on and one of the front upstairs bedroom would be quite different I imagine.

drunkmonkey

I put in two one permanent upstairs landing and one portable one for downstairs, New hot water tank, motorised zone valves etc. Pressurised the water system. 3 nest protects.
I'll post up a few pics when I'm at home it'll give you a better idea of the set up but it sounds like what your trying to do.

Really only have it all working properly last 3 days as just about finished an attic conversion and house is now fully sealed.

Not sure how much heating we should be using, it's a big enough house, 7 bedrooms 30 rads. The nest was on for 2.15hr (over 24hrs) yesterday to keep the house at 20 downstairs and 17.5 upstairs constant. That also includes the hot water being heated twice a day.

cormie

Thanks a lot for the input. Your house sounds like it would be a little different in that my friends house has only 7 rads and they'll be getting rid of the water cylinder and heating water only with a new combi boiler. It's also over 40 years old and I don't think isn't very insulated, but the priority is to upgrade the heating for now as to have warm water for a shower, they have to put the boiler on as the immersion is broken too

Their concern is that, as they share the house with tenants, one of whom feels the cold a lot and always has their electric heater on in the room, will the nest be redundant if this person is always much colder than the other two (one of which hates it when it's too hot) and wants to turn the heat up higher and it will turn it up for the entire house, or would it turn it up for the entire upstairs if they are zoned and she spends most of her time upstairs, or can the radiator in her room be set to a higher temperature without interfering with the rest of the temp in the house and if each room can be set to it's own temp on the valve, is there any need to have 2 nests then?

cormie

Hey folks, my friend had another plumber in to quote who suggested EPH Ember: http://emberapp.ephcontrols.com/

they said it's about €300 less for the same thing.

2 Nests will cost about €450.

Has anyone any thoughts on this? My friend has the Nest carbon monoxide alarm and smoke detector and I believe they can all communicate with eachother so for example if the alarm detects carbon monoxide, it can make the thermostat switch the heating off, this alone could be worth the extra money perhaps, or maybe not?

Any other input would be great!

Bluefoam

There's a reason why the Nest costs more... I believe the question here is whether you should go for the cheaper option and chose to ignore the benefits of Nest... In fairness its allot of money.

Nest is compliant with lots of smart home functions.
They are able to integrate into lots of other systems and with lots of other products for a much higher level of function
They are produced by a massive company with huge resources so should be kept up to date and compliant with future tech
They are very intuitive and user friendly
They have put the effort in to produce a high quality consumer product that looks good on your wall/in your home decor
They have not just used a generic cheap white box that looks ****... This to me is a sign of lack of effort from the manufacturer... If they haven't bothered (or don't know how) to get this right, how can you be confident they got everything else right...
The attention to detail is key & this box doesn't show it IMHO... However, if you are willing to overlook this in order to save 150euros, then do it.
Don't get me wrong, 150e is allot of money and I don't take that lightly, but this is a luxury product anyway...

I'd prefer the Nest.

cormie

Thanks for that

Bluefoam

cormie wrote: »

Thanks for that

Reading back, my response comes across as harsh... But it is the truth... There's other good quality systems out there that may be more cost effective... There's a few threads on here so have a read through. Unfortunately I can't be much more use as I haven't put much research into this type of system.

Cabaal

Signed up to this offer, installation in 2 weeks so we'll see how it goes

wexfordman2

I am an existing electric ireland cust, contract due to end in july I think, so was holding off till then to get a nest. Found out today, that existing customers can get one for 130 euros, and no new contract, so registered for one and getting it installed on Monday.

I have 2 heating zones though, so I asked about a second unit....270 euro for the second one the cheeky feckers!! Will hold off on that and get one through another provider when my contract is out.

Cona

Lads
Can someone tell me if the Nest needs an external power supply? i.e Needs to be plugged in. I dont have any socket near the existing Thermostats so I am wondering if they can be powered from the existing cabling. In my setup I have 2 thermostats and a central panel for controlling the heating...

Pappacharlie

The Nest thermostat is powered by USB port, like a mobile phone charger so a power socket is needed.

wexfordman2

Pappacharlie wrote: »

The Nest thermostat is powered by USB port, like a mobile phone charger so a power socket is needed.

Nope, it can also be powered by the heatlink if there is cable coming from it to the existing thermostat. It provides a 24v power supply to it.

jones

I decided to upgrade my gen 2 nest for the gen 3 offer from electric Ireland. My query is can I use my gen 2 nest upstairs? I do not have separate zones in my system so not sure what benefit it would be am I missing something?

17larsson

jones wrote: »

I decided to upgrade my gen 2 nest for the gen 3 offer from electric Ireland. My query is can I use my gen 2 nest upstairs? I do not have separate zones in my system so not sure what benefit it would be am I missing something?

If your system isn't plumbed for two zones then a second nest would be no use to you unfortunately