Like all parents with small children, Zeena Moolla and Pete Holland, parents to three-year-old Zain and one-year-old Yasmin, have hectic lives. But at least one thing in their household has become easier to manage: thanks to Hive Active Heating, which takes the headache out of controlling domestic heating and hot water, they are keeping their home in Bristol cosier than ever, while saving money at the same time.
Hive Active Heating, which Zeena and Pete can control from their smartphones, ensures that the temperature in their home is exactly the way they want it, when they want it – whether they are relaxing on the couch or out with the kids.
“It is just incredibly useful,” says Pete, a construction lecturer.
“We’re a pretty busy household so it’s brilliant when we’re trying to juggle our schedule, according to who is doing what and when.
“I play football every Thursday, so when I come back all covered in mud and freezing I can just boost the hot water, have a hot shower and not have to worry that the kids will have used it all at bathtime.”
Zeena, a freelance editor who writes parenting blog Word to the Mothers, also enjoys the flexibility.
“It’s really good. I work from home sometimes, but other days I’m out in offices, so I can change the schedule accordingly. And if I am working from home and it gets a bit chilly, I can just boost the temperature for an hour.
“When I’ve been out with the kids and I’m heading home I can check if the house is warm enough and turn the heating up a bit so it will have heated up by the time we get back.”
But when things don’t go to plan, the power to control their Hive remotely has paid dividends.
“We went away for Christmas to my Mum’s,” says Pete, “and it was only when we got there that I remembered that I’d forgotten to switch the heating off. But rather than having to dash back, I just switched it off from the phone.”
There are other benefits to being able to control the heating from their phones. “We are early risers in our house – the kids see to that,” says Zeena. “If we wake up and hear them chatting to each other, we can just turn the heating up from one of our phones to make sure the house is nice and warm for the kids to play around in until we decide to get up.”
Not only does a Hive thermostat take control and convenience to a new level – it’s also a chic interior object in its own right, designed by award-winning product designer Yves Béhar. And in terms of saving energy, Hive Active Heating is invaluable for this young family.
“It records a temperature history so you can see exactly how the temperature in your house fluctuates. It’s meant we can turn the heating off a few hours earlier as we know exactly how long it takes the house to cool down. It’s a great feature – it will save us a lot of money.”
And both of them have found it really simple to use.
“It may sound hi-tech but it’s much easier to use than what we had before. It’s not fiddly at all and it looks good, too,” says Zeena. “I haven’t let Zain have a play with it yet, although I am sure he would probably like to. But honestly, it is so easy to use that he probably will be able to in a couple of years.”
The Hive family
The Hive family is growing to include more than just heating. The Hive Active Plug, which lets you switch appliances on or off from your phone, has just been released; Hive Window or Door sensors, which send an alert if, for example, a window has been left open, are also available. These products will soon be followed by Hive Motion Sensors, which can tell you if there’s unexpected movement when you’re out of the house and send an alert to your phone.
