Having spent quite a while working on my ESP8266 based thermostat, I decided when it came to make the final unit that I could just not beat a commercial built product and decided to fit a Nest Learning Thermostat instead. It is CE marked too, so has a much higher WAF.
The installation comprises two physical elements:
- a compact Heat Link unit which replaces the old program controller and interfaces with the boiler, cylinder thermostat and remote Nest Thermostat. In my case this primarily involved modifying some wiring to a Wiring Centre box (a large junction box with cover)
- the Nest Thermostat remote unit which goes in place of the old analogue thermostat. I was able to re-use the old wires back to the programmer as the 12V supply from the Heat Link unit. Data connectivity been the two is wireless
Having identified my system as an S-Plan system by looking at various videos and documents online, I found a very good video on how the Nest Thermostat is installed in such a system (YouTube). The Nest Installation guide is reasonably good, but it has to cover all options, and it was nice to confirm that what I had planned to do was “more or less” correct.
Setting up the thermostat involves installing the App on your phone and configuring as required. Then you can control the temperature in the house from anywhere!
Resources
- How I actually installed the Nest Thermostat PDF and Wiring Centre leaflet PDF
- Nest Welcome Guide and Install Guide [PDFs]
- How to install Nest Thermostat on a S-Plan system [YouTube]
- Explanation of how an S-Plan system works [YouTube]
- Interesting Nest “lookalike” using a Sonoff basic (not same WAF though!), and Another one