Why it might take a few days for your Hive
Radiator Valves to settle in.
Jun 24, 2019•FAQ
Question
Why it might take a few days for your Hive Radiator Valves to settle in.
Answer
Summary:
While calibrating
• Your heating needs to be on. If you install your Hive Radiator Valve over the summer and your
heating is off, that means it will start calibrating the next time you start heating your home again.
• You can still use your Hive Radiator Valves while they aren’t calibrated – it will just take a
little longer for your radiator to warm up (30-60 mins rather than 5-15 mins).
• Want to speed up the process? There’s a special calibration cycle available in app version 10.15
onwards.
• To test that your Hive Radiator Valve is working while it calibrates, use the dial on the front to
set it to a high temperature. The valve should open immediately.
Once calibrated
• Even when your Hive Radiator Valve is fully calibrated, it can take 5-15 minutes to fully open
after getting a command from the app. This helps save battery life and avoids any temperature
overshoots. So you stay as comfortable as possible.
• One more thing to remember: your radiator will only warm up if your heating is on!
Why it might take a few days for your Hive Radiator Valves to settle in
After installation, a Hive Radiator Valve needs to learn the optimum opening point of the valve
body it’s attached to. It needs to do this so that it can manage room temperature consistently and
so that it can make the batteries last as long as possible. This learning phase is known as
“calibration”.
Different valve bodies can have very different opening points. When not calibrated, the Radiator
Valve opens the valve very slowly in order to detect the opening point (when hot water starts to
flow) accurately. This means it can take up to two hours for your radiator to warm up (though for
most valve bodies, they'll start to warm up within about 40 minutes, depending on the type and
age of valve body). The app and Radiator Valve will both show the temperature you have
selected, but the radiator may stay cold while the valve slowly opens.
This is standard and expected until the valve is calibrated.
How long does the calibration phase take?
This depends on how much your heating is on. In winter calibration is normally completed
within a day or two, but in summer it can take much longer because heating systems are on less
and rooms are much warmer. If your heating is off all summer then your Hive Radiator Valves
would not be able to calibrate until autumn, for example.
Your Hive Radiator Valve will calibrate when it’s set above current room temperature via the
app and when your thermostat has also switched on the boiler to provide heat to all radiators.
It will calibrate faster when the radiator, pipes and rooms are cool at the start of the heating
period so that the Radiator Valve can clearly detect the point at which the temperature starts to
rise.
Your Hive Radiator Valve will not be able to calibrate if your heating is off or if you leave the
radiator set to a low temperature (as it will never try to warm up).
Can I speed up the calibration process?
Yes. Your Hive Radiator Valve can speed up the calibration process by running a special
calibration cycle. This feature is available in the app from version 10.15 onwards.
Pressing “Calibrate now” in the app will close the radiator valve for 1 hour to let the radiator and
pipes cool down, and will then slowly open the valve again until it detects warm water flowing.
If you have a Hive thermostat and Heat On Demand is enabled it will automatically switch your
heating on too - otherwise you’ll need to do this yourself. The app will let you know whether or
not your valve has successfully calibrated itself. The process will take a maximum of four hours.
If your heating is on regularly, most Hive Radiator Valves will calibrate themselves within a day
anyway. The “Calibrate now” feature is most useful in summer or if your Radiator Valve is
usually turned down low.
How do I know my Hive Radiator Valve is working during the calibration phase?
You can check that your Hive Radiator Valve is mounted ok and works as expected by changing
the temperature using the dial on the Radiator Valve rather than using the app. When you use the
dial on the Radiator Valve and turn it to a high temperature (e.g. 32°C) the valve will open
immediately, allowing the radiator to warm up quickly – as long as the heating is on. Remember
to turn your Hive Radiator Valve down again once it starts to warm up!
You can also test the Hive Radiator Valve by setting it to install mode (by pressing the button
under the screen for 3 seconds until an M is shown) and turning the heating on. The Hive
Radiator Valve will then be fully open and water should come through to the radiator. If the
radiator doesn’t heat up in install mode, it could mean that you have a stuck valve.
Please note: Whenever you put the Hive Radiator Valve into install mode it clears its settings
and will need to calibrate again.
My Hive Radiator Valve has been installed for over a week but my radiators are still not
heating straight away – why is this?
In the summer it can take more than a week for your Hive Radiator Valve to complete its
calibration phase, as your home will be warmer and your heating may not be on regularly (or at
all!). Your Hive Radiator Valve will continue to learn at every opportunity until it has fully
calibrated itself.
Once your Hive Radiator Valve has correctly calibrated itself, it can take 5-15 minutes to open
the valve in response to a command sent from the app. Hive Radiator Valves only check in with
the app every five minutes to save battery, and are designed to open the valve in a controlled way
to maximise battery life and to allow them to keep learning throughout their lifetime.
Remember that your radiators will only warm up when the heating is on. If you are using Heat
On Demand to allow your Hive Radiator Valves to switch your heating on, your thermostat will
be boosted to 22°C. If the area around your thermostat is already at or above 22°C, then your
thermostat will not actually switch the boiler on. An upcoming app release will let you adjust the
Heat On Demand temperature if 22°C doesn’t suit you.
Everything you need to know about Hive
Radiator Valves
Jun 19, 2019•FAQ
Question
Everything you need to know about Hive Radiator Valves
Answer
We have compiled a list of all the frequently asked questions regarding our new Hive Radiator Valves
(also known as TRVs), which should answer some queries you may have, such as
• I have just connected my Hive Radiator Valve and sent a command, but my radiators are not
heating
• I have installed my Hive Radiator Valve over a week ago but my radiators are still not heating
straight away
• What is “HEAT ON DEMAND” and how does it work?
• Why does my Heat On Demand seem to go in a continuous boost loop?
• How do I enable Heat On Demand?
• How does the Hive Radiator Valve read my room temperature?
• How do I reset my Hive Radiator Valve?
These FAQs should provide some insight into what is happening with your radiator valves during the
initial install stage.
I have just connected my Hive Radiator Valve and sent a command, but my radiators are not heating.
What is happening?
After the initial installation of the Hive Radiator Valve (also known as a TRV), it will go through a phase
where it will learn the optimum opening point of the valve.
During this learning phase, the radiator valve opens the valve slowly in order to detect the optimum
opening point. This means it can take up to two hours for your radiator to warm up. The app and
radiator valve will both show the temperature you have selected, but the radiator may stay cold.
This is standard and expected during the learning phase.
The time for the learning phase will depend on how much your heating is on. Your radiator valve will
learn when it's set above current room temperature via the app and when your thermostat has also
switched on the boiler to provide heat to all radiators. The radiator valve will need at least 2 hours in
this state to complete learning. If your heating is on regularly, this learning phase should finish within
five days, but it can take much longer over the summer if the weather is warm and your heating stays
off.
Your radiator valve can speed up the learning process by running special learning cycles overnight. If you
enable Heat On Demand, your radiator will switch the heating on for an hour during the night when
your home is cool, and will slowly open the valve until it detects hot water flowing. This will usually
complete the learning process over the first night and it will fully calibrate your radiator valve by
morning. Sometimes, it can take a couple of overnight learning cycles to calibrate all the radiator valves
in your system. The overnight learning will run for a maximum of 5 nights.
If you don’t want the overnight learning cycles to run, you can disable Heat On Demand for the first
week after installation. This may mean that your radiator valves take longer to complete their learning
phase and become fully responsive.
You can check that your radiator valve is mounted ok and works as expected by changing the
temperature using the dial on the radiator valve rather than using the app. When you use the dial on the
radiator valve and turn it immediately to a high temperature (eg 32’C) then the learning period is
bypassed and the valve will open immediately, allowing the radiator to warm up quickly (as long as the
heating is on).
You can also test the radiator valve by setting it to install mode (by pressing the button under the screen
for 3 seconds until it shows an M) and turning the heating on. When in that state, the radiator valve is
fully open and water will come through to the radiator. If the radiator doesn’t heat when in that mode,
it could mean that you have a stuck valve.
Please note: Whenever you put the radiator valve into install mode, it forgets its settings and restarts
learning.
I installed my Hive Radiator Valve over a week ago, but my radiators are still not heating straight
away. Why is this?
Remember that in summer it can take > 5 days for your radiator valve to complete learning, as your
home will be warmer and your heating may not be on regularly.
Once the learning phase has finished, the radiator valve can take 10-15 minutes to action a command
sent from the app. They open the valve in a controlled way to maximise the battery life of the device.
What is “HEAT ON DEMAND” and how does it work?
Heat On Demand links your Hive Radiator Valve to your Hive thermostat. Its purpose is to get your
heating system to warm up when your radiator requires heat, but your system is not currently heating.
Heat On Demand only works if you also have a compatible Hive thermostat (the only incompatible
thermostat is a Smart Linked Thermostat) and a compatible Hive Hub 2 or Hub 360.
It is worth noting that Heat On Demand will not be available if you have Ready By enabled on your Hive
Thermostat. You can have Heat On Demand or Ready By enabled, but not both at the same time.
When a Radiator Valve needs to warm up a radiator and Heat On Demand is enabled, it tells its linked
thermostat it needs heat. This triggers the boost function on the thermostat, setting it to 22°C for 30
minutes and then returning it to its previous settings.
Heat On Demand currently sets the thermostat to a fixed 22°C (we’ll make this target customisable
soon). We cap the boost temperature so that you are in control of how warm your house gets overall.
When Heat On Demand turns the heating on, every radiator will be provided with heat. Rooms with
thermostatic valves (including Hive Radiator Valves) will warm until they reach their target
temperatures. Rooms with manual (on/off) radiator controls set to “on” will continue to heat until the
boiler switches off again.
Heat On Demand works best when you have Hive Radiator Valves on all your radiators. In this setup you
will only warm up the room that needs heat (read more here).
We don’t recommend using Heat On Demand if you have lots of manual radiator valves, as you may end
up warming more of your house than you intend to.
Why does my Heat On Demand seem to go in a continuous boost loop?
Once Heat On Demand begins, it will attempt to reach a desired temperature. If the radiator still needs
more heat at the end of the 30 minutes, it will trigger another boost until the target temperature is met.
How do I enable Heat On Demand?
You can set up Heat On Demand in the Hive app.
First, tap your Hive Radiator Valve on the dashboard and press the cog button to access its settings. In
“Heat On Demand”, link your Radiator Valve to the correct thermostat (make sure a thermostat is
selected).
If you have multiple thermostats, you should select the one that controls the heating zone that your
radiator valve is in.
Second, tap your thermostat on the dashboard and press the cog button to access its settings. In “Heat
On Demand”, set the switch to “on” to allow Radiator Valves to boost this thermostat. Switching this
setting to “off” is a quick way to disable Heat On Demand for this thermostat.
What happens if I switch off Heat on Demand?
If you don’t have a Hive thermostat, or if you disable Heat on Demand, then turning up a Hive Radiator
Valve will only warm up the room if your heating is already on.
Why is my boiler not coming on with Heat on Demand?
For Heat on Demand to be able to boost your heating
• It needs to be enabled in both the thermostat and radiator valve settings (see above)
• Is your thermostat set to OFF or holiday mode? The radiator valve can only boost your
heating when it is set to either manual or schedule.
• Has your boost target temperature on your thermostat already been reached?
Tip If the boost on the main thermostat has already been reached then your boiler will go off, we
can set this by tapping the thermostat à settings cog à Heat on Demand à thermostat temperature
• is there already an active boost on your thermostat? (even if that boost is to a lower
temperature – we assume you did that on purpose and don’t want your home too warm)
• is the Hive radiator valve less than 0.5°C below its target temperature? Heat on Demand
will only kick in when your Radiator valve has dropped more then 0.5°C bellow its
target.
How does the Hive Radiator Valve read my room temperature?
The radiator valve has three separate temperature sensors built into it and uses some clever algorithms
to factor out heat from the radiator and pipes and estimate the temperature in the middle of the room.
Curtains or similar furniture will restrict air flow and won't allow the temperature sensors to work as
efficiently as if they were not obstructed. If a radiator valve is installed behind a curtain it will only be
able to estimate the temperature within that restricted area which might be quite different to the rest
of the room.
How do I reset my Hive Radiator Valve?
We have an FAQ dedicated to this already, which can be found here
If the radiator valve needs to be reset (for whatever reason) please keep in mind that the it will need to
start the learning phase again and so it will take a further 5-7 days to relearn the algorithms.
My Hive Hub isn’t linking to my account,
what should I do?
Mar 15, 2022•FAQ
Question
My Hive Hub isn’t linking to my account. What should I do?
Answer
If you are having issues linking a Hive Hub to your account, please follow these steps below:
1. Sometimes another member of your household may have created a Hive account and
linked the hub to their email/username. You can only link a Hive hub to one account
holder. If this is the case, we have a ‘People’ feature which allows you to be invited to
the home. Please ask the account holder to invite you by tapping on the ‘People’ section
in the main menu within the app.
For detailed instructions on how to set up the 'People' feature, please follow the link here
2. Check the hubs internet connection: If you have a Nano 1/Nano 2 hub ensure you have
connected the Hive Hub to a yellow LAN (LOCAL AREA NETWORK) port on your
broadband router with the Ethernet cable tightly secured to both router and hub and
powered on with the power cable connected to a mains socket. If you have a Wi-Fi hub
(Hub 360) then please ensure the hub is getting power (there should be an LED lit up by
the power port on the hub). If the hub doesn’t look to be online, please follow these
instructions to get your Hub online here.
3. Once you confirm the Hubs connected to the internet, when inputting the Hub ID, ensure
you have entered it correctly. This is the ABC-123 formatted number on the underside
of the hub.
4. Have you moved into a property and the previous owner left the Hive Hub? Our Hubs are
non-transferrable, so you cannot link a hub registered to someone else. You would need
to purchase a new Hive Hub.
If you have moved into a new home and want to install Hive products, moved into a property
that has Hive installed or have gone through the steps above and are still having issues, please
contact us here for further help.
What to do if your Hive Thermostat is offline
Feb 13, 2022•FAQ
Question
What to do if your Hive Thermostat is offline
Answer
If your Hive Thermostat is showing as offline in your Hive app, it means it has lost connection to
the Hive Receiver.
If you have a Hive Mini thermostat, please follow the steps on this article to get it back online -
'What to do if your hive thermostat mini is offline'
If you have one of the hive 2 versions of the thermostat, shown below, try the following steps to
get it back online::
Step 1
Press the tab on the base of the thermostat to remove it from the wall. (or pull away from the
back plate if you have the thermostat with the touch screen icons).
Step 2
Lift your thermostat off the hooks that hold it against the wall and take your thermostat to the
receiver which you will find near to your boiler/hot water tank.
Step 3
Remove the batteries and put them straight back in again. This will turn the thermostat off and on
which should help establish a connection to the receiver.
Step 4
Place the thermostat back on the wall, the thermostat should then display a 'Reconnecting'
message.
Step 5
Once you see an inside temperature again, try to turn the heating on. Turn the dial clockwise to
increase the target temperature.
Step 6
If the heating is on you will see an “ON” message on the thermostat display.
Step 7
When you can see that the 'status' and 'central heating' lights on the receiver have turned green
you’re done!
If your thermostat is still showing a 'No Signal' message, your heating devices should be
manually reset and paired.
Hive Hint: Please be aware that this will reset any heating/hot water schedules that you currently
have set up.
Check your Hive Hub is placed correctly by following the guide here. Restart the hub by
switching it off at the wall socket and switching back on again. Give the hub 5-10 minutes to
reboot and then go to the dashboard in the app and refresh the page. The 'offline' message should
no longer be showing for heating. If the 'offline' message is still showing, please follow the
below steps:
Step 1
Switch the boiler off at the isolation switch/fuse spur (this should be located near your Hive
Receiver next to your boiler). All of the lights on the receiver will then go out.
Step 2
Press and hold down the 'back arrow' button and the 'menu' button on the thermostat at the same
time (these are the bottom left and bottom middle buttons below the silver dial). Keep these
buttons held down together until the thermostat display says 'Welcome, searching'.
Step 3
Remove a battery from the thermostat.
Step 4
Switch the boiler back on at the isolation switch/fuse spur.
Step 5
Hold the central heating button down on the receiver until the status light is flashing pink.
Release the button and then hold it again until the status light is double flashing amber.
Step 6
In order to connect the receiver to the hub, you will need put the hub into pairing mode. You can
do this by selecting 'Install devices' within the Hive app menu. From there tap 'Add another
device' and then 'Go' which will start the hubs search. Leave the hub searching until the receiver
status light changes to a single flash of amber.
Step 7
Put the battery back in the thermostat, the thermostat should display the 'Welcome, searching'
message again. When you see the word 'Search' disappear from the screen, the receiver status
light will turn green. The thermostat will then take you through a welcome tour.
Step 8
Wait 5 minutes and then go to the dashboard in the Hive app and refresh the page. The ‘offline’
message should no longer be showing for heating. Once you see an inside temperature display on
your thermostat again, try to turn the heating on.
Step 9
If the heating turns on and you can see that the 'status' and 'central heating' lights on the receiver
have turned green you’re done!
If you have the older version of the thermostat, shown below, please follow the below steps
instead:
Step 1
Press the two buttons on the sides of the thermostat and slide it up and off the wall. Take your
thermostat to the receiver which you will find near to your boiler/hot water tank.
Step 2
Remove the batteries and put them straight back in again. This will turn the thermostat off and on
which should help establish a connection to the receiver.
Step 3
Place the thermostat back on the wall, the thermostat should then display an inside temperature
and the letters 'DISP' in the top right hand corner.
Step 4
Once you see an inside temperature again, try to turn the heating on. Press the '+' to increase the
target temperature.
Step 5
If the heating is on you will see a flame image on the display.
Step 6
When you can see that the 'status' and 'central heating' lights on the receiver have turned green
you’re done!
If the thermostat is still showing a 'No RF' message, the heating devices should be manually reset
and paired.
Hive Hint: Please be aware that this will reset any heating/hot water schedules that you currently
have set up.
Check your Hive Hub is placed correctly by following the guide here. Restart the hub by
switching it off at the wall socket and switching back on again. Give the hub 5-10 minutes to
reboot and then go to the dashboard in the app and refresh the page. The 'offline' message should
no longer be showing for heating. If the 'offline' message is still showing, follow the below steps:
Step 1
Take the thermostat off the wall and remove a battery. Switch the boiler off at the isolation
switch/fuse spur (this should be located near your Hive Receiver next to your boiler). All of the
lights on the receiver will then go out.
Step 2
Switch boiler back on at the isolation switch/fuse spur – the status light on the receiver should
flash either pink/amber then turn to a solid green colour.
Step 3
Hold the central heating button down on the receiver until the status light is flashing pink.
Release the button and then hold it again until the status light is double flashing amber.
Step 4
To connect the receiver to the hub, put the hub into pairing mode. You can do this by selecting
'Install devices' within the Hive app menu. From there tap 'Add another device' and then 'Go'
which will start the hubs search. Leave the hub searching and the receiver will change to a single
flash of amber.
Step 5
To reset the thermostat, hold the thermostat in your hand with the back facing you. Hold down
the ‘+’ and ‘-’ buttons on the front of the thermostat at the same time. Keep a hold of those
buttons while putting the battery back in and keep holding them in until the word ‘FIND’ appears
on the screen. At this point, let go of the buttons.
Step 6
The hub should still be searching through the app, when you see the word 'FIND' disappear from
the screen, the receiver status light will turn green.
Step 7
Wait 5 minutes and then go to the dashboard in the app and refresh the page. The ‘offline’
message should no longer be showing for heating. Once you see an inside temperature display on
your thermostat again, try to turn the heating on.
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