When Hive goes brittle

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He said he was going to install Hive in his flat as part of an upgrade to the central heating (Hive is a modular smart-home platform usually installed, at least initially, for central heating control). I was doubtful: Internet-controlled domestic systems are always complex, with many moving parts which are hard to configure and which break opaquely.

'At least after a long holiday away, I'll come back to a really warm apartment,' he suggested.

That seemed to clinch it.

For a while it all worked well. And then, finally, the thermostat batteries ran out. Surely a simple matter to replace them?

Not so fast!

In his own words:

"Spent four hours trying to get heating online after battery replacement on the thermostat."

He noted that ChatGPT and Gemini walked him through 90% of the process:

"The AIs had good ideas but didn't include the crucial step: delete the thermostat from the app and re-add -- during the pairing phase."

Here is his simple note-to-self for the next time. Reprinted here just in case it's of help to anyone else.

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How to update HIVE thermostat batteries

1. Ensure heating & hot water not active 
2. Once boiler quiet, turn OFF at wall socket
3. In HIVE app, delete thermostat icon
4. Remove batteries from thermostat, keep out for now
5. Unplug HIVE WiFi box, wait 30 seconds, replug, wait for steady green light (up to 10 minutes)
6. Add new 'thermostat' icon in hive app, click through to 'pair'
7. Turn boiler ON
8. On HIVE boiler box, hold 'heat' button for 10 seconds, until flashing amber (white flashing seems ok too)
9. On HIVE thermostat, press 'back' & 'menu' buttons simultaneously (bottom left and bottom centre touchscreen points), then insert new batteries - keep holding buttons for 10 seconds to trigger a factory reset
10. Place thermostat next to boiler box (within 2 meters). Wait up to 10 minutes for it to pair. Boiler box with thermostat and with HIVE app.
11. On successful pairing you will need to update 'heating' schedule and 'thermostat' schedule. Set thermostat to 7° all the time if you have hive radiator valves. Radiator valves can handle battery switch without losing schedule.

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And finally:

"I don't want to come across as negative. I'm very happy with Hive and would get it again. Most people just switch the batteries and it works. I got unlucky and had to do a hard reset. Hive is pretty darn useful and when you switch the batteries it's all good, but if the system gets in a muddle, those are the steps to hard reset. And now I know what to do, this whole procedure would be twenty minutes max."

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