Replacing analog boiler timer with digital

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Salvadore

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My home gas boiler has an associated analog timer (see below) that is 20 years old at this point and beginning to fail. I’d like to replace it with a digital version that I could control remotely via an app on my phone.

Any suggestions? Also, would replacement be a DIY job or would I need a professional?

Also, I’d like to replace my two thermostats with a digital version (e.g. Nest). Again, is this a DIY job?

TIA.
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If you are confident and capable of safely changing wall sockets and light switches, you will manage this yourself.

Just check and label the cables before you remove them.
There will be a live and neutral feeding the time switch.
There could be a loop from the live feed to the time switch to the switch contacts and a switched live feed to your boiler.

Carefully check the symbols and diagrams on the old timer and connect to the same symbols and diagrams on the new timer.

Similar to the markings on this
 
I been using the Nest thermostat for years now started with the first generation and am now on second gen
I find it great for the most part and have started to buy into the Google eco system with doorbell and smoke alarms and hopefully in the Black Friday sales will add a couple of the Google battery cameras outside my house as added security to my failing Airtech alarm

I only have a single zone but am almost sure you can add a second zone but not sure what's involved with that set up
what I really like about it apart from the design is I have it in my open plan living area instead of the hall where most others are
This I believe allows me to correctly set and keep the temperature at the level I want in the area I spend most my time
I don't like a hot house so we keep the main living area at 18 and by default the bedrooms come in at 16 which is perfect for us
it's simple and easy to use and if I'm out and I fancy a shower when I get home I can turn on the water from wherever so no more waiting for the water to heat up when I arrive home

I kind of mentioned that this is my second one and that wasn't by choice, I've had an issue with both first and second generations
My boiler is in my garage attached to my house and the are two parts to the nest, the controlling thermoset and the heat link
The controller sends a signal to the heat link and the heatlink turns on or off your boiler and it is recommended that the heatlink is installed close to your boiler

So the first Nest worked fine for just over a year and then started to loose connection with the boiler and nothing I did fixed this problem
So eventually I replaced with the second gen Nest and again it worked perfect for close to two years before loosing connection
I was about to buy a third when I had the brainwave of moving the heatlink from the garage to my dinning area
That was four years ago and it's worked perfect ever since, so just be aware you might run into problems if the distance between the Nest thermostat and the heat link is too far to communicate with each other
 
Cervelo said:
I only have a single zone but am almost sure you can add a second zone but not sure what's involved with that set up
Click to expand...
Each Nest can do one zone only, plus hot water. You can add as many Nests+Heatlinks to your Google Home app as you want though.


Cervelo said:
I was about to buy a third when I had the brainwave of moving the heatlink from the garage to my dinning area
Click to expand...
FWIW there is a 12V output on the Heatlink to power your Nest thermostat, what the documentation doesn’t make clear is that if you use these to connect the Nest it will also communicate over those wires rather than relying on a wireless signal. Well worth doing if you have the wiring available.

Had a few Nests now and cannot recommend them highly enough. The smoke/CO alarms are great too.
 
Good points @Zenith63
Zenith63 said:
Each Nest can do one zone only, plus hot water. You can add as many Nests+Heatlinks to your Google Home app as you want though
Click to expand...
I presume for this to work your boiler would also need to be set up to handle zoned heating
Zenith63 said:
the Nest will also communicate over those wires rather than relying on a wireless signal.
Click to expand...
Yes I always forget this as mine is wireless, but you can if you're happy with wherever you thermostat is, just wire it in there
One thing I did do as as backup if there is a problem with the nest, is I kept the original controller still operational so as I can still turn on the boiler
 
Cervelo said:
I presume for this to work your boiler would also need to be set up to handle zoned heating
Click to expand...
Yes each Nest controls one motorised valve which allows/blocks flow of hot water to a zone. The boiler itself doesn’t need anything special to handle multiple zones, it’s either getting power or it isn’t, the motorised valves send it power when any of them opens.
 
Cervelo said:
I presume for this to work your boiler would also need to be set up to handle zoned heating
Click to expand...
This involves plumbing work to fit motorized valves.

I am not familiar with the nest system. Can you get smart radiator valves ?

The smart head might fit onto existing thermostatic radiator valves.

It's not to difficult to fit new radiator valves if the heads don't fit. If you are able to drain down and refill your heating system it's doable.
 
S class said:
I am not familiar with the nest system. Can you get smart radiator valves ?
Click to expand...
I don't believe so, the Nest just replaces your central thermostat control that would normally be in your hallway
I don't have smart valves as their not needed on my system but do have manual Danfoss radiator thermostats on all radiators
Because we're at home most of the day the heating is left on 24/7 and is controlled by the nest, once it hits 18 it switches off the boiler
I probably use a bit more gas then the average working family but for us and our comfort it's worth the extra expense
 
S class said:
Can you get smart radiator valves ?
Click to expand...
No, just a room stat.

I love the idea of the smart radiator valves, but any time I’ve looked into them I came to the conclusion that the temperature sensing being so close to the radiators means they’re going to struggle to accurately gauge the temperature of a larger room, they work out expensive enough for a medium-large house and I need 10-15 more devices needing regular battery changes like a hole in the head and lastly as we move to heatpumps where you don’t really turn the heat generator on/off any more, ‘dumb’ TRVs achieve the same thing without the complexity.
 
S class said:
If you are confident and capable of safely changing wall sockets and light switches, you will manage this yourself.

Just check and label the cables before you remove them.
There will be a live and neutral feeding the time switch.
There could be a loop from the live feed to the time switch to the switch contacts and a switched live feed to your boiler.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this.

The timer switch I’m replacing is very basic compared with the Drayton wiser model suggested by @DannyBoyD .

Is the required wiring likely to be compatible?
 
Yes definitely compatible.

Assuming you are using a single channel time switch.

This will be wired the same way as your existing time switch.

There will be a live and neutral cable and a switch wire connected to your existing time switch.

The live and neutral connect to two terminals marked with a circular symbol with lines to two terminals,

On your time switch this is indicating the motor which drives the mechanism.

Your new time switch will also have this circular symbol so the live and neutral connect to these.

Before you disconnect any wires from the existing time switch.
Take note of where the short loop wire is connected to.

It's most likely connected to the live terminal at the motor connection. The other end will go to a terminal marked C or common.

The extra switch wire will then connect to a terminal marked N/O or normally open.

Basically copy the wiring terminals from the old time switch to the new one.

If you are unsure about the wiring when you loosen the existing time switch from the wall, take a few photos and post them here and I can see what' the set up is.

Sometimes the neutral is switched instead of the live.
In this case the loop wire would come from the motor neutral.

When you are doing the job switch off the main switch at your fuse board to eliminate all shock risks.
 
Zenith63 said:
smart radiator valves, but any time I’ve looked into them I came to the conclusion that the temperature sensing being so close to the radiators means they’re going to struggle to accurately gauge the temperature of a larger room,
Click to expand...
Yes and no. You very quickly figure out the settings you need to stay comfortable.

Zenith63 said:
they work out expensive enough for a medium-large house
Click to expand...
Its a one off purchase though & for me the benefits were well worth it.
Zenith63 said:
and I need 10-15 more devices needing regular battery changes
Click to expand...
You can get lithium rechargables - on average these last about a year for me.

The Smart TRVs, for me, are brilliant.

Gives me a fine tuned zoning / scheduling system & I can even turn the heating on or off when away from home.
 
Zenith63 said:
Had a few Nests now and cannot recommend them highly enough. The smoke/CO alarms are great too.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately - they are phasing out the Smoke Alarms - They are not making anymore - and the existing stock will only work til their expiry date, There is a third party version that should interlink, but i havent heard much about it yet.

Also the earlier versions (1st and 2nd Gen) are now out of support and wont work (supposedly) as smart thermostats, they can only be used from the thermostat now - and not via the app or remotely. Such a shame - its was a great ecosystem.
 
Sol28 said:
Unfortunately - they are phasing out the Smoke Alarms - They are not making anymore - and the existing stock will only work til their expiry date, There is a third party version that should interlink, but i havent heard much about it yet.
Click to expand...
Yeah, looks like they're just going to allow a selected partner or two integrate. Right now it's just First Alert. The Protect ones last for 10 years so might be a few bargains to be had before they sell out current stock.

After reading about that decision a while back I was then surprised when they recently launched new versions of the cameras. Anyone in the market for those make sure you're getting the latest version, or a very good deal on the older ones.
 
Sol28 said:
Also the earlier versions (1st and 2nd Gen) are now out of support and wont work (supposedly) as smart thermostats, they can only be used from the thermostat now - and not via the app or remotely. Such a shame - its was a great ecosystem.
Click to expand...
Just for clarification I have a second gen thermostat and still works perfectly with both the Nest App and Google Home App

All Google have said is
Google Nest connected home devices will receive automatic security updates for at least five years from the date that we start selling them on the US Google Store. Security updates will address critical issues known to Google Nest that are able to be resolved with a remote software update.

But if you look at this table you'll see many Google devices still receiving updates long after they were supposed to stop

Leo said:
Anyone in the market for those make sure you're getting the latest version, or a very good deal on the older ones.
Click to expand...
I'm looking at their battery ones which only haven't had a second or third gen like the wired ones
But the twin pack has been reduced in the Black Friday sale from €359.99 to €309.99
 
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