The 1st generation Hive hub (Nano v1) is simple in design but yet packs a plethora of features into its surprisingly small package. The 7.5 x 7.5 x 2.5 cm casing has no buttons and its simple status feedback is made via a multi coloured LED light which shines trough a ‘wireless beacon’ logo on […]
Since finding out that Hive have restricted their older ‘Smart’ plug from being remotely switched on/off, it become a mini obsession of mine to prove that the plug is still actually capable of being remotely controlled using ZigBee, because I was convinced that is is the same hardware as its predecessor from AlertMe. Hive only […]
I have already written a short post about Hive’s v5 API in which I document some V5’s basic calls including temperature control. In this post I document the Hive’s newer v6.1 API, again with examples of a few basic calls. In comparison to the v5 API, albeit still a REST API, v6 is quite different. […]
For anyone looking for the newer v6 API see here. Documentation of an API for the Hive platform is somewhat elusive, but this is not because of lack of demand… There are countless forum, social media and support requests begging Hive to release an API and IFTTT support, which would then empower developers to create […]
I recently upgraded my heating control to the 2nd Generation Hive Active Heating Thermostat. To ensure complete Zigbee wireless coverage throughout my house I wanted to add a signal booster plug, which would extend Zigbee’s wireless range and give me the option to move the thermostat to different rooms in the house. I contacted the […]
I have recently upgraded my remote heating setup from Horstmann Z-Wave thermostat to the Hive Zigbee Thermostat (2nd Generation). The Hive Active Heating system is an innovation of the UK energy supplier British Gas, but you do not need to have your energy supplied by British Gas to have a Hive installation, it is however […]
I have already written a post about my difficulty in 2013 persuading British Gas to install Smart Meters, followed by installation issues fraught with delays. I am sorry to say my experience with British Gas Smart Meters continues to be… well… broken. Last year, in July 2014, my ecoMeter (In Home Display) stopped being able […]
Following my mission to get smart meters installed I started to look into the possibility of using Zigbee to gather my energy usage statistics from my new state of the art meters. This, as it seems, would not be as easy as I at first thought. Tantalisingly, on the back of the ecoMeter In Home […]
After quite a bit of pestering and waiting I eventually managed to persuade British Gas to swap out my archaic Electricity and Gas meters for the latest ‘Phase 3’ Smart Meters. This certainly was not an easy process and, despite constant bombardment of TV adverts on television from British Gas about how smart meters are […]