Heating control issue - need help!

Shad0r

Bought a house. It's got a dual zone (upstairs/downstairs) heating system running off an oil boiler. Thermostats are ancient. Also the controller on the wall near the boiler is one of those timer ones, with the little teeth that you push in to turn it on/off at certain times every day. It is not working, other than as an on/off switch, which is a pain because with little kids, it means I'm trying to get up earlier than everyone else to go down and turn on the boiler so the house isn't freezing for everyone getting up. (images included below)

As it all needs to be overhauled and I was thinking of putting smart kit in, I bought a Bosch smart thermostat to see if I could install it in a direct swap out for one of the ancient ones in the hall. It's a 3 wire jobbie so technically I should be able to, however it seems (see image) that the thermostats currently in were installed with just two lives. So it seems that to instal the Bosch thermostat will require an electrician's help and probably be a much bigger job than I was expecting.

Not looking to spend a fortune atm but want to start moving towards a smart home system that makes sense. Ideally I want to be able to control the heating from my phone and my preference is to put something in bit by bit, as we're skint after buying furniture and appliances.

So options as I see it are:
1- smart thermo's on the rads themselves. This seems lower touch but potentially a lot more expensive. Also not sure how kid friendly this option is. (with this solution I could just leave the boiler on 24/7 and adjust the temps up and down depending on scenario)
2- replace the control unit downstairs by the boiler. (not sure what to look for there though as it's basically just a switch atm. it definitely does however have both L and N wires in the box because there is a plug socket right beside it. I did a bit of googling but haven't seen anything that looks like it would be suitable, so definitely open to suggestions on this)
3- Hire an electrician to dig holes in the wall to route cables etc to install what I already bought and replace the existing two zone system.

Probably also worth mentioning at this point I don't have any other smart devices but am planning to get a bell camera one and probably other cameras for outside the house as well as some smart bulbs. All backed off to (probably) Apple Home for voice control….but that's down the road. Right now I'm just trying to solve for this heating issue.

Kind of uncertain how to proceed at this point so would really value input from anyone who knows more about this stuff.

Thanks in advance,

Shad0r

Forgot to post the photos

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halkar

For the option 2 you can get one of those immersion timers for around 50 euro. They are easy to swap if you understand the wires after turning off the electricity to it from fuse box. If not electrician can do it in 5 minutes. Other options will be expensive and may or may not improve anything for your situation.

halkar

This looks like same as the one you have

https://www.amazon.ie/Hour-Socket-Box-Mounted-Timer/dp/B001XQ5ZMS/ref%3Dasc_df_B001XQ5ZMS/?tag=ieshopgosmp-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=743310925803&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2756827080147161359&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9195948&hvtargid=pla-613490577272&psc=1&language=en_IE&mcid=04fed6faa80232c6992f8529cb6c0845&tag=ieshopgosmp-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=743310925803&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2756827080147161359&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9195948&hvtargid=pla-613490577272&psc=1&language=en_IE&gad_source=1

ongarite

Tado starter kit would be a good option IMO. Can start with the extension kit, smart thermostat & then to radiator TRV if you want individual room control.

Screwfix do them on special price regularly.

Wearb

For now (you can change things around afterwards) why not put you New smart thermostat in place of your timer (if it's suitable). The thermostatic function might not be much use in that position, but you'll have timer and phone app functionality to turn the heating on and off.

Shad0r

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123359003#Comment_123359003

Had a look earlier on screwfix but they were only a little cheaper than bosch. Not that it has to be bosch but my thinking is I'd rather have one app to control everything smart in the house, rather than one app for the rads, one for the lights and a different one for the front door bell camera etc…

Have I got that ar$e backwards?

Shad0r

yeah this is actually a great idea. Checked earlier on and the mechanical timer switch that's there atm is definitely fubar'd so probably just a question of whether or not the bosch thermostat has timer control functionality or if I'd need to buy a control box that Bosch also have…

Appreciate the suggestion!