Beok BOT-313W.BL Wired Programmable LCD Room Thermostat Gas Boiler Control Smart Temperature Controller, AA Battery Powered, Blue Backlight

This is a battery powered programmable thermostat that I’m using to switch power across two wires to a combi boiler. The problem I had is that the connection holes are small. Ok for a low voltage solid wire but my installation had stranded wires, that were a little too big and kept bending, even when twisted to a point. I had to fix some suitable wires to the existing ones and even then, it was difficult to get a firm connection that will withstand the front having to be removed regularly to fit replacement batteries. I would have preferred the switched wire connections to be on a backplate and hence undisturbed for battery replacement. The backplate itself could do with being a few more mm deeper to accommodate the wiring, as the battery case protrudes into it.The display is bright and easy to read. It’s too early to tell how well the controlled room temperature meets the set point.

Installation - you need a deep pattress box (designed for a single socket/switch). If in doubt, take the unit to the DIY shop to try it first.Wiring - varies according to your boiler setup, so make a note of where they are on the old thermostat before removing it. I have a Worcester Bosch combi boiler with an old Honeywell thermostat in the hallway. Mine was a 3 wire setup on my old thermostat - Neutral (N), Live (L) and Switched Live (SL). For that to work on the Beok 313 WiFi it was a case of N to N (3), L to L (4) and SL to (5) but in order for the switch contact to be made between (5) and (6) I had to bridge a wire between (4) and (6).Wifi Connection - Set Pon to 1 so it remembers settings in general. You need to set FAC to 10 but it appears to not remember this setting if you go back into it later after the WiFi symbol flashes (changes back to 08) - which mislead me because it does until you view it again and so I thought it was faulty. They recommend to disable 5Ghz WiFi whilst setting this up - mine is anyway - but it still didn't work.I only got it to work after doing 2 things - not sure which but probably the latter. Firstly I renamed the SSID of my disabled 5GHz connection to something other than my 2.4 one (just in case it wasn't fully disabled). Secondly, I changed the WiFi protocol of my 2.4 connection from b+g+n to just b+g. After this, and performing the steps in the manual, the software found the device.I'm overall impressed with the device. I've not yet properly tested the automatic temperature function as it's still summer as I write this, but to be able to remotely control your boiler even in manual mode for not much over £30 is a bargain compared to expensive options like Hive/Nest.The only minor thing is it's a pity there's not a separate button to control the back light or to set the length of time it stays on for (which is only a few seconds). The software could be better in regard to programming but overall it does the job.There's no Alexa integration, but hopefully Beok will update the software to allow it one day. If not it may be possible in the future by using Home Assistant (if someone writes the code to be able to access the thermostat via a Hue emulation). Maybe.

My heating system consisted of an oil boiler and two actuator valves controlled by two wall thermostats for ground floor and 1st floor heating and another actuator controlled by a cylinder stat for the hot water. All this was controlled by a three channel heating programmer that had been mounted in an awkward spot under the kitchen cupboards when the house was built. I wanted to be able to use my phone to control the heating.As an electrician I had fitted some Hive stats for customers which are great for a one zone system but it gets expensive having to by another stat for a second zone.I ordered two Beok BOT-313WHIFI thermostats despite them saying they were only for gas boilers after looking at the installation instructions on line which showed two extra connection terminals marked open and close. After receiving them next day on Amazon Prime, I found the the terminal marked open went to 240 volt when the stat called for heat without any additional links being fitted. Replacing my wall stats was easy as it was three wires off the old stat and three onto the new one Live , Neutral and the switch wire into the "open" terminal. As a temporary measure I set the two heating channels on the existing programmer to ON, so that the new stats would always have power. The old programmer will still control the hot water until I fit a new clock for this in the hot press.Two important things to consider before purchasing are that you need a neutral wire to be at your existing stat and if you are going to connect the Beok to WIFI, the box in the wall should be plastic in order to get good signal strength .Powering up and programming.If you are going to connect the stats to WIFI and use the phone app it's better to do this now, as it is much easier to program the stat using the app rather that directly from the buttons First download the app by going to the app store (the link given for android didn't work) and download the Beok Home app. There are two in the app store but pick the one that doesn't not have EU after it, as it's the older version. I had originally downloaded the EU app which kept giving error messages and then found that in the bottom right hand corner of the app that "Notice" was highlighted, when you pressed it you were prompted to download the non EU app. Next enter you Wifi details into the app making sure that your SSID (name)of your Wifi is typed in correctly as it's case sensitive. Next follow the instructions under 2: Connection Thermostat to phone. After connection just follow the instruction supplied. Remember that there are no On's and Off's only temperature adjustments which takes a bit of getting used to, but works well.There is no Boost feature, you just raise the temperature which brings the heat on. You would hope that in the future app updates this might be added. The stats can be controlled my smart speakers such as Alexa but I haven't tried this out yet.For the money paid you really can't say anything bad about them and I am very pleased with my purchase.