Homexpert Heating Controls THR870CUK 7-Day Programmable Thermostat

super controller - easy to understand and operate - the holiday override is brilliant

Setting the date, the time and programming the device all works really well. There is a LED that illuminates the clear LCD panel. The heat demand indicator, a stylised flame, is bigger and easier to see than earlier versions. A big improvement.It even controls cooling as well as heating. There is only one relay, so you have to provide an external switch so the relay will control heating or cooling and then change the mode so the relay demands cooling when too hot or set to demand heating when too cold. You would not want to get this wrong! It is set up for gas heating. You have to set the number of switching cycles per hour and minimum burn time for oil heating. Quite easy, your installer should do that. You can offset the temperature, so if the thermostat is in a cold corner of the room. you can adjust it so the readings and control points are representative of the part of the room you use.The really big defect is that the front panel, that you must remove to do anything, is clipped on and doesn't have a hinge. You can't remove it permanently because the device looks ugly without the cover. Each time you pull it off, you risk the back cover unclipping rather than the front.How often do you need to remove the cover? To switch between off, manual and auto, to extend a program for an hour or so, to inhibit heating while you go out. So quite often. It might cost 50p to add a hinge, but without it, the device is much less attractive.My advice is to buy a device from Honeywell with the same programming ergonomics but with a hinge.

This is a cheaper version of the higher up the range CM907. The main difference is 3 temperature changes per day instead of the CM907's 6. One other difference is this item has a clip on flap, the CM907 a lift up flap. I played with it in a "shed" and thought I had broken the flap. Then I read a review here mentioning the cover. A pathetic design feature.Spend just a little more for the 6 settings per day CM907  Honeywell CMT907A1041 7-Day Programmable Hard Wired Room Stat or the 4 settings per day  Honeywell 7 Day Programmable Thermostat CM707 Both have lift up flaps