Some good purchases there! I hope you get on well with them 
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Have you installed this yet?
Yeah. After a fair amount of Googling I felt confident enough to wire it in myself (which took around an hour).
It’s only controlling the heat demand of a combi boiler, but even for the convenience and geekery of app / web / Alexa controlled heating is a winner! That’s even before any energy savings it’ll supposedly earn me.
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Was there anything to fit on the boiler side or was it just a straight thermostat swap?
There are two hardware parts to it: the Heatlink (the part that wires into your boiler), and then the smart thermostat (and display) itself.
If you’ve got an installation where your current timer/programmer is the thermostat too, you can straight out swap this with the heatlink and then put the smart-thermostat anywhere you like. This is how I’ve installed it, the smart thermostat only needs a power socket in this case and connects wirelessly to the heatlink.
If your current installation has separate wired locations for the controller and a thermostat you can use the existing wiring to power the smart thermostat and do away with the need for a power socket.
I am over-simplifying this slightly. This was the bit I mulled over and double checked again and again on Google.
My existing setup had three wires to back to the boiler. The Nest heatlink has 12 wiring terminals to accommodate different setups.
I bought some LIFX lights - expensive but good. Bought the colour ones, but barely use them off of the ‘normal’ light. I’d save some cash in the future and buy non-colour ones if I replace more bulbs.
I’d love a nest, but I rent, so I don’t think it’s an option. Smart plugs are something I am thinking about though, for my computer and telly.
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So I got around my light fixture problem by buying floor standing lamps 
Got Hue starter pack from JL which funnily didn’t go back up in price after the Black Friday scam…
Works brilliantly with the echo and harmony!
Now I need a smart plug to turn the Christmas lights on and off like to true techy I am…
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This is what I have currently so I would guess based on what you are saying it would be a straight swap as this is an all in one.
Straight swap really is simplifying. You need to make sure the voltage to that thermostat is the right voltage for nest.
Most of this is in the manual but essentially if more than (I think) 12 volts hits the Nest then you need a new one.
My thermostat looked similar to yours but was mains supplied so 240v. But my junction box for the boiler was in a cupboard under the stairs. So I put 240v to the heat link and then repurposed the wires from the cupboard to the thermostat by connecting them to the the heat link. So the thermostat was taking power and providing signal wired to the heatlink.
Yeah I think I will just get a guy to do it, I think it’s only £50 anyway…
Most heating system thermostats are mains supplied in the UK in my experience so being careful not to blow a low voltage thermostat up by not connecting it to the old wiring without checking is a must.
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My place is a new build so I might be on the mains
Yeah, my brothers new build with underfloor heating still had main powered thermostats I think.
Yeah ours is only 2 years old. I had a day of drawing out the wiring in our junction box as we have an ‘S plan’. And I needed to factor in wiring for valves and making sure ther second thermostat still worked normally. Though all the work made replacing the second thermostat a lot easier.
Also be prepared for a larger than expected and messy hole behind the thermostat. Meant I had to use the ugly backing plates 
Technically correct, as you are explicitly warned in the documentation not to wire the actual Nest thermostat to a mains supply. But the Heat link part of the kit does have terminals to receive mains (~230AC) voltage and requires it. This is the part that goes in place of your current timer/programmer.
I think we are both technically right but I wouldn’t want the heatlink halfway down the wall in the hallway 
So I traced those wires back into the cupboard and put it there instead. 
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I now have two heatlinks in there and so tidied the wiring up.
My kids have really embraced this home automation malarkey.
7yo daughter can now control lounge lighting from her iPad. 
12yo son is reluctant to have an app on his iPhone (or use Siri on his iPhone or Apple Watch) but is happy to use the Philips switch to control the lounge lighting. He switched off four lights with one switch in one go before leaving for school.
They’re still shunning the “legacy lighting”, though. Old skool dining room light and hallway light still left on after they’d gone. 
Here’s hoping that John Lewis delivers my orders today.
Oh, and I set up geofencing to switch off lights when I leave the house. Wife was sat in the lounge, I went out to collect kids from football and, well, she was left in the dark 
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