Dave Liquorice wrote:

Unless you really need the abilty to control the heating remotely a
programmable stat will be perfectly satisactory.

For me, remotely doesn't have to be over such a long distance, I can be
working upstairs, think "hmm, getting chilly" and tweak the heating up a
degree or two for an hour or two without leaving my desk - because you
just know if you go downstairs to prod the stat, you'll get a coffee
while you're at it, maybe a quick snack to go with it, oh might as well
open the post ...