November 15th, 2021 by Sarah Miles

We hear an awful lot about smart technology and how we can use it to make our lives easier but how does it actually do that and are there any other benefits?

In this article, we take a look at smart heating systems: what they can do and how that helps us save money.

What is smart heating?

Smart heating is a term given to heating systems that can be controlled by a smartphone app over WiFi. Many are familiar with Nest and Hive that work on your central heating and many electric panel heaters are also smart enabled these days. You can even control many of them using home assistants such as Alexa and Echo.

How does it save you money?

The main way that smart heating saves you money on energy is by helping you manage your usage better. It does this in several ways:

Tailor your heating programme to your specific movements.

Traditionally, the heating is usually programmed to come on for a couple of hours in the morning and then again in the evening. While a thermostat makes sure that it will only come on if the temperature drops below a certain level, the program just runs as set regardless of whether anyone is in because it doesn’t know any better.

MYLEK App Controlled Digital Electric Panel Heater with 24/7 Timer 2KW my2000dl-2

Price: £124.99

Buy Now

Because you control smart heating from your phone, you can make it work around your schedule more easily. Maybe the kids have swimming lessons on a Tuesday evening so there’s nobody home then – just build that into your programme. Or perhaps you have to work late one day at short notice – just delay the heating coming on via your phone from the office. Provided your heater is WiFi-enabled, you can control it from anywhere. This means that you never have to heat an empty house.

Heat the house on a room by room basis

Traditional heating tends to be all or nothing and we often heat the whole house but only a couple of rooms might be occupied. While you can turn down central heating radiators individually, if we’re honest we often don’t bother! Smart heating allows you to determine which rooms should be heated and when at the push of a button. For example, why heat your bedroom from 5pm until 10pm when you can just turn it on half an hour before you go to bed?

Taking a winter holiday? No problem!

If you go away in the winter, you may feel conflicted about what to do with the heating. Obviously, there’s nobody at home so it’s wasteful to heat the house but at the same time, a really cold snap could see pipes freezing and bursting if the heating is off. Many smart systems have a holiday mode that will keep it on very low but increase it to an appropriate level in very cold temperatures. You can even keep an eye on temperatures at home from your sun lounger and adjust if you want to.

MYLEK WIFI App Controlled Electric Panel Heater 1KW

Price: £115.00

Buy Now

No leaving the heating on by accident

How many times have you put the heating on constant and then forgotten about it and gone out? Or maybe you’ve gone to bed and realised it was still on and you just can’t be bothered to go downstairs to turn it off. This isn’t a problem with smart heating as you can just turn it back off again on your phone or tablet.

End thermostat wars!

If others in the house love the heating on all the time or like it much warmer than you (often people who don’t pay the bills!), you don’t even need to be in the house to bring it back to a more civilised temperature. It might not make you popular, but you’ll be happier when the gas bill comes!

Understand your usage better

As well as making your heating more controllable, one of the greatest advantages of smart heating is the insight it gives you into your own consumption. You can access data about your energy use and use this to make adjustments and adapt habits and behaviours. You’ll also learn which appliances, devices, and activities use the most energy.