September 21st, 2022 by Sarah Miles

There has never been a more urgent need for everyone to use energy more efficiently. While this has been the narrative for reducing the impact of climate change for a while, the very immediate drive to reduce consumption is now the rising cost of energy and the cost of living crisis.

With heating representing one of the largest proportions of our energy bills, this is a key area to focus on and one of the ways you can do that is through smart heating.

What is smart heating?

Smart heating refers to a heating system that can be managed via an app over Wi-Fi. You may be familiar with systems such as Nest and Hive. This means that you can control it from anywhere that has an internet connection. This allows you to use your heating in a more intelligent way, and only when you will feel the benefit.

How does smart heating reduce consumption and save money?

The benefits of smart heating really lie in how it allows you to manage your heating, so it does rely on you taking the right actions but makes it very easy to control. Benefits include:

• Set the temperature on a room-by-room basis
  You may wish some rooms to be warmer than others or just choose to heat the rooms that are occupied at any one time. For example, you may spend the evening downstairs and only need the heating on in your bedroom 30 minutes before you go to bed. You can do this easily from your phone.
• Adjust your heating schedule according to your movements
  Some people have a very regular routine and will be in the house at the same times each day, but many don’t. If you work shifts or do hybrid working, for example. Maybe even if you’re just going to be home later than usual due to traffic or an impromptu social event. You can delay the heat coming on from work, the pub, the bus, or the restaurant (or, of course, anywhere else!).
• Never leave it on by mistake
  You don’t ever have to panic that you have gone out and left the heating on constant by accident. Just check in the app and turn it off from there. Equally, if you are away in the winter and there is a sudden cold snap, you can turn it on low for a while to ensure that your pipes don’t freeze
• Monitor other occupants’ usage
  Parents of teenagers may identify with this! Worry no more about people turning the heating up to unacceptable levels when you’re out as you can check and adjust at any time. You can even set up alerts that inform you of such activity.

Smart heating is not limited to central heating systems

To really get the full benefits of smart heating on a central heating system you need the Nest or Hive system installed plus things like smart thermostatic radiator valves on each radiator. However, smart heating is not exclusive to central heating systems; you can buy electric heaters that are smart enabled too.

Smart electric heaters have all the same features a smart central heating system does plus there are some other benefits of switching in whole or part to electric heaters:

• They are very energy efficient, especially those that are Lot 20 compliant
• They heat up quickly and store heat without drawing more power
• You can place them anywhere that has an electric socket
• Electricity is both greener and cheaper than gas
• They have all the general features of central heating, including timers and thermostats, plus open window detection