Smart heating controls have changed the way we heat our homes with features that allow us to tailor the central heating of our property according to our needs and requirements.
Whether this means that the system automatically adjusts according to the time of day or when you enter or leave the property, smart heating controls are there to make your life easier and your energy consumption more efficient.
The systems have seen a huge rise in demand over the last 5 years as people have become more informed about the effects their activities have on the environment.
Today’s smart heating controls aren’t just mere controls for heating your home but are also equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity, motion sensors, and advanced algorithms to save energy, lower your bills, and help conserve the environment.
Read on to find out why you should install smart heating controls and the top features to look out for to make the most out of the system.
Smart heating controls are a great addition to your smart home if you’re building one. Usually confused with smart meters that digitally send your meter readers to your energy supplier, smart heating lets you control your home’s heating via a smart device such as a phone, tablet, or computer.
While regular heating controls allow you to adjust the warmth of your home through a dial or control panel mounted on a wall, smart heating controls offer you so much more.
Let’s look at how smart heating controls are different from traditional and digital ones.
Traditional heating controls work by manually setting the temperature on a dial and through the thermostat, inside which there is a thermometer, connected to a metal strip that completes an electrical circuit.
The circuit tells the boiler to turn on, heating your home along with the metal strip. When the desired temperature is reached, the circuit breaks and consequently turns the boiler off.
Digital heating controls are controlled by a thermometer that automatically turns off the boiler as soon as the desired temperature is reached.
Smart heating controls are more intelligent than the traditional and digital variants and connect to the boiler as well as the Wi-Fi network. This connectivity enables the system to be a part of a smart home solution.
You can easily adjust your heating settings with the simple download of an app and control them from anywhere in the world, as long as you have an internet connection.
Here are the simple steps that you need to follow to remotely control your smart heating from absolutely anywhere:
Here are all the reasons why you should switch to smart heating controls:
Energy cost savings are probably one of the biggest reasons to upgrade to smart heating controls. They help schedule the system in such a way as to use less energy, amounting to lower electricity bills.
Smart heating controls can be programmed in a way to run less when the house is empty and turn on just in time to heat up properly for when the occupants arrive.
How much you save depends on the smart heating control manufacturer you choose and a lot on how efficiently you use the system.
Smart heating controls come equipped with motion sensors to pick up on when people are around and when they are not.
Many systems also have a learning feature that, in combination with the motion sensors, can be trained to know when people are present and when the heating needs to be turned on or off.
Long-term learning helps with scheduling and saves a lot of time and money making the system smarter and more efficient.
In addition to cost savings and long-term learning, smart heating controls come with a mobile app that allows you to control and manage the thermostat settings from anywhere. All that is needed is a working internet connection.
The feature can be useful for when you plan on arriving home earlier than usual and want the place to be properly heated. Other times when it can be used is when you are on vacation and need to keep the house heated in your absence.
The app will also enable you to receive notifications when the temperature drops or rises, so that it’s easier for you to control the system from afar.
Smart heating controls don’t just come equipped with a mobile app for ease of use, but also offer voice control.
Due to their compatibility with smart technologies such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home, the system’s thermostat can easily be controlled with voice command technology.
You can simply give commands such as “Alexa, increase the temperature to 68 degrees”, and the system will act on your instructions on the spot.
It’s much easier to control and make your energy consumption efficient if it is tracked. Smart heating controls allow you to receive reports about how much power you are using, how your consumption has changed over time, and how much it is likely to cost you.
These reports give all the data required to track your usage, in addition to providing tips on how to make the system more efficient.
Many smart heating controls are responsive to changes in the weather by monitoring the weather forecast online and responding accordingly.
If a cold wave is expected, the system will turn up the heating making your home cosy and comfortable for you without you having to worry about it. In case of a few degrees increasing, it will turn down the heating so that the boiler doesn’t unnecessarily work and consume extra power.
In addition to weather responsiveness, some smart heating controls also feature a geolocation function. What this feature does is that it tracks your location using your smartphone and if you’re away from your home, it sends you a notification that the heating system is still on.
If you’re the kind of person who forgets to turn off the lights and heating control when you leave the house, these geolocation alerts can benefit you in helping you keep your power consumption in check.
It can also notify you if you’re coming back and your home is colder than the temperature you set. In which case, you can turn up the heating so that your place is nice and toasty right in time for you to arrive.
As mentioned earlier, smart heating controls are a great addition to your smart home. They provide all the benefits stated above and can also link up with your existing smart devices to create a smart device platform.
Other smart devices such as smart humidifiers and purifiers can be controlled via the smart heating control thermostat if they are compatible and linked with each other.
Here are all the things you need to consider when you decide to upgrade to energy-efficient and convenient smart heating controls:
A smart device without internet is just a device. To make the most out of smart devices such as heating controls, the most essential thing that you require is a good internet connection.
An uninterrupted and fast Wi-Fi connection will ensure that the heating controls are always connected and linked to your home, enabling you to control them via an app from anywhere in the world.
An internet connection also enables all the smart devices to join the network and link up with each other to give you a more rounded and complete smart home experience.
Most smart heating controls integrate well with your home and help you automate and monitor the thermostat settings. Almost all are compatible with smart home assistants such as Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home, Apple HomeKit, and Microsoft Cortana.
If you have an existing home assistant, it is always advised to do a double-check and confirm the compatibility before purchasing your smart thermostat.
If you do not have one, do some research and make sure the smart thermostat you install is compatible with your preferred home assistant so that linking them up is a smooth process when you buy one in the future.
Smart heating controls come with a zoning solution for homes that are big and struggle to maintain a consistent temperature in every room.
The property is divided into different zones and separate smart heating controls are placed in each zone. They can be individually controlled, meaning that you can only heat the areas that you’re using and not unnecessarily heat the entire house.
Some smart systems allow managing up to 20 zones at once via a single mobile app. This gives you more control and saves energy, as well as added convenience and comfort.
Software updates help your smart devices stay up-to-date by enhancing speed, improving the functionality, and upgrading the operating system. They also often include bug fixes and critical patches addressing software vulnerabilities that help protect against malware attacks.
You wouldn’t want to invest in a smart thermostat only to see it become outdated and buggy over the years. You can make sure this never happens by investing in a smart heating device that offers automatic software updates.
Reiterating our first point, make sure your smart thermostat has a good internet connection so that it can automatically receive the updates and always have the most current and secure features without you having to even lift a finger.
It is always recommended for smart heating controls to be installed by an experienced professional who knows what they’re doing.
A professional installation will take the hassle out of the process by helping you choose the right system for your property and also ensure that all installations are done keeping the industry standards in mind.
If you are looking to install a smart heating control, we can help you choose the right one for your heating and hot water system.
Most smart thermostats can connect to a network or Wi-Fi so that they can be accessed via an app from anywhere, or be controlled through Alexa, Google Home, and other smart assistants.
Here are our top picks of smart heating controls in the market:
Nest – Google
Nest is a renowned name in the smart home world and is owned by Google. Famous for its well-designed and easy-to-use devices, the Nest smart thermostat is designed to provide you with a personalized plan based on your preferences and habits such as your daily routine.
It makes use of motion sensors and long-term learning to provide you with such convenience that you would never need to manually adjust the settings ever again. It can also be controlled via an app, giving you real-time information on your energy consumption ensuring that overspending is kept at bay.
Nest’s thermostats highlighting features include:
Hive – British Gas
Hive is a smart heating device released by British Gas that is designed to give you more control over your home’s heating. It gives you more flexibility to schedule your heating usage to maximize energy-efficiency and minimize costs.
Controlled remotely through a mobile app, the Hive smart heating control is trained to automatically switch on the boiler if the temperature drops way below and if your pipes are at risk of freezing.
Hive smart heating works with Alexa and Google Home and has the following highlighting features:
Evohome – Honeywell
Evohome smart heating controls, manufactured by Honeywell, give homeowners complete control over their home’s heating with individual thermostats for each heater allowing you to set independent settings and schedules for each room in your house.
With advanced learning and energy consumption tracking, the Evohome helps you make the most out of your home’s heating system and conserve power in the process. As with other smart heating controls, it is also accessible through a smartphone app, allowing you to control and manage the device from anywhere in the world.
The Evohome’s main features include:
Wiser – Drayton
With giants such as Google, British Gas, and Honeywell in the running, Wiser by Drayton Controls introduces an affordable solution with some great features to offer.
Very easy-to-use and understand, Wiser can be controlled remotely through an app and can integrate seamlessly with Alexa and Google Home. It lacks a few of the advanced features offered by the other brands but is a good investment and great for people on a budget.
Wiser’s main features include:
In today’s world, we are always trying to find new ways to reduce our energy consumption to help us lower our bills whilst also reducing our carbon footprint.
One of the best ways to do this in a domestic or commercial environment is to look at ways to reduce electricity and gas usage.
This could be done either by installing smart systems for lighting and heating or installing less energy-consuming lighting or electrical heating products such as LED Lighting.
Our energy-saving solutions include:
If you would like any more information on installing smart heating controls for your home or business, please get in touch with our team of experts.
