*This is a collaborative post*
Calculating the average annual spend on heating can be
tricky: it depends on the energy used, the heating system, how well the
property is insulated and other variables. But an average sized, three-bedroom
home with three to four occupants will cost in excess of £1,000 a year to heat.
But, with energy prices rising but our need to stay warm
being a priority, saving money on your heating bill may seem nigh on
impossible. There are ways of saving money with one of the most effective being to invest in a smart thermostat with the
corresponding app and control the heat in your home from your smartphone.
A smart thermostat is…
… a handy piece of digital kit that communicates between you
and the boiler about the level of heat in your home. Top of the range smart
thermostat models are able to learn and mimic your behaviour from past settings,
allowing for a more comfortably heated home but without spending more on bills.
Do they work with all heating
systems?
In most cases, yes. You will need a receiver connected to
your boiler which then communicates with the smart thermostat, which then
relays this real-time information to your phone.
They work with all heating systems from central heating to lowprofile underfloor heating, any heating system, in fact, that is powered by
a modern boiler (but check before you invest!).
The Options
Nest from Google
Sleek and low profile, as you would expect from Google, the Nest thermostat has a lot to offer.
As well as all the programming skills and abilities, it also
has a handy motion detection system that means it automatically detects when no
one is home and lowers the heating to a ‘safe level’.
It also updates you on your energy use, great for keeping an
eye on the bills.
Costs £249 with installation, or £199 without.
Hive from British Gas
It looks like an ordinary thermostat but in all honesty,
that is the only ordinary thing about it. Working with an app, it lets you
control your heating and your hot water (if applicable) from a distance.
You plug a hub into your broadband router and as well as
having finite control over your heating, it can also give you handy tips for saving energy as well as reporting energy
use.
A fabulous piece of kit, there is a discount for British Gas
customers and with a promise of savings up to £150 a year on heating, it is
worth exploring further.
Costs £199 with installation taking about 90 Minutes.
Connect from Scottish
Power
Like Hive, the Connect smart thermostat and app allows you
to control the level of heat in your home, as well as monitor energy use and so
on. You will need a good mobile signal for it to work in your home and like the
other thermostats and apps listed, you don’t need to be Scottish Power customer
to have one.
Installation by an engineer takes around an hour and prices
vary, depending on whether you are paying upfront or monthly.
Deals vary but one recent one was £80 up front and then £5
per month for two years, a total of £200 but is only available to Scottish
Power customers. Probably worth checking out the deals but there are better
pricing options on Hive and Nest.
Tado°
Similar to nest, this smart piece of kit senses when no one
is home, and lowers the temperature accordingly, raising it when you return. It
does this by pairing with an app on your home and tracking your location, so to
speak.
Tado°’s parent company, SSE, says in the marketing materials that an average
family with three children and a dog can save around £240 a year on heating
bills. There is an online calculator that gives you a more accurate prediction,
worth a look before investing.
You can buy it outright for £199 or you can rent it for
£5.99 a month. But as with all the others, check the current deal on offer
before taking the plunged.
These are just four smart thermostats that all profess to
save money on heating bills. There are others, such as Heat Smart from EDF
Energy. And, with technology moving on at lightning-fast
pace, there are other brands and models coming to market all the time. Using
heat smartly means you will save money and these smart thermostat and apps give
you the control you need.
Underfloor Heating Trade Supplies know that underfloor heating is a great
system to work with modern boilers and smart thermostats. Using energy
efficiently has never been easier!
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