Can smart heating save you money?

The latest bells-andwhistles thermostats give you instant, intuitive access to managing your home’s heating and hot water – but will they slash your bills? Chris Bates talks to the experts to find out

Moss Technical’s Niko home control works across a range of smart systems. The main touchscreen gives you instant graphical feedback on usage statistics

The biggest buzzword in the heating industry at the moment is ‘control’. Simply put, more control means better tailoring of your space heating and hot water setup, which should ultimately get you closer to the holy grail of only using exactly as much energy as you actually need to create a comfortable living environment.

“There are many homes in the UK without even basic heating controls,” explains Nigel Griffiths, Build It’s sustainability expert. “Putting in a standard programmable timer gets you 75% of the way there in terms of the potential savings. The other 25% is about getting clever with zoning, temperature control in rooms and suchlike.” And that’s where the latest whizz-bang thermostats come in.

What is smart heating?

Fundamentally, this tech allows you to control your home’s central heating system from your tablet or smartphone, wherever you are in the world. While that may sound a little gimmicky, there’s a practical point to it. Gone are the days where, to get maximum value for money out of your heating, you’d have to literally run around the entire house adjusting each thermostatic radiator valve and refining the overall temperature – now you can do everything with the push of a button.

“If you want the room at 15°C, you just type that in and the room sensor will stop calling for heat when that temperature is reached,” says David Hilton, an independent sustainability advisor who delivers eco courses at the National Self Build & Renovation Centre. The ability to fine-tune each room or zone’s heating means you can easily achieve exactly the right climate throughout your home, and potentially save money in doing so.