New research by Reichelt which surveyed 1,000 UK residents into smart heating controls has shown there is still a job to do to educate homeowners of their merits.
At present only 8% of adults use a complete smart home system for their heating despite the benefits of doing so. 46% have reduced their heating costs. 47% have improved their well-being. 19% have been able to reduce mould in their home.
The top three reasons why customers are not going smart were: High costs for product and installation, not sure if investment is worthwhile, and not having the right equipment to use with it. Smart controls can link directly to a smartphone, and can even be used to turn the heating down when there is no one in the house, providing additional energy saving opportunities.
Enhanced home safety is also a feature as some Smart controls, which are used routinely on many of the new boiler models, can also help to shut a boiler down if a connected alarm senses carbon monoxide. This is a great reassurance.
Smart Controller example – the Worcester Wave
An example of a smart controller is the Worcester Wave, which is an internet connected programmable control for central heating and hot water which can be operated using a smart device, such as a phone or tablet.
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- Control an app with your smart phone
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- The Worcester Wave
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- The Worcester Wave – how it looks in situ
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- Control an app with your tablet
This control is designed to have an ‘intelligent conversation’ with the boiler and the Wave takes advantage of advanced control features such as weather and load compensation.
Adapting to your needs
Each Wave control is supplied with a pre-set programme that can then be easily modified to suit your requirements.
See the video here that shows how easy it is to programme the controller: –
An operating manual is provided with each control and there are a number of other helpful videos to provide further detail on specific functions.
Should you temporarily lose your internet connection, the Wave will continue to operate as an intelligent heating and hot water control simply by using the last saved programme settings.
The Wave will remember preferred programme settings to make these easily available and features a ‘holiday programme’, requiring just a start and finish date.
For security and peace of mind, all the Wave’s data is owned by the user, ensuring no information is shared with other parties.
Finally, the app allows you to see a chart of your heating and hot water usage so that you can easily identify where potential savings could be made.
Please do visit our boiler showroom here in Exmouth, Devon to view the boilers and controllers we have on display. You may wish to get in touch with us about our boiler fitting service or perhaps you are interested in replacing your boiler – it would be great to see you in our showroom but you may prefer to pick up the phone or email us first (use the contact form below) to see if we can help you, then please do – we’d love to hear from you.
