Right now, there are almost 2.5 million smart heating controls in households across the UK (Source: Energy Live News). Numbers adopting the technology are growing year on year, with registered installers like Duffy Heating noting a sharp increase in the number of homes requiring an upgrade.
Costing between £150 – £300, products such as Hive, Tado, Google Nest and Honeywell are now becoming a common sight.
So, why are so many people adopting smart heating systems for their homes?
To Save Money
In 2019, the average heating bill was £1,254 per year. That is a significant amount of money. Since the energy markets opened up and switching became easier, people have begun to feel more in control of their relationship with their energy suppliers and aren’t afraid to take measures to drive down bills even further.
Different manufacturers have made various claims on how much money you could save. British Gas say that Hive, its smart thermostat, could save you up to £130 per year. Tado claims that it will reduce bills by up to £31%, essentially paying for itself in the first year.
Reduce Their Environmental Impact
37% of the total UK emissions come from heating in 2016. People are becoming more conscious of their impact on the world around them. From their diets to use of plastic, more and more people are taking steps to minimise their carbon footprint.
Smart heating controllers are able to reduce consumption and emissions by only heating the home when needed.
To Complete Their ‘Smart Home’
By the middle of 2019, it was estimated that 1 in 5 households in the UK had at least one smart speaker. That’s just under 6 million households and 10 million users (Source: Strategy Analytics).
These numbers are expected to increase by up to 1 million per year over the next few years.
We now control more and more of our lives through apps and smart speakers. From the TV to lightbulbs, we can control everything with a voice command or our mobile phone.
A smart heating controller is a natural fit for those used to controlling their appliances this way. The systems are extremely sophisticated, not just a glorified power switch. They can track your phone and remind you if you’ve left the house without turning the heating off, or see that you’ll be home soon and heat the house before you arrive.
Some heating controllers can even monitor the weather forecast and change your heating schedule automatically.
Within the foreseeable future, smart heating controllers will begin to become the norm in households across the UK and the rest of the world.
