Slash Your Energy Bills By Pairing Your Radiators With Smart Controls

How would you like to knock £110 off your annual energy bills? If, like many people in the UK, you're faced with increasing heating costs, the good news is that savings like this are possible and you don’t even have to replace your radiators. Pairing your existing radiators with modern, smart controls can help make your home more energy efficient and lead to real-world savings, all while keeping you warm as toast through winter. These modern radiator controls use Wi-Fi, apps and even work with voice assistants to let you manage your heating remotely. They can also change your settings automatically based on your heating habits to ensure your radiators work as efficiently as possible. So, whether you're home all day or out and about, your smart heating system will be working hard to help you cut your bills.

Start With A Boiler Service

Before you begin investing in smart controls for your radiators, you need to make sure your boiler is regularly serviced by a professional. That way, you can maximise the benefits of your new smart heating system. While a boiler service can cost between £79 and £120, it can save you hundreds in the long run. An annual boiler service ensures the central heating system, including your boiler and radiators, is working efficiently, helping to avoid any unnecessary repairs and energy costs in the future. Keeping your boiler in optimal condition will ensure that any smart controls you add will work effectively to help you keep your energy bills as low as possible.

What Are Smart Radiator Controls?

Smart thermostats are designed to make managing the temperature of your home more convenient and efficient. They not only monitor temperature, but also let you set up a heating schedule and the temperature you want. They work with smart Thermostatic Radiator Valves (TRVs) to control individual room temperatures via an app. As they have online connectivity, they let you manage the heating schedule remotely, so you can change the temperature or even turn your heating off or on whenever you want. So, if your plans change, so can your heating. Some smart thermostats also use geofencing by tapping into your phone’s GPS to find out if you’re in or out of the house. If you’re away, it can connect to your smart system and turn down the heating or if you’re on your way home, it can start warming up the house for you. 

How Do Smart Controls Cut Energy Costs?

While smart thermostats can cost up to £250, they can save you money on your heating bills by making your home more energy efficient. Rather than paying to heat spaces in your home which you're not using or regularly using, you'll only heat the rooms you need while also being in control of the temperature. If you forget to turn your heating off when you’re away, you can just turn it off remotely while you're sitting on the train. Alternatively, your smart thermostat will be able to detect you’re no longer home and turn it off for you. If the outside temperature increases, warming your home naturally, smart radiator controls will respond by adjusting your radiators. You can also use wireless timers and zoning hubs that enable you to divide your home into separate zones, that way, you’re not heating the whole house when you’re just using one room.

Are They Compatible With Existing Home Technology?

Most smart radiator controls are designed to work with your existing home technology like Google Home, Amazon Echo, Apple HomeKit and Microsoft Cortena. This means that once your smart controls are connected to your home device, you can simply use some simple voice commands to ask Google or Alex to increase or decrease the heating or check the room's temperature. You can even adjust the temperature in another room without even having to leave your chair. 

Smart radiator controls are a great way to help you cut down on your energy costs. Whether it's helping you make sure the heating is turned off when the house is empty or only heating certain rooms when needed, these smart controls make your home more energy efficient and put you in control of heating your home.

And good news! Smart TRVs are coming to Feature Radiators in April - follow to find out more!

Content reproduced with kind permission of Jennifer Dawson.