Ultimate Guide To Smart Home Heating Systems
As the cost of living continues to rise, many people are looking for ways to save money on their expenses. One area that can often be overlooked is the heating bill. Let’s face it, you need to heat your home or business regardless of the cost. There are only so many jumpers you can put on!
With the use of smart heating technology, you can easily control your heating and save on energy costs in the process. The best smart thermostat can help you efficiently manage your heating and ensure that you are only using it when needed, making it a smart investment for your home. In this post, I will explore the importance of incorporating smart heating into your home and how it can help you effortlessly control your heating bill.
Introducing Smart Heating: A Reliable and Cost-Efficient System
As we delve into the world of smart heating, it’s important to understand how this innovative system can revolutionise the way you manage your home’s heating. Smart heating is a reliable and cost-efficient system that allows you to have complete control over your room temperature, ensuring both comfort and energy savings. When I speak to clients about installing this smart technology they always go straight to one single smart control. Your heating is on or off and it’s programmed through your phone. It can be like that but, it can be so much more than that. With a fully smart central heating system you can have control of different rooms independently. This is where the investment really make a difference.
Gone are the days of manually adjusting your thermostat or relying on outdated heating systems. With smart heating, you can effortlessly regulate the temperature of your home, all while maximising energy efficiency. By upgrading to a smart thermostat or other smart devices, you can take advantage of advanced features that make managing your heating a breeze. Maybe that’s a bad description. Since if you are reading this you probably live in the Highland of Scotland and the one thing that is extremely frustrating is the breeze! It might keep away the midges in the summer but it increases your energy use in the winter.
One of the key benefits of smart heating is the ability to programme and customise your home’s heating schedule. Traditional heating systems often require manual adjustments throughout the day to maintain a comfortable temperature. I’m sure you’ve been there. Going from room to room during the day to turn off or on your TRV valves. If you are like me, you soon stop as it’s hard to remember to do this with any consistency.
However, with a smart thermostat like Tado or the Nest Learning Thermostat, you can set your desired temperature preferences and create a heating schedule that suits your lifestyle. Whether you’re at work or asleep, your smart thermostat will ensure that your home is at the ideal temperature when you need it, saving energy and money in the process.
In addition to personalised scheduling on a per room basis, smart heating systems also provide valuable insights into your home’s energy consumption. With real-time data and analytics, you can gain a deeper understanding of how your heating system is performing and identify areas where energy savings can be made. This level of visibility allows you to make informed decisions about your heating habits and make adjustments accordingly. For example, the Tado Smart Thermostat has window detection automatically shutting off your heating to save on unnecessary usage.
Another advantage of smart heating is the ability to control your heating remotely. With smart thermostats and compatible apps (I prefer Home Assistant which I’ll get into later), you can easily adjust your home’s temperature from anywhere using your smartphone or other smart devices. Forgot to turn down the heat before leaving for holiday? Not a problem! Simply access the app and make the necessary adjustments to save energy and money. Some smart thermostat models have a holiday mode built in! Of course, using software like Home Assistant means your heating system will know if you are not home and keep your heating off anyway.
Furthermore, smart heating systems offer seamless integration with other smart home devices. Imagine arriving home on a chilly winter evening, and your smart heating system has already preheated your living room to your preferred temperature. By integrating your smart heating system with smart lighting, voice assistants, and other smart devices, you can create a truly interconnected and automated home environment.
Saving Money Without Sacrificing Comfort
One of the most significant benefits of making your heating smart is the potential for substantial savings on your energy bills. By Upgrading to a smart heating system, you can optimise your home’s heating efficiency and reduce energy wastage, ultimately saving money without sacrificing comfort. This was always key to me. I hate being cold and I hate wasting money. This is amplified if you forget to turn off your heating system before leaving. If you’re out the whole day it’s just wasting energy which is wasted money. But if you are in and enjoying the heat, it’s not really wasted heat. You could even crank it up a notch because you’ve saved on your away day!
First and foremost, a smart heating system allows you to have complete control over your home’s heating, ensuring that you only use it when necessary. Traditional heating systems often rely on manual adjustments throughout the day, leading to energy wastage when you forget to turn the heat down or leave it on unnecessarily. With a smart thermostat or other smart devices, you can programme your heating schedule to align with your lifestyle. This means your home will be at the ideal temperature when you need it, and energy will be conserved when you don’t.
I personally used Tado because it gives me real-time data and analytics which allows me to monitor how my heating system is performing and identify areas where energy savings can be made. By understanding your energy usage patterns, you can make informed decisions about your heating habits and make adjustments accordingly. This level of visibility not only helps you save money but also encourages more energy-conscious behaviour.
So, this really brings me to Home Assistant. Tado, Nest and the other latest smart thermostats use their own apps. Which are all good but with many people, you will want to automate your lighting, hot water tank, garden gates, garden hoses etc. The list is pretty endless of what is smart. If I can go off on a tangent and back to smart heating for a moment, you can even make oil filled heaters smart. Installing a smart socket and independent smart temperature sensors you can programme your oil filled dumb radiator to turn on when the temperature goes below a set level and turn off when it reaches its set temperature. Anyway, what was I talking about? Yes. Home Assistant. All of this can be programmed via free open source software. And just because you read open source doesn’t mean it’s filled with bugs. It’s actually very very reliable, especially if it’s set up correctly. I’ve had many issues with setting up heating schedules on Home Assistant. In my own home I use Tado and within Home Assistant there are many options to manage it. There is even a specific Tado Thermostat card but it was a nightmare. I made a video about why. This is where HA really shines. There are more options so you will find something that works.
For a bit of background, I started my smart heating career using HomeKit. But it really fell short at managing schedules. I won’t get into this too much but it was really poor. I’m an Apple fan but it was just crap. So, I moved to an app called Home+5. This gave me the control I wanted over my heating. However, over time when I lost wifi or needed to make a change, it lost all my temperature based automatons. It’s a great home automation app but again, the niggles and workarounds were just too unbearable. At least once per week I was restoring from a backup which didn’t always work. After this I tried out Homebridge. This was a revelation. I had so much control over everything in my home. By this time I had motion sensors, lighting, smart plugs, and heating installed. It all just worked and it synced with HomeKit. Now, HomeKit is good in its own way but by making Homebridge and HomeKit work together it was a whole different ball game. It also opened up new brands. With HomeKIt you have to buy HomeKit certified. Like the rest of Apple stuff it was twice the price. Now with computers this makes a difference. Apple is infinitely better than Windows and it’s money well spent, but when you have an option of a £35 lightbulb or 5 for £35 it’s a no brainer. It’s a light bulb. It gives you light. So whilst using Homebridge I bought a batch of lightbulbs from Wiz. They worked perfectly with their own app but they would not integrate into Homebridge. And here was me thinking Homebridge was my final resting place. But it wasn’t to be.
I was back to square 1. That was until I found Home Assistant. For some reason I thought it was an app (it kind of is) and had the same limitations. But no, it’s like Homebridge but doesn’t fall down when you add new smart devices. I put this on my new Raspberry Pi and it scanned the network for devices and installed them all (with names as well) I then went about configuring my scenes and automations. Mostly with success as well. I had real issues with my heating which you can see in the video above. But with much fiddling (can you say this nowadays?) I got it to work.
So, the big question. Does smart heating actually reduce the amount of energy you use? Yes. My HVAC system works seamlessly. It knows when I am home, when my kids are in their room of whether or not it’s windy outside. There is zero wastage.To offer my not so scientific proof of this is the amount of heating oil I go through. Between February 2023 and November 2023 I used all of 502 litres. This works out at £48 per month on heating (also note that my oil heating also heats my water). The previous year my usage was close to 900 litres for similar timeframe. That’s a saving of £332. This will work out as £400 or so per year. Or, to put it another way, the cost of the heating system. With this, I have the perfect temperature at all times. Pretty neat, right? These savings mostly came from using Home Assistant in line with the smart radiator valves and by not using the smartphone app. There just isn’t the control you need.
Tips for Effectively Using and Optimising Your Smart Heating System
Tips for Effectively Using and Optimising Your Smart Heating System
Once you’ve invested in a smart heating system, it’s essential to know how to make the most of it and optimise your energy savings. Here are some tips for effectively using and optimising your smart heating system:
1. Take Advantage of Scheduling Features: One of the key benefits of a smart heating system is the ability to programme your heating schedule. Take the time to set up your system with your preferred temperature settings for different times of the day. This way, your home will be warm when you need it and energy will be conserved when you don’t.
2. Utilise Geo-fencing: Many smart thermostats have geo-fencing capabilities that allow them to detect when you’re leaving or returning home. By enabling this feature, your heating system will automatically adjust the temperature based on your location. This means you won’t waste energy heating an empty house and can enjoy a comfortable temperature when you return.
3. Make Use of Energy-saving Modes: Smart heating systems often have energy-saving modes that help reduce energy consumption when you’re not at home or during certain times of the day. These modes can help you save even more on your heating bills without compromising your comfort. Be sure to explore the settings of your smart heating system and enable these energy-saving features.
4. Monitor and Analyse Energy Usage: Regularly check your smart heating system’s app or interface to monitor your energy usage. Pay attention to patterns and identify any areas where you could make adjustments to further reduce energy consumption. Use the insights and data provided to inform your energy-saving decisions. I personally automate my heating to shut off if the sun is out. Why pay for what you can get for free!
5. If you don’t have geofencing or Home Assistant. Take Advantage of Remote Control: Use your smart heating system’s remote control capabilities to make temperature adjustments when you’re away from home. If you forgot to turn down the heat before leaving for work or going on holiday, you can easily make the necessary adjustments using your smartphone or other smart devices. This feature ensures that you’re not wasting energy when you’re not home.
6. Integrate with Other Smart Devices: If you have other smart devices in your home, consider integrating them with your smart heating system. This integration allows for more advanced automation and coordination. For example, you can connect your smart heating system to your smart lighting, so the lights turn on when you arrive home and the heating adjusts to your desired temperature simultaneously. Or, you can invest in more accurate temperature sensors. The ones includes inside the smart radiator valves are very low down so are not 100% accurate.
7. Regularly Update and Maintain Your System: Like any technology, it’s important to keep your smart heating system up to date with the latest software updates and firmware. Regular updates ensure that you have access to the newest features and improvements. Additionally, make sure to maintain your heating system by cleaning or replacing filters and scheduling routine inspections to ensure it’s operating efficiently.
By following these tips, you can effectively use and optimise your smart heating system, resulting in significant energy savings and a more comfortable home. Take advantage of the advanced features and automation capabilities offered by smart heating technology to effortlessly control your heating bill while maintaining a cosy living environment.
Hopefully you enjoyed this long article about working with smart heating. These systems can be used in the home, B&B’s, hotels, AirBnB’s etc. There are very little limitations. If you want to discuss your home/business in more detail and how you can save money on your heating please do reach out to Skye IT. I cover all of Skye and the Highlands of Scotland.