Plumbing and heating supplies for everyone
CUSTOMER SERVICE: +44 (0)3300 535899 // customercare@plumb2u.com
Your cart 0
Blog
Search   Back to Posts

Considering a Smart Thermostat? Here’s How They Work and The Benefits They Bring 

Considering a Smart Thermostat? Here’s How They Work and The Benefits They Bring 

Heating controls have always been an essential part of your home.  
They allow you to schedule your heating and cooling settings and regulate the temperature in your home with the aim to limit the energy consumption, save money on your heating bills and reduce your boiler's impact on the environment.
They traditionally include a timer or programmer function and go hand in hand with room thermostats and thermostatic radiator valves.
 
 
But have you heard of Smart Thermostats and Smart Radiator Valves?
 
The fully integrated Smart home concept has not caught on as fast as some had anticipated. However, the offering of “Smart” products for our homes has considerably increased in recent years: Smart Doorbells, Connected Burglar Alarms, Robot Vacuums and a host of devices controlled by phone apps. 
Heating control manufacturers have made the most of recent technological advances and of the fact that smartphones are now part of just about everyone's daily life.
In our opinion Smart Thermostats are actually one of the best Smart Devices that you can buy for your house.
What is a Smart Thermostat? 
Smart Thermostats connect your heating system to the Wi-fi network of your house. They allow you to change the temperature or switch your heating and cooling systems on or off entirely from anywhere, using a smartphone app or a website. As well letting you adjust the temperature of your home remotely, most smart thermostats also provide detailed information about your energy usage.
Like all Smart products, Smart Thermostats come at an extra cost compared to traditional Thermostats. Are they worth the investment? How do you choose the best smart thermostat?
How do Smart Thermostats work?
Most Smart Thermostat packs consist of: 
·   a Wireless Hub that connects your boiler to the Internet via your Wi-Fi network. 
·   a Wireless Thermostat Controller that similarly to traditional thermostats can be wall or table-mounted, battery or mains powered. Their displays are more evolved than the traditional push button interface. Some have touch screen displays. 
·   an app that can be installed on your smartphone and allow you to control your boiler function remotely. 
The more expensive Smart Thermostats will also include individual Smart Thermostatic Radiator Valves, which will allow different settings for different zones of your house. 
Why should you buy a Smart Thermostat?
User friendly:
The Phone app that comes with your smart thermostat system allows you to scheduling your heat settings precisely and with ease (weekly, daily or hourly). A phone app interface is just more convenient and easier to use than the screen and push buttons of a traditional thermostat.
Tracking Your Energy use:
These days, with the high costs of energy , tracking your usage has become somewhat necessary.
Smart meters spring to mind when it comes to monitoring energy usage. Initially perceived as a way for energy suppliers to spy on their customers, smart meters have now started to be adopted more widely now. Some smart meters however tie you in to a specific supplier and can make switching supplier more difficult and yes, the data being shared with your supplier, it can still feel a little bit like an intrusion.
With a Smart Thermostat, you have none of these inconveniences and you are able to access live information on how much energy you’re using just has well as with a smart meter. Your Smart Thermostat records and gives you access to a wide range of statistical data. For example, you can understand how long it takes for your house to heat up. You will also be able to see times when your energy use is at the highest and think about possible solutions to reduce that.
Overall, this data will help you come up with an energy efficient schedule that can lead to substantial energy savings.
Hot water control:
Not all smart thermostats offer hot water control.
If you have a combination boiler, which provides hot water instantly when you turn on the hot tap or the shower, then you won't need a smart thermostat that does this. 
However, if you live in a home with a heat only boiler and separate hot water tank, some smart thermostats can be used to specifically control your hot water function.
If you've switched off your hot water because you've had a weekend away for instance, in terms of energy savings, you have done the right thing.
However, you might fancy taking a nice hot shower as soon as you return. This could be problematic if you have to wait until you step back in your home to turn the hot water back on. It will take at least 60 minutes for a hot water tank to heat back up.
With the right Smart Thermostat you can switch the hot water back on remotely with the smart thermostat app installed on your smartphone.
The following Smart Thermostats offer hot water control:
 
Learning Features:
The best smart thermostats can learn about your routine too and take proactive decisions. 
Let’s say you are heading home from work ahead of time and out of your normal routine. You can log on your app and turn your heating on. 
On the opposite, if you are leaving earlier than usual and have left your heating on. Your phone app will allow you to switch it off earlier than normally scheduled. 
This can also be automatically done since your phone and GPS tracking knows whether you are home or not. This is called Geofencing. 
Other products (such as Nest) will also go further into learning about your routines and adapting to them. They can learn your habits (for a certain required initial period) and produce a schedule in accordance. 
Multi-Zone heating:
In smaller homes, zoned heating may not be essential. In larger properties however, Multi-Zone heating could help you make substantial energy savings.
When you are home, your entire house does not necessarily need to be heated. 
Having a connected thermostat in each room and smart radiator valves will allow you to heat only designated zones within your house. 
Going further into automation, you can also install sensors, so your smart thermostat knows when someone enters or leaves a room. This is the most advanced multi room control function that you can get.
Worcester Bosch Easy Control Starter Kit includes a Smart Thermostat and x3 Smart Radiator Valves to allow you to control your temperature room by room.
 
For budget conscious home owners, a brand new product like Secure's Radbot 1 can deliver multizone heating in different way than your average Smart Thermostat system.
It detects whether a room is occupied or not by measuring light and adjusting the temperature accordingly. Its self-learning algorithm will then learn your schedule and things how long it takes to heat a room. 
It can be retrofitted within minutes to any thermostatic radiator valve without the need for a professional.
Boiler output control and modulation: 
When we think about Smart Thermostats, remote access, user friendly interface and automated schedules come to mind.
But there is more.
What might be the smartest feature of all with modern Smart Thermostat is often overlooked and you may not be familiar with it.
The way your boiler receives information from the Thermostat is via specific communication protocols or Bus Control. 
Older systems reach and maintain a room temperature via a simple stop/start, on/off operation of the boiler. 
If the house is below the set temperature, your boiler switches on to reach it and then stops until the temperature drops again. 
Smart Thermostats, if you choose one compatible with the communication protocol (bus control) of your boiler, will allow its output to be modulated. In other words, rather than switching on and off, your boiler stays active but constantly lowers or increases its output to regulate the temperature flow through the heating system and eventually the room temperature. 
This is a much more energy efficient way for it to run. 
 Because of this, even though most Smart Controllers can be integrated to your system and offer extra functions, picking one that is compatible with your boiler’s communication protocols might dictate the best choice for your system. 
  
Some brands have proprietary protocols: 
Worcester boilers and heat pumps tend to use EMS bus. 
Vaillant boilers and heat pumps speak E bus. 
The Viessmann 200 range and their heat pump range use KM bus. 
One standard however, called OpenTherm is open (as opposed to proprietary). 
If your boiler supports that protocol, you are not restricted to one brand for the choice of your controller. You can pick between several third-party brands such as Google Nest, Honeywell Home… 
Shop our range of modulating smart thermostats:
Modulating smart thermostats for Worcester boilers:
 
Modulating smart thermostat for Vaillant boilers (E Bus):
 
Modulating smart thermostat for OpenTherm compatible boilers:
 
Do smart thermostats work with Smart Speakers ?
Google Nest Thermostat obviously works within the Google Home ecosystem and the Google Nest Home Smart Speaker.
In general, most Smart Thermostats tend to work with Google Home and Amazon Echo (physical smart speaker for Alexa).
A more limited number of smart thermostats will support Microsoft Cortana and Apple HomeKit.
If being able to control your heating system with voice control is very appealing. To be able to do that, check for compatibility with the Smart Speaker of your choice before you buy your Smart Thermostat.
Can You Install a Smart Thermostat Yourself?
Unlike Smart Meters, Smart thermostats do not require a professional installer.
You will need to turn the power off for the operation but they are usually easy to install as long as you pay attention to how your system is wired before you begin.
Make a note or take a photo of how your existing thermostat is wired. Smart Thermostat often come with labels that help you mark wires before the installation.
You will need to turn the power off for the operation.
Conclusion
So, it is clear to see that smart thermostats have a lot to offer. They provide a greater level of control and functionality when compared with traditional options. 
Nest for example, states that the average UK customer can save between 8.4% – 16.5% on their heating bills by using their Smart Thermostat.
Energy bills are slowly rising and there is not a lot we can do about it but we can alter how we use our heating system. When everything is managed manually, you can forget to turn your heating off or set the temperature too high, all of which will use more energy than you need leading to higher bills. With a smart thermostat, you can use accurate information that gives you greater control over how you use your heating. You will find that you use your system more efficiently and that will help to reduce heating costs.
With a variety of systems available to choose from, it couldn’t be easier to find the right system to fit your home and your lifestyle.
 
Browse our range of Smart Thermostats here: Smart Thermostats

Related categories

Slide
Slide
Slide

Other popular blog entries

What are the benefits of efficient appliances and how to save money at home?
What are the different types of showers and which one is best for you?
What are the benefits of underfloor heating, and how does it work?
What are the benefits of using a water softener and which type should I use?
Created On  3 Mar 2023 16:00  -  Permalink

Comments

No comments available

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated, and will not appear on this blog until the author has approved them.
Name and email address are required. The email address will not be displayed with the comment.
Your comment
Name *
Email *
Website URL
Preview Comment Post Comment