Over the past five years, the smart thermostat has seen a huge rise in popularity.
In fact, many energy suppliers have claimed smart thermostats to be the best way to control your gas and electricity. Despite this, many people still don’t know what smart thermostats are or how they work.
What Is A Smart Thermostat?
Smart thermostats are a relatively new piece of technology that connects your heating system to the internet. This connection lets you control your heating using your smartphone, computer, voice assistant, or other device.
Some common features of smart thermostats are geofencing, settings to keep your pipes from freezing, water regulation and constant feedback of your heating and cooling patterns. They usually cost between £150 and £300, depending on the manufacturer and the model.
What Are The Benefits?
Smart thermostats have become popular due to their useful smart features. We have outlined some of these features below to illustrate some of the benefits of this smart technology.
Remote Access
The first obvious benefit is that you can access your smart thermostat’s settings from anywhere and adjust as need be. So if you forget to switch your heating off before going away, it’s no problem!
Geofencing
Geofencing allows your thermostat to use your smartphone to track your location and adjust the temperature of your home accordingly, if you are away. This will save you money if you forget to switch your heating off when you go out and saves you manually upping it when you return.
Motion and Proximity Sensors
Many smart thermostats have motion and proximity sensors, which allows it to turn the heating on in a room you just entered. Saving energy in areas where you aren’t sitting and heating the places you are.
Zonal Heating
If you live in a larger property and there are rooms you don’t usually frequent or there are areas that keep warmer or colder than the others, zonal heating will help you achieve the right temperature in each room.
Smart Home Integration
Most smart thermostats can now be connected to Alexa, Google or Cortana and managed by your voice command.
Learning
Being smart, your thermostat will look for patterns in your settings and adapt to your needs and temperature requirements.
Simple Installation
Many of the smart thermostats on the market offer a simple installation you can do yourself. Check if your thermostat requires a common wire or a C-wire and if in doubt, call professional heating specialists to help with the fitting.
Weather Responsive
Thermostats with this feature will check the weather and adjust the temperatures accordingly.
Smart thermostats also save homeowners a lot of money on their heating bills, with manufacturers claiming that the average return on investment is under 2 years. Reports have also shown that the switch to a smart thermostat guarantees 10-15% savings on a yearly basis, or approximately £100 yearly.
What do you think? Will a smart thermostat be your next investment?
