Are you Being Smart With Your Boiler Controls?

Allen HartCentral Heating, Energy Saving

CCH Leeds provides boiler installations throughout Leeds and the surrounding areas. In this blog post we’ll briefly explore smart heating controls, what they are and how they might help you save money on your energy bills.

Over the past few years, smart technology has crept in to almost every element of the home, and boilers and heating systems are no exception. You’ve probably come across some of the advertising campaigns from the many companies that now make smart thermostats, it’s quickly become a very busy market. These smart thermostats range from tens to several hundred pounds, and vary significantly in the benefits they offer. A smart thermostat could certainly help you get the most out of your boiler, but before investing you should understand exactly how it’ll save you money.

Utilise your existing boiler controls fully

If you’re considering a smart thermostat to save money it’s important to ensure that you’re fully utilising your existing boiler controls, as you can save a relatively significant amount of money this way. Steps you can take include turning the thermostat down, adjusting TRVs in lesser used rooms and ensuring your boiler controls are timed correctly.

What are smart thermostats?

The most basic smart thermostats allow you to control your boiler remotely, admittedly not very exciting but they do give you greater control and flexibility. More sophisticated models do however have some genuinely clever and useful features. Most are able to learn about how you heat your home and how your boiler performs, so that over time it automatically makes the adjustments that you usually have to do manually. Many are able to adapt to Leeds weather reports, as well as use your location to detect when the home is empty or when you’re on your way home. All of these features can combine to create a genuinely smart system.

The latest (and most expensive) models offer ‘zoned heating’, which uses smart TRVs to control the temperature in individual rooms, allowing you to keep certain rooms hotter when necessary. Of course this is already possible with standard TRVs and smaller homes are unlikely to see enough savings to make this worthwhile. This product is aimed at larger, newly built homes which are required by law to have at least two separate heating zones. In those properties, smart zoned heating may offer a greater rate of return.

Will I save money?

Smart thermostat manufacturers claim that their products can save you anything between 10-40% on your heating bills, but of course nothing is for certain and if you are already efficient with your boiler and heating controls then you may not see a return for some time. Your potential savings will also be influenced by the size and efficiency of your home. However these systems are getting smarter and more efficient all the time and if you are looking to have a new boiler installed then it may make sense to add smart controls in order to maximise the efficiency of new system.

Local to Leeds? 

If you live in Leeds and are considering a new boiler or smart thermostat, and would like a quote or more advice get in touch. CCH Leeds install boilers and central heating systems throughout Leeds and the surrounding areas.