Smart Energy Products

Smart Thermostats

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Customise your heating and cooling energy usage

If you want to reduce the amount of energy you use to keep your home at a pleasant and stable temperature, and you don’t have a weather compensated heating system, you could consider using a smart thermostat. With most smart thermostats you’re able to schedule temperature cycles. They can use machine learning to learn from you and make these changes for you, before you need to!

What are smart thermostats?

Keeping your home at a nice stable temperature usually requires a constant stream of energy. Smart thermostats are able to couple directly with your central heating system to manage this constant energy usage. They use ‘adaptive technology’ which allows the device to remember your preferences and behaviour, so it is able to pre-adjust the temperature according to your normal pattern of use. The technology is still in its infancy, however they can certainly help to cut your energy costs without sacrificing any cost or comfort.

Why buy a smart thermostat?

As our homes become more smart and interconnected with the different devices we own, the benefits increase over time. Currently you can use mobile apps which provide you with analytics over your usage, so that you can adjust and plan according to the data it provides.

Home Energy Monitors

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Better see and understand your energy usage at home

Home energy monitors visualise your energy usage on your property. You’re able to set up maximum spending, and even view energy costs in ‘real-time’ (usually accurate to within an hour). Depending on your budget, they can come with a wide array of features ranging from recognising the energy usage of individual appliances, to generating personalised recommendations to maximise your efficiency.

What is the difference between an energy monitor and a smart meter?

A smart meter is for your electricity supplier, a smart monitor is for you. A smart monitor won’t directly affect your bills, but they do provide you with the facts and figures needed to understand where you’re using power, and how to reduce it! As the old adage goes, knowledge is power!

What is the difference between an energy monitor and a smart thermostat?

A smart thermostat connects to your central heating and automatically adjusts temperatures to match your needs. A smart monitor will not change this, but will instead inform you of trends and potential areas for improvement.

Do energy monitors send information to my supplier?

No. Smart monitors don’t share any information with anyone outside of your home.

Energy Efficient Products

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What are energy efficient products?

Energy efficient products are products that do the same job as regular ones but for a fraction of the energy. Some do this through having special ‘smart’ features to limit usage, but this is not always the case. All energy efficient products eliminate the inefficiencies typically found in regular products. Some good examples of such products can be found below:

LED Lights

LED stands for ‘light emitting diode’. They work very differently to traditional lights, using a semiconductor to generate light through a process called electroluminescence. As a result, they have a long lifespan and considerably improved performance when compared to the older incandescent counterparts.

Typically you can see improvements of around 70% in your energy efficiency if you were to switch all of your lights to LEDs. This saving of electricity directly impacts both your environmental impact and your bills. Typically you can expect a return on investment within the first year. A complete no-brainer!

Smart power strips

Smart power strips reduce your power usage by switching off power to products that go into standby or sleep mode. Doing so can save you and the environment considerably. Statistics vary, but experts say standby power consumption in an average home ranges from 5 percent to 10 percent of your household energy consumption. It can also account for about 1 percent of worldwide carbon dioxide emissions. You could combat ‘vampire’ power by continually unplugging your gadgets, but with a smart power strip it does it for you automatically.

Low flow shower heads

Most people in the UK use 60 litres of water each time they shower (over an average of 8 minutes). If you and your family enjoy especially warm showers, the amount of energy that goes into heating the water used for each shower can substantially increase your energy bills. This issue is compounded if you are on a water meter.

Low flow shower heads work by restricting the amount of water that they allow to flow through them. Whilst this might seem like it could diminish the experience, in actuality the flow is forced to squeeze through smaller holes, which means the water comes out of the shower head at a higher speed. This produces a more massaging feeling, whilst saving water and energy.

It’s worth noting that if you have low pressure or an electric shower, a low flow shower head might not be a viable option for you.

Smart light switches

Smart light switches are an innovative way to reduce your energy bills and environment impact. You are able to programme them to save power to fit your needs. They are also able to be fitted into most regular sockets, meaning that the process of changing is both simple and inexpensive.

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