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Keep your electricity bill in check with these handy devices from Google, Nest and more
Smart thermostats are a great way of making sure you don’t waste energy – something especially important when energy costs are high. When it’s cold, with a smart thermostat, you can turn up the temperature without leaving the couch, just by tapping your smartphone. Even better, you can control a smart thermostat from wherever you are, not just at home.
If you’re heading off away from home, on holiday, perhaps, there’s enough to think of without remembering to turn down the temperature before you leave. Even if you go with all the radiators blazing, you can adjust them when you remember, as you sit down on your flight, say.
Some thermostats can spot when you’re away, and do this automatically. Similarly, you can anticipate your return by increasing the home temperature in the hours before you get back, so it’s toasty when you arrive. You can also set up a schedule for the radiators and hot water to come on.
Some smart thermostats can even talk to other smart home devices, like a smoke alarm detector which can spot when, heaven forbid, there’s a fire and turn the boiler off instantly, to stop it making a bad situation worse.
We checked out how simple these thermostats were to install, set up and use. We looked at how reliable it was, how effective at making your rooms warm when it said it would, and we looked at how many features were on board – and which ones you’d actually use.
Setting them apart from other boiler controllers, smart thermostats have many cost/fuel-saving features. The best ones to look out for include hot water control, multi-room control, the ability to learn your routine, motion sensors, GPS tracking and weather-responsive functionality.
There are several factors to consider before installing a smart thermostat. If easy control is what you want, then going “smart” with your heating is probably for you. If you don’t already have a boiler controller, you can save money by opting for a smart thermostat by being able to control your heating remotely, see how much you’re using and create different heating zones.
Many models require professional installation, adding to your overall cost but there are smart thermostats on the market that can be installed by a competent DIYer.
Among the cons, you may have to pay higher upfront costs or become locked into a brand and its compatible products. The less tech savvy among us might struggle getting used to a smarter system, too.
Unlike smart thermostats, wifi models don’t have the ability to learn from your usage nor the means of programming to automatically change the temperature in your home at a certain time. Smart thermostats can help you save on your bills over time.
Smart thermostats mean you’re not constantly having to remember to turn the heating on, and you can control them from an app so it’s easy to turn the radiators on from the bus if you’re making your way home unexpectedly early. Nest’s learning thermostat remains the easiest and most effective, but if you want granular control of multiple rooms, Honeywell evohome is effective. The Tado smart thermostat V3+ is highly capable and good value.
For extra cosiness without blasting the central heating, read our best electric heaters review