Will this help cut your household heating bills?
A new smart heating system is undergoing trials in Wolverhampton aimed at helping homeowners to cut their energy bills.
Heat Genius is designed to automatically heat only the rooms that are being used, and even turns radiators off when a window is open or if it is a warm day
The trial is a link-up between boffins at the University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton Homes and a string of small electrical businesses in the city.
Heat Genius predicts and adapts to a household’s energy usage by using a smart thermostat to heat only the parts of the home that are being used. The Genius Hub automatically adjusts the heating schedules for each room, ensuring it’s warm when you arrive, but not wasting heat when you’re out.
The system comprises a Genius Hub controller that plugs into the homeowner's internet router, a boiler controller and a portable wireless thermostat that can be moved from room to room. By being fully wireless, the user can control and monitor the system remotely via a smart device or web browser to identify where savings can be made, as well as seeing which rooms are warmer or colder than they need to be.
Mr Electric Wolverhampton is one of the businesses involved in the six month trial and recently installed the new intelligent heating system into a Wolverhampton Homes property.
Darren Barley, of Mr Electric Wolverhampton, who fitted the kit, said: "Smart heating systems are playing an important role in our homes now as more people stay in control of their energy bills.
"The Genius Hub is a zoned home heating control system that can be a truly 'fit and forget' solution, as it learns when you use each room and automatically cuts energy consumption without impacting on your comfort. The fact that the hub is wireless means it is really easy to install - you don’t need fancy wiring or the walls knocked about, you just need the Genius Hub and valves on the radiators to get this new level of flexibility which no other system can offer.
"We hope to continue to build our relationship with the University of Wolverhampton and Wolverhampton Homes and we will have the opportunity to roll out Heat Genius to many more homes across the region.”
The Smart Heating Controls pilot study, managed by the BECCI project, aims to investigate how suitable the Heat Genius system is for local consumers and how easily it can be deployed by the local SMEs. Working with Wolverhampton Homes, suitable properties were chosen and innovation firms were selected for this six month trial.
Rajiv Dhanjal, working within the ERDF funded Built Environment Climate Change Innovations (BECCI) team at the University of Wolverhampton, said: “We are delighted to be working with Mr Electric for the Heat Genius trial and to be able to use their skills and experience for one of the installations in a tenant’s home.
"With the product being local to the West Midlands, we only wanted to work with local heating installers, who were not only reputable, but also demonstrated innovative expertise in eco heating solutions. Mr Electric fitted this exactly and their professionalism and knowledge has really impressed me. Once we have evaluated the pilot later this year, I hope that we can continue our relationship with Mr Electric into the future.”
Kevin Manning, assistant director for property at Wolverhampton Homes, said: “We know how much local residents are affected by high energy bills and that fuel poverty is a problem not just in Wolverhampton, but nationally. That’s why we teamed up with University of Wolverhampton to trial the Heat Genius system, a smart technology system designed to enable customers to take control of their energy consumption and reduce their bills.
"We’re excited about the benefits it promises and we hope it will pave the way for cheaper energy and more efficient consumption for generations to come. Our prime concern is ensuring that our customers are able to live happily and healthily in their homes and sustain their tenancies.”
As well as looking at how the smart heating system works in social housing, the pilot study is also looking to improve the knowledge of the contractors fitting the equipment and, in turn, feed back their experiences to the manufacturers to help develop the next generation of smart controls.
