Heatmiser Smart Home Heating Controls

What is Smart heating control, and do I need it?

For years, many of us have been used to controlling our home heating using a conventional thermostat. This simple device allows you to set the desired temperature, to keep the home warm during the colder months.

The thermostat is usually paired with a timer or time clock, which allows the homeowner to decide what times of day the boiler will be active.

This simple setup allows basic heating control such as; The Time of Day we’d like the home heated, and 1 chosen temperature to heat it to. This works well but has limitations: What if you want your home heated to a warmer temperature in the morning, but a slightly less warm temperature in the evenings? Or what if you are not in your home at a time when the heating would normally be set to come on, but you’d like to cancel it to save heating an empty home?  Or perhaps you are coming home at a different time of day and would like to pre-heat your home before you arrive?  This is all possible with Smart Heating from Heatmiser.

Smart Home heating controls allow you to completely customise how you’d like to heat your home for better comfort and only when you need it. Using smartphone apps gives even more control and the ability to remote control your heating from anywhere in the world.

There are even advanced sensors and controls, such as window sensors which can detect if a window in a room has been left open and stop heating that room to avoid continually trying to wastefully heat the space.

It is likely that in the future all new homes will be fitted only with smart heating devices, for maximum control and energy efficiency.

Who are Heatmiser?

Heatmiser is a British company based in Blackburn and established in 1968, originally starting out as an electrical contracting firm. Today Heatmiser has grown to become one of the UK's leading heating controls manufacturers and lead the way bringing home heating controls into the smart era.

The company are passionate about energy efficiency and through continuous development of their products, are aiming to make heating our homes more efficient by reducing energy usage, saving the planet as well as saving the pennies!

What components do I need to get started with Heatmiser smart heating controls?

Over the years there have been may versions of heating systems in UK homes. Some use boilers, radiators, hot water cylinders and valves to provide our heating and hot water. More modern systems use Combi boilers to provide heating and instantaneous hot water on demand. Even newer renewable heating sources, like ground or air source heat pumps, and even solar water heaters are yet another method to keep our homes warm and our water hot.

Often there is a mix different styles of heating system to achieve the goal. With this in mind it can be daunting to understand enough about your home heating system to feel confident in choosing smart controls.

If you are unsure it may be worth asking a plumber to help identify your heating system type.

Thermostats

To keep things simple, let’s concentrate on thermostats, as every heating system will need one. The thermostat is important as it’s the only way your heating system can tell what temperature your home currently is. The thermostat is used to signal when the home (or part of a home, commonly referred to as a zone) is cooler than the occupants would like, turning the heating on; and when the ideal temperature has been reached, turning the heating off.

Traditionally thermostats were very basic and the home occupants would need to adjust them to suit their needs. If you left the thermostat set at 19°C this is the temperature your heating would need to achieve before it switched off. If you wanted the heating warmer in the morning but cooler in the evenings, you’d need to remember to manually adjust the thermostat between two temperatures.

Smart heating controls, such as the Heatmiser neoStat WiFI are far more advanced and offer significant benefits. Firstly, they are electronic and digital, giving the ability to more accurately set your desired temperatures. They also have a digital display, which shows your home (or zones) current temperature.

The neoStat WiFi also has a built-in timeclock. This allows the user to set different desired temperatures based on different times of day, and even different days in the week. So if you’d prefer the heating activate later on weekends, or continue later into the evenings on a Saturday, you can!

The neoStat WiFi provides easy setup via the Heatmiser Neo app for iOS and Android.  Simply install the thermostat, download the app and pair your thermostat to your home wifi. From there you can use the app to setup your heating schedules, make manual changes to temperatures in real time, and monitor usage history for all the zones of your home heating (you’ll need one neoStat WiFi per zone of heating you wish to control.

A neoStat WiFi smart thermostat is the perfect first step to any home heating system.

Other Components

Wiring Centres - Used for controlling multi zone heating systems, wiring centres offer an all in one solution for a central wiring point to connect zone actuators (valves) to control the heating flow to up to 8 zones of wet under floor heating or radiators, as well as a hot water cylinder.

Wireless Air Sensor – Used to discreetly monitor the temperature of a room or heating zone, it can connect wirelessly to a neoHub and be paired with a neoStat.

Wireless Contact Sensor – Can be paired with neoHubs and assigned to neoStats to switch off heating in zones where external doors or windows have been opened.

Smart Plug – Can be used to control appliances with a standard UK plug. Pairs with neoHub and can be controlled manually or with timeclock events via the neoApp. Perfect for automatic control of lamps while you’re away from home. It also has a secondary function and acts as a wireless signal booster for other Heatmiser wireless products.