Nest made headlines at the beginning of 2014 when it was purchased by Google. Designed by the man behind the iPod, the Nest’s Learning Thermostat’s most distinctive feature is that it is designed to adapt your home’s temperature to your behaviour.

By monitoring the user’s habits, i.e. what time you leave your house on weekdays, Nest’s device is able to create a personalised “heating schedule”. The hope is that, eventually, the Learning Thermostat will know so much about your habits that you’ll never have to change the temperature by hand. The Nest Learning Thermostat also has a motion sensor, which can detect when your home is empty and doesn’t need to be heated. It also allows you to control your heating via your smart phone, tablet or desktop.

Tado° has been operating in Germany and other European countries for more than two years and launched in the UK in October 2013. It follows the same philosophy as Google’s Nest and seeks to adapt to users’ lifestyles and create smart homes with as little input from them as possible.

The device learns from users’ behaviour and tries to match your home’s temperature to your preferences, in the most energy efficient way possible. It does this by tracking homeowners using their smart phones.

This means that when everyone leaves the home it turns the heating off and, when it detects someone coming back from work, for example, it begins to turn the heating up. The system also takes into account weather conditions and, according to Tado°’s manufacturers, can help users save up to 31% on their energy bills. The Tado° wireless thermostat display is available via an app which you can download for your iOS, Android or Windows device.

Unlike Google’s Nest, the Hive doesn’t want to run your heating with as little input as possible from you. The Hive Active Heating is built around a dashboard which enables users to manage their home’s temperature using a smart device.

The Hive Active Heating system is a great upgrade for anyone that wants or needs the ability to be able to control their heating remotely. Hive allows users to design heating schedules and alter their home’s temperature whenever they want to. Very useful, particularly as British Gas says 7.8 million empty homes are heated every year. The device can also automatically turn the heating on if your pipes are going to freeze due to cold temperatures. 

Hive technology works with your existing heating system and there’s no need to change your energy supplier. If you have a separate hot water tank, you can control your hot water too.  

The SmartStat thermostat from Heatmiser, is an all-new WiFi connected thermostat with full colour LCD. SmartStat doesn’t require a hub and as SmartStat connects via a Cloud Server, setup is quick and will take minutes. SmartStat is the perfect choice for those with a combi-boiler and an existing wired thermostat.

Up to 32 zones can be controlled from the SmartStat App and the Geo Location feature ensures you never heat an empty home. A thermostat with style, the high gloss finish of SmartStat shows great attention to detail and the Glacier White, Sapphire Black and Platinum Silver options ensure SmartStat will look great in any home.

The evohome, a smart thermostat produced by Honeywell, has the ability to split your home into various “smart zones”, in which you can control the heating individually.

So if for example it’s a cold day and you have guests coming round, you can heat up the spare room to make sure they’re comfortable when they arrive. According to Honeywell, the device can help homes save up to 40% of their annual heating costs. The technology incorporates the usual array of smart thermostat features, including allowing you to remotely control your heating, as well as providing you a better understanding of your energy usage. 

The evohome understands how your heating system warms up your home and will be able to reach your preferred temperature more efficiently. It also detects temperature changes, such as an open window, and adapts accordingly.

We are experienced in carrying out all types of plumbing, gas and electrical work. We can help you from the smallest task, like replacing a tap washer or light switch, to a complete heating system installation and house rewiring.

You can rely on our team, as we’ve been supporting domestic customers and business across Scotland for 30 years. We are happy to provide quotations, just get in touch and one of our team will help you out.