The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) ran a programme of work to understand the potential for smarter heating controls to save energy and so reduce climate change. As part of this DECC wished to understand what people need from their heating controls so as to improve their understanding of how emerging technologies could best meet these needs. This research gathered requirements for smart heating controls by studying how people use their existing heating controls.
The research identified as key requirements for heating controls, the ability to monitor spending on heating, control the temperature at different times in different rooms, turn the heating on before getting home and to see the current state of the heating system in different parts of the home.
Smart heating controls are at the vanguard of the Internet of Things and, since the research took place, are becoming increasingly widespread in UK homes.
Our report, published on the government’s website, is also available to download here.
