In today’s current climate, reducing our energy consumption has never been a more pressing issue, as we all seek innovative ways of reducing our energy use, (not to mention our waste), to ultimately reduce the cost of our energy bills. In recent times, the Government has moved into its final phase of the current ECO, (Energy Compliance Obligation), scheme to provide UK households with the necessary energy saving measures required to help keep usage at a responsible and cost-effective level.
In this complete guide, we provide information on ECO 4 and smart heating control systems, offering detailed insight into how UK Energy Management Ltd can assist, due to our unique partnership with Wiser™ SMART Control Systems.
What Is ECO 4?
The final phase of the Government’s current Energy Compliance Obligation scheme, and an extension of the most recent ECO3 scheme, ECO4 began on April 1st 2022 and will run until March 31st 2026.
Qualifying For ECO4
It’s important to remember that you will only be able to qualify for ECO4 if you are in receipt of one, (or more), of the following benefits:
● Universal Credit
● Child Tax Credit/Work Tax Credit (CTC/WTC)
● Pension Credit Guarantee Credit
● Income-Based Job Seekers Allowance (JSA)
● Income Related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
● Income Support (IS)
● Housing Benefit
● Pension Credit Savings Credit
If you fail to meet the above criteria, you may also qualify by:
● Being Over 65
● Being In A Low Income Household
● Have A Child Under The Age Of 5
● Have A Serious Illness
● Being In Receipt Of Child Benefits
What Are Smart Control Systems?
Designed to provide essential flexibility and control over your entire heating system, smart control heating systems are simple, yet highly effective and intelligent thermostatic devices that are installed alongside your existing heating system. Through the use of an integrated smartphone app, you can easily control the heating conditions of your property from wherever you are in the world, whilst the smart controls themselves use A.I to understand your property’s heating conditions, usage habits and more.
Smart Control Systems | Key Features
Smart control systems provide a number of important and useful features that can prove crucial in understanding your home’s efficiency, heating habits and energy consumption in order to provide you with greater control and flexibility over your heating system, to reduce wasted energy and keep costs manageable. Below, we take a closer look at some of the key features provided by smart control systems, highlighting their purpose and potential benefits.
Temperature Control
An intelligent and essential feature, you can easily set different temperatures for individual rooms in your house with smart control technology, helping to save you energy and by extension, money. Simply turn down the heating in rooms that have already warmed up sufficiently, or turn it up in rooms that feel on the nippy side, focusing your energy on where it’s truly needed.
Remote Heating
An essential feature for whenever you’re away from home, be it in the office for the day, or for a couple of weeks away with the family, smart control technology allows you to change your home’s heating system remotely to ensure it always remains at the optimum temperature for your arrival. Ideal for those cold winter nights, remote heating will keep your home warm and toasty no matter where you are.
Open Window Detection
An integral feature designed to prevent energy wastage, Open Window Detection is capable of identifying noticeable drops in temperatures that are caused by open windows in your property. Whenever this occurs, your smart heating system will immediately switch off any heating in the specific room, to eliminate energy wastage happening in this particular area of your property.
The Wiser™ System
Intelligently controlled from the Wiser Home app, in conjunction with your Smart Room Thermostat, the Wiser System works seamlessly. In complete harmony with your heating and boiler systems, radiators, towel rails and more, with the Wiser Home App, Smart Room Thermostat and associated products, you can easily control your heating system from the comfort of your bedroom, out at a restaurant, or even on holiday!
With Wiser products, it’s both easy to start, and easy to grow; below, we outline the three key steps to integrating the Wiser System into your home.
“Start”
If you’re thinking of investing in smart control technology and intend to integrate the Wiser System into your home, the first place to start is, well… at the start! Begin with your Wiser Smart Room Thermostat and go from there, the wireless system will simply connect to your smartphone through the Wiser Home app and you’ll be ready to start setting up your entire system.
“Grow”
The next step is to grow your smart heating system, with your Smart Room Thermostat acting as the central hub of all of your smart technology heating systems. Why not add a Smart Radiator Thermostat and connect all your radiators and control them remotely? With The Wiser System you can connect your electrical appliances with a Smart Plug, control underfloor heating or manage zones with an Underfloor Heating Controller and add an Electrical Heat Switch to control your electrical radiators all from the same place!
“Say Hello”
Easily integrated to whichever voice assistant you prefer, be it Alexa, Siri or Google, the Wiser System works seamlessly with all of the above, (alongside IFTTT), responding to your vocal commands on your precise temperature needs. Simply ask Google to turn down the temperature if you’re lounging on the sofa, or turn it up when you’re on your way home from work!
The Wiser™ System | Key Features
An impeccable smart control system, UKEM are proud to operate in conjunction with Wiser, to provide a wireless smart room thermostat that seamlessly integrates with your heating system to observe real-time data, adjust heating and provide energy saving modes from wherever you are in the world. Below, we outline how smart control systems work, providing key insight into the Wiser app, how it works and why it can prove highly beneficial at home.
Eco Mode
A vital feature intended to reduce wasted energy, the Wiser smart control system provides a highly intelligent Eco Mode that aims to maximise your efficiency. Through the collection of essential data, such as the current thermal properties of your home, in conjunction with live weather data, your smart control system can immediately calculate the most economical and efficient way of heating your home. Eco Mode places great emphasis on efficiency, with the intention of delivering a low-cost, energy-efficient home.
Boost
A highly effective feature for whenever you’re away from home, with the Wiser Heat App, you can quickly and easily boost the temperature of your home to ensure it’s at the optimum temperature for your eventual return. This is ideal for those of us living in the UK, where the weather itself can be extremely unpredictable, allowing you to adjust the temperature inside your home to match the current external condition that may change at a moment’s notice.
Away Mode
An essential feature for whenever you’re away from home, Away Mode can be activated when you’re on holiday, or simply away for the night, as a way of reducing your energy consumption and moderating costs when your heating system is not in use.
Multi-Zone Control
A cutting edge, highly adaptable feature of your smart control technology, the multi-zone system is designed to control the temperatures of different rooms in your house from the palm of your hand. Using the Wiser Home App, your smart heating system can be intelligently controlled from anywhere at any time. Able to be incorporated into properties varying from bungalows to detached homes of the grandest of scales, multi-zone technology is ideal for altering the temperatures of specific areas of your home.
Heat Report
A recent, state of the art addition to the Wiser smart control app, the Wiser Heat Report provides essential data gathered from every zone in your current smart heating system setup. This information can be collated over days, weeks and months in order to provide an extensive analysis of your system’s performance across your entire property. This will help you identify any areas where energy can be reduced, assess your overall efficiency and ultimately reduce your consumption and by extension, your bills.
UK Energy Management Limited | Wiser™ SMART Controls By Drayton
Do you require an innovative heating control system for your home? At UK Energy Management Ltd, we’re proud to supply Wiser™ smart control systems by Drayton, meaning if your property qualifies, you could benefit from independent temperature control for each room, resulting in potential savings of up to £450 on your energy bills!
The ECO4 scheme provides funding to vulnerable households to make a wide range of energy efficient improvements from installation of cavity wall insulation to implementation of smart controls to provide heating upgrades. At UK Energy Management (NE) Ltd our helpful team can assist with arranging funding for eligible households. If you’re looking for a convenient, smartphone app designed to save you money on your energy bills, get in touch with our team today.
