Smart thermostats just got even smarter

Our Product Manager, Asya, introduces some exciting new tech: the tado° smart thermostat… 

Here in the Smart Heat Team at OVO, our mission is to help our members kick the carbon out of their central heating. We do this with the help of some innovative products. Today, I’m excited to share the latest product we really believe in: the tado° smart thermostat.

First things first: what are smart thermostats? 

Basically, smart thermostats help you control your heating on the go. They do that by allowing you to set schedules, change the temperature, or even turn your heating on and off – from your phone, tablet, or other device. And that could prove incredibly handy in all sorts of situations.

The tado° thermostat let’s you do even more cool things. You can set it to automatically turn down the heating when the last person leaves your house. Or it can pre-heat your home in time for your arrival. tado° can also turn the heating down if it detects an open window – or according to the weather. All of these intelligent features make sure that energy isn’t wasted.

An independent study has shown that installing a tado° smart thermostat and using its features properly can reduce the energy your heating uses by up to 31%! You could potentially save 7% more by turning down the heating based on the weather forecast and depending on the sizes of your windows. 

Now, here’s how we’re making the tado° even smarter 

In an industry first, we’re linking together your smart meter data with your tado° smart thermostat data. This means that, if you get yourself one, we can give you even more personalised tips to help cut heat waste at home – all from your online account. For example, we’ll be able to calculate how much money you’d save over time if you changed your thermostat schedule or reduced your temperature by 1 degree.

Once you get your thermostat installed, you’ll be able to link your tado° account with your energy account. This will unlock a new section in your online account, where you’ll be able to see personalised tips to help cut heat waste at home – as well as how much gas you’ve used, alongside your home’s indoor and outdoor temperature. We’re also looking at how to add weather forecasting into the mix, to make it really easy to set efficient heating schedules that are perfectly timed.

But why is your central heating so important?

15% of the UK’s total carbon emissions come from the energy we use to heat our homes. This winter, boiler use is likely to rise by 56% because more people are working from home.

By being able to see the costs of setting various temperatures, our members will get to see why controlling your room temperatures is so important for the first time ever. And using less energy means less carbon!

There’s more to come… 

This project is just in its first stages, so we want to test what kind of info our members are most excited about getting from their tado° – we’re after lots of feedback from you guys. And we’ve got plenty of other great ideas for how we can use your tado° data to help you save even more energy in the future. We believe we can make it really simple to heat homes in a way that’s cheaper for you – and better for the environment.  

Keep your eyes peeled for the next updates as we look to expand the project in early 2021.