ISE Barcelona: The Energy-Smart Home

Wouter De Jager, Founder of Maidenhead Planning, recently visited Barcelona for the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) Conference. Over the next few weeks, we will be running a mini-series of the main takeaways from the event.

We’ve all seen the news. The UK is in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis that is seeing even wealthy households tighten their belts. One report suggests that 20% of UK households are £60 short each week between their wage and their essential costs, such as bills, rent, transport, and food.

In fact, as a nation we have the least cash available to us in the last 5 years.

A huge factor impacting our lack of spending money is the rising cost of energy. According to experts, they anticipate a rise of nearly 75% on current energy rates by the end of October this year. But, rather than choosing between heating and eating, let’s investigate what tech is available to help you look after the pennies and the pounds!

Here is some of the top tech you can invest in for your home:

1. Smart thermostat

Smart thermostats are magic! They let you control your home heating system remotely, from your smart device. Systems like “Hive” are compatible with existing heating and can offer savings of up to £110 per year.

How it works: Left the heating on? Just tap the app to turn it off. Likewise if you’re running late at work, or decided to extend your vacation. In doing this, you never waste money heating an empty home.

Bonus points: Turn down your heating by just ONE degree. According to the Energy Savings Trust, this can save almost 10% on your energy bill! 

2. Thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs)

These small gadgets are ideal for managing the temperature in each room of your home. They’re really easy to fit, and it means you can adjust the temperature of each room to support varying needs. For example, the baby requires a room temperature of 16-18 degrees Celsius, but you prefer a balmier 20 degrees? Not a problem.

How it works: You save money by only heating the space you need, to the temperature you desire. 

3. Smart bulbs

Old school lightbulbs are extraordinarily inefficient and convert only around 5% of the electricity they consume into visible light. Today, LED alternatives could not only reduce your carbon emissions by up to 40kg per year, but smart LED lights can work even more magic on that figure.

How it works: Much like the TRVs, you can control your energy use for each individual room of the house, remotely. For example, if you nip upstairs and get distracted, you can turn your downstairs lights off using an app on your phone. 

4. Standby mode

Hands up! Who is guilty of leaving appliances on standby? Well, according to the Energy Savings Trust, you can save almost £35 per year by turning devices off when not in use.

How it works: When on standby, appliances and devices still use electricity, whether it’s for the standby light, a digital display clock etc. By turning the appliance off completely, you stop that small energy leak.

If you want to learn more about smart tech and how to incorporate it into your home design, get in touch with the team at Maidenhead. We’re always happy to help!