How To Optimise Smart Heating Controls For The Summer

Underfloor Heating With Wooden Floors

With summer in full swing, we’re all looking forward to having some breathing space from the high heating bills that we’ve experienced during the winter. If you usually heat your home in the winter using smart heating controls then you’re probably wondering how to use them in the summer. 

Before we look at the main ways to use your smart heating controls effectively in the summer, let’s take a moment to answer the most frequently asked question on this topic, namely,  “should I turn my smart thermostat off for the summer?”. When the hot weather comes around, our first instinct may be to turn the thermostat off completely. However, this isn’t the most cost-effective way to maintain a comfortable temperature in your home throughout the summer months. It’s called ‘smart’ heating for a reason, and this means that the thermostat can adjust to the change in external temperature in order to create the best environment internally. Rather than switching your smart heating controls off during the summer, you should simply turn the thermostat down. This will ensure your home maintains a pleasant and consistent temperature. 

It’s also important to remember that whilst it might be hot during the day in the summer months, the temperature does drop at night. It can be costly to turn your thermostat on and off on an ad hoc basis, such as when it gets chilly at night, as your heating system uses energy to re-ignite itself  each time you do this. By leaving your thermostat on, it will respond naturally and more efficiently to changes in temperature, without you even having to think about it.

In addition to turning your thermostat down, these are a few simple tricks for optimising your smart heating controls in order to save money and energy during the hotter months:

Use ‘Away’ Mode When On Holiday

Summer is the peak holiday season, with many of us taking the opportunity to jet off somewhere nice! If you’re lucky enough to be getting away this summer, the best action to take with your smart heating controls is to set them to ‘away’ mode’. All  modern smart thermostats should have this option, and this will switch the heating and hot water off from when you leave until the return date that you choose. 

Use Smart Controls To Reduce Other Energy Sources

We primarily think of smart controls as being limited to regulating our heating and hot water, however this isn’t the case. The Heatmiser Neo Range smart controls that we offer at Pipelife can be easily paired with the Neo Hub to access a full range of smart controls for the entire property. For example, the Neo Plug can be used to control other appliances remotely, such as lighting. Optimising use of these controls for the whole house, will enable you to drastically reduce your energy bills throughout the summer months.

Consider Cooling Options

Many of the latest smart heating controls will also offer cooling abilities, which can be incredibly useful in hot weather. For example, Heatmiser’s Fan Coil Thermostat offers different modes of cooling to ensure that your house always remains comfortable, whatever the outside temperature. It’s always worth researching the updates that can be made to your heating controls in order to adapt them to summer.

Adjust As You Go

The main benefit of smart heating controls is that they’re highly responsive to your needs, putting you in full control. With this in mind, don’t be afraid to adjust your smart controls throughout the summer months as required. We all know that the weather can be changeable, even in the height of summer, and smart heating controls will allow you to adapt the temperature of your home easily to reflect this. It will even let you do it on a room by room basis if certain aspects of the house catch the sun more than others. 

For more information on optimising the smart heating controls in your home, or for guidance on installing smart controls for the first time, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the Pipelife team. 

Share This Article