Netatmo yesterday announced the availability of its new Apple HomeKit-compatible smart radiator valves in the U.K. The smart home company claims Netatmo Smart Valves allow users to control their heating on a room-by-room basis and use on average 37 percent less energy to heat their home without compromising on comfort.
The Smart Valves can be used in houses with both individual heating and collective heating systems by fitting them on hot-water radiators, where they work to regulate the temperature of each room as part of a heating schedule and adapt to the habits and movements of residents.
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For example, the bathroom is heated to 21°C during the morning, but not for the rest of the day when it is not being used; the parents' bedroom remains at 16°C during the day when it is empty, and the children's room is heated to 19°C from 5PM on weekdays when they come back from school.
In addition to dynamic temperature regulation, the valves can detect when a window is open and stop heating the room so as not to waste energy. And by utilizing smart regulation, the valves analyze external elements in real time – the weather, insulation of the house – and adjust the heating of the room to save as much energy as possible.
The user can also temporarily increase the temperature of a room at any time by manually turning the Valve or adjusting it directly from the Netatmo app, as well as via HomeKit and Google Home.
Netatmo Smart Radiator Valves are compatible with Apple Homekit, enabling users to control their heating with their voice. By simply asking Siri to change the temperature in the house, they improve their comfort at home without lifting a finger. With Apple Homekit, users can also create customised scenarios and interactions to connect smart devices together according to different combinations.
Netatmo Smart Radiator Valves join the existing Netatmo Smart Thermostat (£149) and are available in the U.K. today. They will retail for £70 each and can be found at John Lewis, Cefco, Maplin, ShopUK, Amazon.co.uk and Netatmo.com, as well as retailers for professionals Plumb Center, CEF, and Graham.
Top Rated Comments
I'll admit that it doesn't work 100%, sometimes it's not detected me till I've walked through the door, but I do know it's saved me literally hundreds of £ over the 3-4 years I've been using it (enough to pay for itself, I think they still even give a money-back guarantee on that), and even more since they've started doing smart radiator valves.
But at £70 a room I think the benefit here is really the increased home comfort these offer as opposed to any saving. And in the UK we’re behind on home comfort so these genuinely are a good idea (particularly the ability to choose different times for different temperatures) in my opinion.
If anyone reading this thinks controlling radiators individually sounds like a good idea but doesn’t want techy ones linked to an app, take a look at Drayton thermostatic radiator valves.
As for the rads, it will depend entirely on how your house is plumbed up. Mine is a two pipe system so they could in theory all have a TRV, but you don't fit TRV's to rads in the same room as the master thermostat as they then might conflict with each other.
Am tempted as I really like their thermostat and have all the weather sensors as well. Only downside is that I have quite a few rads and apart from the cost, I don't know how much more benefit I'd get over the improvements I already have got from using the master thermostats, with my upstairs and downstairs heating controlled separately.
Just to demonstrate the benefit of smart thermostat (so many times I have seen people on forums complain that they are a waste of money) - for my work I quite often get called away last minute on business. I can set the house to not heat up, saving myself money.
In addition to that though, I have extreme control as to how hot my house gets, and when, throughout the day. Further, the charts below compare heat sensor values for my dining room. The first with the boiler connected to a brand new, traditional mechanical thermostat and the second, a Netatmo. Note: Boiler timer is set to constant on.
MECHANICAL
[B]NETATMO
Not only does the Netatmo provide a more comfortable experience, it shows how the deep cycling (hot / cold / hot / cold) of the water is avoided, which will save money. Sadly I am having some issues with my Netatmo so the top chart is the more recent. That is one win the old stats have - they seem more reliable....
I use the Netatmo weather modules, particularly as the outdoor one links in with the thermostat to improve the heating demand prediction.
https://www.netatmo.com/en-GB/product/weather/