Home heating solutions are incredibly important as they work to ensure proper resident comfort. Many homeowners and residents are willing to spend large sums of money for a good heating system. In fact, a professionally installed heating system is a big part of house building and purchasing processes. And this high level of importance that a good heating system receives is totally justified. Having good climate control is one of the steppingstones of 21st century home-living comfort. Talking about the 21st century, there is a vast reoccurring theme in our time today. Every single thing is now designed and made to be ‘smart’. And this revolution of smartification has reached home heating systems as well. Newer systems are smarter than ever with increased functionality, but as with any big change, it begs the question- Should you bother?
What is a smart heating system?
A smart heating system is an advanced heating solution that allows users to control temperatures easily. In most new systems, users can control temperatures of individual rooms using their phones or tablets that are included in the system package. The most advanced ones go one step further. Users can set auto modes or pre-determined temperatures for specific areas in the house. Then the system can use sensors to detect for occupants, and when it sees one it can rise to the pre-set temperature without the user having to do anything.
Things a buyer needs to consider
A smart heating system takes the list of considerations a person usually has when looking for a heating solution and broadens it. Now, not only do you have to select a unit judging by the heating power you need and other crucial factors, you also have to care about the smart aspect. One of the more important things to know is that a smart heating system will be more complex thanks to the smart aspect. You will have to think about wiring runs for displays etc. Also, you will need Wi-Fi/ network access for the system to function. Another important note for users who already have other smart home devices is that many smart heating systems nowadays have integrated support for a smart home assistant/ system like Google assistant or Alexa. For integrating the heating system flawlessly into your current setup, you need to match the built-in assistant the smart home has to your current one.
Pros
Smart home heating systems have many pros. The biggest one being a reduced use of electricity. Although this sounds counterintuitive considering that you have to run a larger collection of devices and screens, a smart heating system can help you save electricity a lot. Because of how easy it is to control the temperature and turn the system on or off- you can do it on your phone using an app or even use voice commands- you end up saving a lot of electricity by not having the heater on for rooms that do not need heating. Systems that auto-detect occupants and then turn on save yet more electricity as these turn off themselves when no one is using a particular room and only turn on when someone is in the room. In short, smart heating systems are convenient to use and a by-product of said convenience is lower electricity bills.
Furthermore, many new systems use machine learning in order to learn about usage patterns of each room. This can improvement the ease-of-use further as the system pre-emptively knows when a room is commonly used and when the heating is needed. Other than that, features like auto detecting outside temperature and setting the correct temperature indoors are available
Cons
Smart heating systems come with their share of issues as well. For starters, these systems are inherently more complicated thanks to the smart aspect. Thanks to the complexity fears of breakdown increase and if your are unlucky enough to choose a bad product, then be prepared to have a torrid time.
Another large concern is data collection. One of the biggest talking points in the modern world circles around how much information about ourselves are we giving away to companies and corporations. People know by know that pretty much all the devices we use harvest our information in some form or other. And is this situation setting up sensors and smart devices with network access is not the first thing that comes to mind. However, it has to said, this particular point is more of a stigma/ personal concern than it is a practical problem.
Answering the question- Should you buy a smart heating system?
Yes. Absolutely yes. Buying a smart heating system for your house is a no brainer. The immense amount of little creature comforts mixed with the ease of use make a modern smart heating system the only way for you if you are in the market for a new heating solution. With a smart system, your day-to-day comfort level will rise, and you will get direct benefits like improved efficiency and reduced electricity usage. Also, the industry is moving towards smart systems. Meaning, within a few short years, older analogue systems will be out of date and will have reduced post purchase support.
So, just to reiterate, as it stands, smart heating systems are your best option and should you have the option, you should but one.