SMART HOMES
Digital takes hold in the home T
here has been an increased demand to see digital transformation in domestic heating and some manufacturers are getting in on
the act quickly
One of these is boiler manufactuer Vaillant with its ambiSENSE smart controls range – a smart thermostatic radiator valve system that allows you to control the temperature in each room in the house from a tablet or smartphone. The range has been developed to work with the
Vaillant VRC 700 control and puts users in control of their heating. The app that comes with this control incorporates up to six different temperatures and can be programmed for each valve. The customisable overview displays the data for each room where a valve is fitted, showing the temperature and settings. This allows users easy access to remotely change the temperature or timings. Should a room have more than one
radiator, the multiple valves can be linked together within the same room. Individual profiles can be assigned to each room in the house within the VRC 700 app which can be customised with users’ own pictures. Within each room profile users can view live information such as current temperature, humidity and simple one- touch buttons to raise and lower the temperature. Control modes for each room can also schedule timings automatically so that winter mornings are not as cold and the home can be warm when returning from work.
As well as offering the ultimate in heating
control, the ambiSENSE works with Vaillant’s fully modulating boilers to deliver energy and money savings and help care for the environment. This falls in line with Vaillant’s commitment to offering the most environmentally friendly products in the market.
EnergyMatters T
he vast majority of utility industry professionals believe that Residential Demand Management (RDM) is one of the biggest challenges for the future smart, flexible energy system, according to a recent survey carried out by Green Energy Options (geo), the developer of smarter energy products and services. The survey, conducted amongst visitors to the
European Utility Week exhibition last month, found that 93% considered RDM to be of high (49%) or medium (44%) importance. However, they were undecided about who would lead the development of RDM with 32% expecting data businesses to lead whilst 28% felt that it would be utilities who would pioneer its progress and 19% felt it would be down to aggregators. geo, which used the event to raise awareness of consumer energy usage in the home, was keen to understand industry attitudes to the issue of residential demand management. It also asked survey respondents how important they felt the integration of smart meters, appliances and storage is to the future smart, flexible energy system, to which an overwhelming 79% responded that it was of ‘high’ importance, whilst 65% considered the active home to be of ‘high’ importance to the future smart, flexible energy system. “Clearly, the urgent issue of demand management is moving up the utility industry agenda with recognition that there are proven
Of the survey respondents, 80% said the proposition of a hybrid home combining traditional and contemporary ways to power a home was appealing to them
approaches we can take to address the disparity between supply and demand,” said Simon Anderson, chief strategy officer at geo. “The fact that over a quarter of our sample thought utilities would lead the development of RDM indicates their willingness to encourage the active consumer.”
Electric vehicles
When asked about whether they would contemplate buying an electric vehicle, including a hybrid, plug-in or full EV, as their next car, 71% said that they would, and the vast majority (67%) of respondents also felt the EV market would grow rapidly over the next five years. Possibly as a consequence, 50% of respondents acknowledged
that there is a medium risk of brown-outs caused by EV charging and 11% thought that the risk of brown-outs was high. Of those that said they definitely wouldn’t buy an electric vehicle, two fifths (40%) were put off by the price whilst 37% were more concerned by charging issues.
Battery Storage
When it came to questions about battery storage at home, industry professionals were mixed in their views. Just over a quarter (27%) said they were thinking of purchasing a battery but 31% would not even contemplate the idea, and of these, a third said it was because it was too early in the market. “The fact is that it is early in the maturity of the
market, but this is further on than we expected,” said Simon. “It is clearly in the “early adopter” phase and that is very encouraging.” Respondents were also asked how appealing
the proposition of a hybrid home (which combines traditional and contemporary ways to power a home) was to them, which received a positive response, with 80% saying it was of high or medium appeal to them. The survey was conducted amongst a sample of 150 utility industry professionals from a broad spectrum of countries and disciplines between October 3 and 5.
www.heatingandventilating.net
November 2017
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