Is home automation the heating controls of the future?

Article date : 22/02/2010

Home automation technology could see the process of becoming energy efficient and reducing a property's carbon footprint made easier.

A project being funded by the European Union entitled i2home is currently being tested in a small town in Germany, where participants are able to control a number of products in their homes through their mobile phones.

This could allow people to turn down their central heating systems, or take their television sets off stand-by, even if they are not home.

Commenting on the news, Andy Stanford-Clark, master inventor for IBM and visiting professor at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, said home automation can help people to become more energy efficient and save money.

"Intelligent heating controller and [a] system that can regulate the heat in each room when it's being used - and keep the others cooler - can save a dramatic amount of energy," he noted.

Currently, Britons could find they can use heating controls to save money, by using them to ensure radiators only come on in rooms which are occupied and at times when heat is needed the most.

Written by Jasper Cullen

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