Home automation while it's hot: Winter warmth for lazy technophiles

El Reg has a shufti at hooking your heating up to the Internet of Stuff

Heatmiser Neo

Heatmiser is a UK company, and the Neo is, in some ways, a replacement for the Wi-Fi thermostat that I looked at two years ago. The looks have been smartened up, and instead of relying on the touch screen, there are proper buttons on the thermostat housing.

You could, if you wanted, simply replace your existing thermostat with the Neo, and use it in the old fashioned way, offering 5+2 or 7 day control - though did find setting the initial times a little tedious in the Android app.

Heating overview, zone control and scheduling on Heatmiser's Neo app

That aside, there are some neat features, like the holiday mode which allows you to simply enter the start and end of your trip. And the Neo hub is the heart of a mesh network - you can easily add extra thermostats to control different zones, including underfloor heating, and have them all available in the app; it's also one of the few that supports Windows 8.

While on the face of it, Neo might appear to lack the smarts of some of the other systems, like presence detection, it's expandable and at £199 I'd rate it more highly that the British Gas option, because of that.

Heatmiser Neo installation kit

What might make it more interesting to Reg readers is the API, which allows you to send JSON-formatted commands and read responses, so a Neo system can be more easily integrated into other projects and systems. For instance, you could, if you wanted, write an app that sets Neo to away mode when your phone disconnects from the home Wi-Fi network, or to change settings based on the weather forecast.

nCube

Also worth a mention is another British firm, nCube whose Raspberry Pi based Z-Wave controller is available as a heating and hot water control kit, offering remote control via an Android app. It can also take on other tasks such as lighting and appliance operation too, or even add zonal control to any other system via Z-Wave thermostatic radiator valves*.

nCube's installation tech includes a neatly packaged Raspberry Pi

I am looking forward to experimenting more with an nCube set-up soon. For those with existing Z-Wave devices, the hub can be bought separately for £110. The nCube Heating pack has just been reduced to a competitive price point of £195 and the nCube zone that includes heating plus five radiator controls is £415. If you're feeling flash, there's a lighting pack available for £245.

Heat Genius

If you fancy a different Raspberry Pi recipe, then British firm Heat Genius is basing its system around this tech with various kits available start at £249. Clearly this is a niche where Pi and Z-Wave could offer plenty of custom solutions.

Heat Genius Smart Thermostat is another kit to feature a Raspberry Pi

If you're feeling lucky, Heat Genius is running a prize draw on its website and is generously giving away just one kit featuring motion sensors too, worth around £700.

Warming to the idea?

Used wisely, any of these systems can probably save you money over time, though with the weather warming up at the moment, perhaps Tado's new aircon controller will prove more interesting, which it says should be integrated with Apple's HomeKit later this year. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to look at that before the weather turns cold. ®

*Top tip: when you're changing a radiator valve, there's a lot more water in there than you expect. Especially if you forgot to open the bleed valve on the radiator in the office. Oops.