Smart Heating to Deliver Energy Savings to Low-income Households: Fresh Announcements for ECO4 and GBIS

TrustMark registered installers are eligible to deliver on the Government’s efforts to decarbonise the UK’s building stock, while making sure low-income households are not left behind in the process.

The Warm Homes schemes support both social housing tenants and private low-income households with funding to help deliver warmer, more energy efficient homes. Both the Local Grant and Social Housing Fund provides funding for the installation of various measures, including insulation, solar PV, low carbon heating, or any measure recognised under the PAS 2035 framework.

Also included within these measures are heating controls, which can prove to be an extremely cost-effective solution to save householders up to 30% a year on their heating bill[1]. These include controls such as smart thermostats and radiator valves, room temperature and humidity controls, and Wi-Fi enabled devices. 

This week, it was also announced that one of the Government’s flagship energy efficiency schemes, the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS), will change to allow smart thermostats to be installed under the initiative. This is a strong indication from policymakers that smart controls can go far to help reduce fuel poverty and increase energy efficiency levels. 

What’s more, heating systems that use open protocols, which are quickly becoming the industry standard, can seamlessly integrate with Drayton’s systems, providing your customers with more control over their energy consumption.

How do heating controls help to save residents money?

Research by Ofgem, BEAMA, and Salford University has found that our smart heating system, Wiser, can save customers up to 30%[2] off annual energy bills, and with the current energy price cap set April 1^st 2025, that could be as much as £425 a year for an average 3 bed house. This is all down to a combination of control, monitoring, and automation.

Our lifestyles are becoming busier, and customers are demanding greater control over their energy use. Heating controls will help your customers to achieve this, saving energy where it’s not needed, and providing greater insight into where additional savings can be made.

Even for customers using more traditional fossil fuel boilers, efficiency improvements can be accessible to all. Drayton’s smart heating controls provide customers with the ability to set individual room time and temperature schedules, control electrical appliances, set up triggers and actions to adapt to your customers lifestyles, and create a more intuitive, user-friendly experience for residents that can be operated from anywhere in the world via the Wiser Home app, your home heating control centre with energy consumption insights.

Our Wiser range has now expanded to include other energy saving solutions such as the Electrical Heat Switch and Underfloor Heating Controller to provide energy savings in mixed systems that aren’t just limited to radiators. Towel rails, direct electric heaters, and other electrical heating devices can now be included within a home’s energy saving efforts, providing additional benefits as we both electrify and decarbonise the way we heat our homes.

Smart heating controls will also help provide greater accessibility for tenants faced with an unfamiliar heating interface. Customers can integrate their control systems with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant devices, allowing customers to check room temperature levels, energy consumption, and change system settings with just their voice.

Why are heating controls important in government policy?

The UK is embracing the electrification of heat, with the aim to decarbonise our domestic energy consumption and increase energy security. Upgrades such as heat pumps and solar PV installations are key to eliminating fossil fuels from our homes.

However, for some low-income households and social housing, such major upgrades may not be as cost effective for consumers. Furthermore, while electricity prices in the UK are still faced with additional energy levies, such systems can end up costing the consumer more. 

Heating controls are a smaller and more cost-effective retrofit that can help to maximise energy savings for low-income households immediately. They can reduce energy consumption without the need for major renovations, minimising disruption for occupants. Additionally, smart controls make energy savings accessible to all, adding an easy to use, intuitive user-interface for consumers that is compatible with existing smart tech and accessible anywhere in the world from a mobile app.

It's imperative that consumers are getting the best deal from their heating system, and that they’re able to weather the storm of unpredictable fossil fuel prices and inflated electricity bills. If you’re a TrustMark registered installer working to deliver the Government’s Warm Homes Plan, explore our website to find out how low-income households would benefit from installing heating controls within their properties. 

Important note: In order to qualify as a secondary measure, the smart thermostat will need to be installed at the same home where an insulation measure has been installed and be completed on the same day or within three months after the insulation measure is finished.

[1] How a Wiser Smart Home Saves You Energy | Wiser

[2] Smart thermostat system percentage savings based on BEAMA and Salford university research statistics 2021. Savings are a guideline and will vary based on your home's thermal performance.