AI-powered heating systems can cut gas bills while increasing home comfort

Testing the AI vs. Manual

To determine if smart technology actually lowers energy costs, a two-year study compared a "miserly" manual heating method against an AI-governed system. The test took place in a 1930s solid-brick house featuring a 10-year-old Worcester Bosch combination gas boiler. The manual approach involved a basic schedule, turning off radiators in unused rooms, and manually adjusting valves to keep costs low.

Under the manual regime, the resident had to constantly monitor the temperature to keep the family comfortable. This process was described as laborious, often resulting in family members shivering while the resident tried to balance the house's warmth. Despite the effort, the manual method was intended to keep the bills as low as possible by strictly limiting the boiler's activity.

The manual control consumed 14,316.7 kilowatt hours of gas over 213 days between November and May. This figure was already about 10 to 15% lower than in previous years when the resident had not been so strictly controlling the temperature. This established a high baseline for how much energy a very frugal human could save through constant manual intervention.

How the AI system works

The AI-powered setup replaced a standard thermostat with a Tado X system, which included 13 smart radiator thermostats and a wireless thermostat in the two largest rooms. Unlike a central thermostat that sets one temperature for the whole house, this system manages each room individually. Each smart valve can command the boiler to turn on and then adjust the specific hot water flow into that particular radiator.

The system utilizes AI built on anonymized data from more than 1 million homes to learn how quickly specific rooms heat up and cool down. It performs automatic hydronic balancing, which removes the guesswork of ensuring even heat distribution throughout the house. It also uses push notifications to remind users to turn off the heat or to shut down the system if it detects an open window.

For the AI features to function, a subscription costing £3.99 a month or £29.99 a year is required. This subscription enables the system to learn the home's unique thermal properties and automate the heating based on predicted movements. It also provides an energy IQ system that logs 13 months of activity to show the specific cost of heating for every individual room in the house.

Comparing the results

After switching to the AI system, the resident initially felt the house was warmer and the boiler was running more frequently. This led to a concern that energy usage would increase, but the final data showed the opposite. Over the same 213-day period with similar outside temperatures, the AI-controlled system used 11,735.7 kWh of energy, which was 2,581 kWh less than the manual method.

The study found that the AI-governed system used 18% less gas than the manual control regime. This reduction equated to a saving of £205.70 based on the energy price cap ending in December. The results were surprising because the house felt more comfortable and the residents were no longer required to manually manage the temperature to avoid waste.

One specific success occurred in the first week when the energy IQ feature identified that a radiator was wasting energy on an uninsulated porch. The resident was able to quickly adjust the schedule to turn that radiator off most of the time. This allowed the AI to run quietly in the background without needing constant human interference to find and fix inefficiencies.

Broader benefits for homes

Beyond the direct savings on the gas bill, the AI system offered significant improvements to daily life and home management. The ability to control rooms individually meant the resident could heat a bathroom for a shower or a child's room at night without overheating the rest of the house. It also allowed for specific tasks, such as heating a porch to dry out wet boots during the winter.

The smart thermostats also serve as environmental sensors by measuring humidity levels throughout the home. This data made it easier to identify when a dehumidifier was necessary or when certain rooms required better ventilation for air quality. These extra data points provide a more comprehensive view of the home's environment than a standard manual valve ever could.

The study concluded that while AI can save money, the largest savings would likely come from homes with less predictable schedules or those that are currently less frugal. For those who already manage their heating very strictly, the AI provides a way to maintain that level of efficiency while removing the stress of manual labor. It essentially automates the "miserly" behavior that usually requires constant human attention.