Onzo and Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) have been awarded a grant by the government-funded Technology Strategy Board to maximise heating and hot water efficiency through the new smart meter communications network.
The project, Heating and Hot Water Control over the Smart Meter Infrastructure (Project HAWCS), will develop a low-cost mass market solution to enable consumers to more accurately control and manage their hot water and heating requirements.
By setting hot water and heating preferences, either online or through a smart phone, the system will automatically adjust heating or water settings in response to the home’s changing energy requirements.
Led by SSE, Project HAWCS will not only enable homeowners to cut the cost of their energy bills, but will also give homeowners greater convenience, peace of mind and higher levels of comfort in the home.
As the low cost device will be tailored to individual homes, utility companies will also benefit by being able to attract and retain new customers through personalised energy packages, increased customer engagement and improved service levels.
Joel Hagan, Onzo Chief Executive, said: “With the Government pushing for an accelerated roll-out of smart metering in the UK, the next logical step is to seek benefits from the communications infrastructure that will be implemented. Project HAWCS will help to maximise this potential, making space and water heating more efficient and helping utilities to manage demand on their generation and network capacity”.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, Energy Supply Director at SSE, said: “Up to 75 per cent of a home’s energy consumption is attributed to heating and hot water, so improved control of domestic boilers is paramount to increasing household energy efficiency.
“This project will provide homeowners with an economical and convenient way to take control of this cost, simply by using a smart phone or logging on to the internet.”
Project HAWCS follows Project Hydra, a £2.3m initiative to develop value-added services through the smart meter network using healthcare as a test bed, led by Onzo and involving eight consortium members including SSE. Hydra’s extensive platform applies technologies from the banking industry within the smart grid, ensuring that data is private and secure.
Onzo and SSE will also be joining forces to launch one of Onzo’s customer touchpoints, the smart energy kit later this month. The kit, which consists of an in-home display, sensor and website, provides consumers with information in real time about how much energy they are using, how much it is costing them and also gives recommendations on how to reduce or change their consumption. The kit will be available from SSE as part of their pre-smart metering strategy.