Smart Central Heating Jargon Buster

Between the cost of living crisis, the surge in energy bills and the UK’s commitment to Net Zero by 2050, reducing our home heating bills has never been more critical. 

Smart central heating systems are a fantastic way for homeowners to cut their energy bills; as with any new technology, there are a lot of buzzwords related to it!  

Here’s a handy jargon-busting list of common smart home heating terms and what they mean.  

Smart Central Heating Terminology 

Central Heating Thermostat 

Not to be confused with smart devices, a central heating thermostat is a basic control for adjusting your system. It may have a digital display, allowing you to set schedules and override as well as adjust your hot water. It isn’t, however, part of a connected smart central heating system. 

Electrical Heat Switch 

It’s not just hot water radiators that you can control through your smart home heating system. Electrical heat switches can be installed onto your electric heaters and electric towel rails to control them via your app, just like you would for your central hot water heating system.

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Geofencing 

Some smart heating systems allow you to link your home to the GPS in your smartphone, meaning that if the system detects your phone has passed through a boundary, it will automatically turn your heating off to save energy. Then, when it sees you approaching your home, it will turn your heating back on to the schedules you’ve set. 

Green Heating 

Coined as a phrase to describe making your home’s heating more eco-friendly, green heating includes using sustainable, renewable energy sources to heat your home. It also refers to upgrading to a smart home heating system with features like Eco Mode to make your home heating more eco-friendly. 

Heat Pump 

This renewable heating alternative uses thermal energy from the air or the ground to heat your home instead of the conventional gas central heating systems that rely on fossil fuels. With a ban on gas boilers coming into effect in 2030, heat pumps are a promising future for sustainable, green home heating.  

IFTTT 

This acronym stands for ‘If This, Then That’; a protocol connecting different apps and devices around your home. IFTTT allows your system to automatically carry out an action based on a trigger you can set up.  

A simple example of IFTTT Automation would be:  

"If all members of the household have left, turn away mode on”.  

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Multi-Zone Heating 

Allowing you to split your home into separate zones and control each zone individually, multi-zone heating systems give you more control over which parts of your home you are heating.  

Pairing 

This is the process of adding a new wireless device to your network.  

Radio Frequency 

The signal that allows your connected smart home devices to talk to your smart hub is communicated via radio frequency. If you’ve got thick walls or your connected devices are too far for the radio frequency signal to reach, you can use Wiser Smart Plugs to boost the signal. Remote Floor Temperature Sensor 

Connecting to Wiser’s electrical heat switch, the remote floor temperature sensor identifies the temperature of a room via the heat coming through the floor. If this temperature gets too high, your smart heating system can switch off the underfloor heating via the electrical heat switch, protecting your system from overheating and long-term damage. 

Smart Meter 

Not to be confused with smart heating or smart thermostats, a smart meter is entirely separate and is provided by your energy supplier to replace old gas and electricity meters.  

Smart meters automatically send your meter readings to your energy supplier, meaning you don’t need to worry about reading your meters every month, and your energy supplier doesn’t have to send you estimated bills.  

Smart meters also include a digital display that you can plug in at home to give you basic information on your energy usage.  

Smart Plug 

This smart home device lets you control electrical appliances remotely via a connected app. They simply connect to your regular sockets, with your electrical device plugging into the smart plug.  

Many smart plugs are designed to complement other smart home systems, and the Wiser smart plug is no different. You can use Wiser Plugs to control your electrical devices using the same app as your Wiser smart heating, boost the devices network and monitor the energy used by the device that is plugged in.  

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Smart Radiator Thermostat 

These clever devices fit directly on your radiator valves and depending on your smart heating manufacturer they either connect to your home Wi-Fi network or, like Wiser, connect to a main Hub which manages the network, to provide Multi-Zone Heating Control. Upgrading to room-to-room control has been shown to save as much as 18% on your energy bills, as you only heat the rooms you need when you need them. Take a look at Smart Radiator Thermostats by Wiser here.  

Smart Room Thermostat 

Arguably the Most Popular Smart Home Devices, they are also known as ‘Wi-Fi thermostats’, ‘smart thermostats’ or ‘smart hubs’. Essentially, a smart room thermostat connects to your Wi-Fi network so you can remotely access your home heating controls via a smartphone app. From here, you can: 

• View room temperatures and setpoints 

• Create zones to control the heating in different areas of your home 

• Override settings to boost or reduce temperatures.  

You can find more in-depth information on the Wiser Smart Room Thermostat Here. 

Smart thermostat by Wiser

Smart Speaker 

Connecting to your home Wi-Fi network, smart speakers listen to and respond to your commands to provide you with information, play music, or answer mental maths questions when your phone is just out of reach. With Wiser, you can use voice commands to adjust your home’s heating with either Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. 

Thermostat App 

Smart heating systems can be controlled on your smartphone or tablet via an app, allowing you to adjust your home’s heating, add new devices quickly and check on your energy usage.  

For example, the Wiser App gives you access to the Smart Modes, and Insights & Heat Reports to help save you energy and money on your home’s heating. 

TRV 

This stands for Thermostatic Radiator Valve — the conventional non-smart valve controls fitted to home radiators as standard. You must manually turn them to adjust your heating room-to-room, but they can be replaced with smart radiator thermostats, giving you greater control over your home’s heating. 

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UFH 

This acronym is commonly used to refer to underfloor heating systems.  

Upgrade To Smart Home Heating With Wiser 

Switching to a smart home heating system is essential for controlling your home’s energy usage, cutting your energy bills, and reducing your carbon footprint. Get started on your journey to greener heating with Wiser’s range of smart home heating products.