Habit-Learning Device will Lower Energy Bills Under New Clean Energy Scheme

Smart control units that learn householders’ energy habits and provide immediate feedback on consumption could give home energy savings of up to 20% without compromising comfort.

The new energy-saving

As well as working with standard energy supplies, the Wattbox will help people get the most out investments, such as solar panels, made in line with the recently-announced feed-in tariffs for small-scale renewable schemes.

Working with householders, an earlier project found that existing home heating controls, such as timers and thermostats, often make it difficult for people to cut fuel costs because they are too complicated to set correctly. But by designing an intelligent, automated system that takes the complexity out of the controls, the team found that energy use on heating and hot water alone could be reduced by up to 14%.

The Wattbox