Timers and Thermostats

When it comes to managing your home’s heating, making sure you’re using the right thermostat is vital for staying on top of the cold and keeping that energy bill as manageable as possible. That’s why it’s worth asking the question, does your home need an intelligent smart thermostat?What is An Intelligent or Smart Thermostat?The terms intelligent or smart (used interchangeably) thermostat describe a way of remotely controlling your home's heating system through your smartphone, tablet, computer, or voice assistant. Essentially, intelligent thermostats utilise your home’s internet to link up your boiler and even an underfloor heating system, allowing you to control and configure the heating environment in your home to best meet your needs.Intelligent thermostats aren’t just dials for your heating either, they’re much more than that. Making use of advanced algorithms, sensors, and other features, they really earn the word “smart”. Smart thermostats are perfect for setting radiators around the home to turn on at different times, maximising the efficiency of your heating system. Say you wanted your underfloor heating in the bathroom to be on first thing in the morning when those tiles are at their most bitingly cold, that would be easy to set up. When it comes to really dialing in your home’s efficiency and convenience, smart thermostats are the way to go.How Does an Intelligent Thermostat Work?Essentially, smart thermostats are a deceptively simple concept. By linking your home’s heating system to your internet connection, you’re able to access all the intricacies of setting up your home’s temperature, central heating schedule, and a bunch of other features, no matter where you and your device are.Not only this, but through algorithms, AI and machine learning, your smart thermostat can optimise efficiency, saving you money and making sure your home is toasty warm, exactly when you need it to be (and not wasting money when you don’t). It does this by working predictively to provide you with the best approach and schedule for your home and needs.Buy DEVIreg Touch ThermostatIs a Smart Thermostat Right for Your Home?Gone are the days of having to tinker and play around with the confusing settings on your boiler. You won’t be worrying whether you set the heating to come on at the right time or temperature levels anymore. With energy prices skyrocketing in the UK, it’s vital that we’re making the absolute most of all potential conveniences and improving our home’s energy efficiency.If you’re someone who’s ever been frustrated tinkering with the settings on your boiler, or if you just want maximum heating convenience whilst being “on the go”, your home needs an intelligent thermostat. Let’s face it, everyone wants to save on their heating bill this winter, so it goes without saying that if you’re wanting to cut those bills down, a smart thermostat may be the way to go.The Pros of Intelligent Thermostats  There are a lot of obvious benefits to getting a smart thermostat installed in your home, and the only major con might be the cost, which has dropped substantially in recent years. In terms of savings and convenience, the benefits really speak for themselves. That’s not even mentioning how great smart thermostats can look. You probably never thought your heating control panel could be an attractive part of your décor, right?Ease of InstallationYou wouldn’t be remiss for worrying that the installation could be lengthy or messy, given the huge benefits, however, installation of smart thermostats can be extremely quick and easy. Many top models boast full compatibility with other smart systems, making installation fast and straightforward.Complete User FriendlinessUser convenience, intuitive design and complete user-friendliness make intelligent thermostats a solid way to go when it comes to making sure that your heating system is working for you this winter and throughout the year in general. The smart thermostat is particularly useful to someone with a busy working schedule or frequently on the go, someone who doesn't have time to dabble over a thermostat when they get back.Powerful Features in a Convenient PackageIt’s not just about how simple it is to set the heating at home. You can remotely program, manage and monitor your intelligent smart thermostat from anywhere on your mobile device connected to the internet so that it can calculate the perfect schedule and use of your heating system. That’s a powerful raft of features in a simple, accessible format that anyone can use.Predictive AI-powered algorithms to boost your home’s efficiencySmart learning technology creates a heating system that adapts to your needsGeolocation, helps your system adapt to local differencesMulti-zone heating control across your home.Save Money This WinterOne of the biggest features of the right intelligent thermostat is how much money it could stand to save you throughout the year, compared to traditional heating systems. With estimates of how much you could save wavering between 8% and 30%, according to a range of sources, the real factor is how much you’re using your smart thermostat. If you treat it like a traditional control system, you won’t reap the benefits, but if you use everything it has to offer, you can expect to make big savings. Simply making sure your heating isn’t on when nobody is home can be massively cost-saving, and that’s not even looking at all the scheduling options for making your home’s heating as efficient as possible.Feeling Chilly? Tell Your Radiator to Turn OnThe ultimate in convenience, no, don’t get up. Just tell your Alexa or Google Home device to turn the heating up in the room you’re in. Through integration with voice assistants and multi-zone features, you can literally instruct your central heating to just heat the one room you’re in. Compared to turning up the temperature of the entire house, this is going to be a big energy saver, as well as a time saver.Thinking About Getting a Smart Thermostat?In terms of pricing, there is a wide range of options out there, with many options sitting around the £100 mark, but powerful alternatives are available starting at around £75. Most offerings come with great guarantees, leaving you safe in the knowledge that your heating is in good hands no matter what happens. You can spend a lot more on your smart thermostat too, as with most things, but for most UK homes, that’s not really necessary. Many UK customers found that upgrading their heating system resulted in energy bill savings, as well as a more convenient, intuitive system, with many reviews attesting.

The advent of smart technology in the 21st century has benefited us in all walks of life; from voice-controlled smartphones obeying our every order to Fitbits tracking our health levels, smart technology is revolutionising how we live. The latest trend you should be turning to is smart thermostats, for the simple reason they can save you some serious money on your electricity bills. What is a Smart Thermostat? A conventional room thermostat allows the temperature in your home to be changed manually, via a dial or control panel. Meanwhile, smart thermostat will allow for a more effective, user-friendly and accessible way to control your home's heating. Many smart thermostats utilise the 'Internet of Things' (IoT) which offers internet connectivity for remote management, programming, and monitoring. This is especially useful for a variety of features, such as the ability to notify the thermostat when the owner is on the way home so it can adjust the temperature accordingly.Buy a Smart Thermostat today Benefits of a smart thermostat The smart thermostat is particularly useful to someone who is working or frequently on the go, one who doesn't have time to dabble over a thermostat when they get back. A smart thermostat won’t save money in the short run, unless the temperature varies wildly from morning to evening, but it will pay off in the long run if the house can be heated or cooled efficiently. As your smartphone receives reports about the usage and situation of the smart thermostat, you can utilise these to better understand your own heating and cooling usage. This in turn enables you to adjust its behaviour and preferences, which could save money, while maintaining the house at a comfortable temperature. The exact amount a thermostat may save you is obviously dependent on various factors: the type of thermostat, the insulation of your property and how you take advantage of its features. However, many studies claim a smart thermostat will manage to pay for itself within a year. According to some studies, smart thermostats may save your energy bills ranging from 31-37%, which may amount up to £130 per year! Features and uses of smart thermostats What's even better is that smart thermostats are becoming increasingly affordable. A top-of-the-line Danfoss Devireg Smart thermostat will set you back a little over £100, down from its initial list pricing of over double that price, while the less expensive one is just over £50 + VAT (see the DEVIreg Touch Screen). The Devireg is an intelligent electronic timer thermostat with Wi-Fi connectivity and App control. It truly makes use of the IoT, allowing you to wirelessly control your electrical heating via your smartphone - either via an Android phone or an iPhone. For instance, on a chilly winter morning, you can wake up and even manage the temperature of your underfloor heating as you get ready for the day. And when you take a shower and it is under 5 degrees Celsius outside, it is so comfortable to step out of the shower and feel the warm floors under your feet... A smart thermostat works with all the heating elements in the house - which can be remotely controlled, and it allows you to make sure the house is warm enough when people are around, and also that the heat is not ON when no one is at home. The smart thermostat features are bound to save you money on electricity bills. For instance, it has an open window detector and an energy-saving program that includes an optimum start/end control that ensures the desired temperature is reached at the correct time, therefore reducing heating costs. We here at Sparks sell a variety of Deviregs, and they come highly recommended if you wish to delve into the smart thermostat market.Smart Thermostats at SparksWho would Use a Smart Thermostat? The tech-savvy Smart thermostats are sure to suit certain people more than others. The tech-savvy smartphone or computer users amongst us will likely benefit from the smart thermostat, as they can and will easily check how much their heating is costing them. Those on a regular routine Those with a regular routine will likely profit from a smart thermostat, as many of them will learn your routine and ensure it is warm exactly when it needs to be. As stated earlier, those on the move will be grateful to return home to find themselves in a welcoming house warming itself just in time for their arrival. Businesses Businesses are in the practice of saving money where they can, so of course, they have turned their attention to smart thermostats. According to some studies, such IoT-enabled thermostats can make workplaces vastly more energy-efficient. As an employer, you can inform the device of the standard working hours of your employees. This will allow the smart thermostat to heat up or cool down the office to a comfortable and productive temperature before your employees arrive and cut costs on any wasted energy it might have consumed after they left. What's more is that you can programme smart thermostats to adjust to certain seasons or conditions, from excessive humidity to wintry chills. Given the option, some smart thermostats will consistently attempt to lower the temperature by a degree or two. This may not be enough for you or your staff to notice, but could save you hundreds on your energy bills each year. So, with the smart thermostats looking 'future-proof' by all accounts, the main question you have to ask yourself is why not invest in one right now?

Meteorologists have warned us of an ‘Arctic Freeze’ that could wrap around Britain and bring substantial snowfall with it. Thermostats and underfloor heating are absolute lifesavers in these times and thankfully DEVI, a Sparks favourite, offers a fantastic range of heating solutions for colder climes. These include the excellent combination of DEVImat and DEVIreg, a match made in heaven that we have written previously about here. Underfloor heating is an underrated home feature, that enables your home to retain heat far more efficiently than a radiator, for instance. They also have very low maintenance costs and actually keep bathrooms more hygienic by warding off cold and dampness. If you feel like the cold weather is slowing you down, then check out our selection of DEVI's underfloor heating products. Be safe in the knowledge that DEVI is a very well-regarded name in the heating industry, having won a slew of awards, including the Santander Breakthrough Award in 2014. DEVImat - Masters of Underfloor HeatingThe DEVImat system is an easily installable floor heating for your entire home that can be placed underneath all manner of surfaces - wood, concrete and laminate flooring. The discreet heating system will be barely visible at all due to its low profile, and it hardly alters your room's floor. While the DEVImat spreads welcoming warmth throughout your room, your floor will be raised a few unnoticeable millimeters at most. Once again the installation process is quick and easy and a tutorial can be viewed here. The mat uses convection to spread heat and is an electrical-based system rather than a water-based one, meaning it's easier to install during a renovation for instance. It also responds far more quickly to thermostat controls, which are ideally provided by the separately purchased DEVIreg.Buy Devimat Underfloor Heating DEVIreg - the Thermostat with all the right connections This intelligent and intuitive touch-screen thermostat has an easy-to-grasp interface that can be installed in multiple rooms, all connected up by the inbuilt setup wizard. It is highly compatible with the DEVImat, with quick communication between the two giving you great control over your home's heating during the cold winter months. The innovative DEVIreg was the first thermostat that awarded touchscreen capability to the user and also features the 'click fit' design which makes for ease of installation in any room of your home. Here is a video tutorial demonstrating just how easy it is to set up and start using the DEVIreg system. The DEVIreg Smart Control is a wonderful and inventive thermostat that makes full use of the Internet Of Things (IoT) to connect and communicate with other devices in your home. As long as it is connected by Wi-Fi, this Smart App can be controlled from anywhere, at any time. It is fast and easy to use, especially if you set it up using the pre-installed App wizard, which allows you to specify the room and temperature set-up type. For instance, if you want your bathroom floor to be at a balmy heat for your bare-toed morning grooming routine, the app on your phone or the touch-screen thermostat will help you make this a reality. It features a vast array of features beyond that such as an open window detector, an energy-saving program, and an optimal start/end control which ensures that your desired temperature is reached at the optimal time of your liking. Ultimately, this makes for a truly energy-efficient piece of technology that is especially cost-effective for those looking to save bundles on their energy bills, on top of combating pesky cold floors.Buy DEVIreg Smart Thermostats Where to install underfloor heating and why Having a warm floor during a particularly harsh winter is extremely beneficial for you and your family; this is reflected in increased demand for the product among consumers, in recent years, with similar levels of buying desirability as top-sellers like power showers. In a house with a conventional heating system, you could have the room temperature set to a comfortable 21-25 degrees. However, the floor may remain cold to the feet at an unpleasantly chilly 15 degrees, meaning the distribution of heating will be off-kilter. The most popular locations for installation are the kitchen or the bathroom, as these are traditionally where floor tiles can be coldest to walk on; however, any specific room that gets particularly cold would be ideal for underfloor heating. Think about any rooms that don't already have a radiator or are poorly insulated with cold floor materials such as stone or tiles - rooms that you're usually in during the winter time but it tends to be a little chilly, and you have the perfect location for underfloor heating. So, if you are concerned about you and your family treading on cold tiles (especially any barefoot kids!), then it would be wise to invest in the DEVI underfloor heating range. It is a smart investment in the long term; and not just for the upcoming winter months - it also provides a permanent eco-friendly heating solution that will be unobtrusive, wherever you choose to install it. Don't get cold feet this winter! Check out our DEVI offerings here now.

Body temperature plays a role in good sleep, and at this time of year that can be difficult to get right. If it isn't too cold, it's blisteringly hot because the central heating is on, and even sleeping with one leg out of the covers doesn't help (trust us). So it wasn't exactly a surprise to find an article on body temperature regulation, which suggests controlling the temperature in the bedroom at night to help with the snoozing. We can do this. We have the technology. Body Temperature and Good Sleep According to the research cited in that article, relative warmth promotes sleep onset, but a decrease in temperature may actually help you stay asleep. Importantly, that's a change of only one or two degrees either way to avoid getting severely ill. This is a good summary of what the research found: Fitting human subjects with thermosuits, the scientists were able to lower skin temperature less than a degree Centrigrade without affecting core body temperature. The changes were dramatic. People didn't wake up as much during the night and the percentage of the sleep spent in stages 3 and 4 (deep sleep) increased. The effects were most pronounced in the elderly and in people who suffered from insomnia. A 0.4 C decrease in skin temperature caused a decline in the probability of early morning waking from 0.58 to 0.04. We're assuming, for this post, that you don't have a thermosuit lying around the house. But we know where you can get hold of a decent thermostat. Using a Thermostat to Get a Good Night's Rest  For this experiment, you'll need a good programmable thermostat like the BN Thermic Room Thermostat - either one of these will regulate the temperature like a normal thermostat, but they will also raise or lower it at certain times during the week. You'll also need a handle on your usual sleeping hours. For example, at Sparks Electrical we like to get a good night's sleep, so a good time to briefly raise the temperature might be 9pm-10pm, and then lower it afterwards, at 10:30pm-11pm.Best Room Thermostat at Sparks That isn't exact, and it might take a few days to figure out your patterns. Play around a little to find a comfortable room temperature: you're aiming to slightly alter your body temperature to promote deep sleep. There are no absolutes here, and everyone will be different. PLEASE NOTE: it's dangerous for your health to change your body temperature more than a couple of degrees, especially if you're doing that every night. So once you've established a comfortable room temperature, don't raise or lower that number at night by more than one or two degrees. If you do decide to go down this route, let us know how it went in the comments! If you don't, how do you get a good night's sleep? Image by Gino Zahnd (Creative Commons)

Everything nowadays is becoming digital and touch screen - not only the mobile phones but also all the electrical devices and appliances for home. With varied and ever changing lifestyles, the heating requirements can change not only based on season but weekly, daily, and even hourly. The people at Danfoss have recently come out with DEVIreg Touch thermostat, specially designed to allow the end-user the ultimate programming flexibility! These are now online at SparksDirect via the, Underfloor Heating Systems, and, Thermostats. This is a different kind of thermostat - it has been developed based on the insight that end-users wish to correctly programme or alter their underfloor heating settings first time and every time. The DEVIreg Touch is an intelligent touch screen thermostat - robust, user friendly, offering you a perfect balance between comfort and energy usage. How does DEVIreg Touch thermostat work? To see how the new DEVIreg thermostat - the Touch screen intelligent one - works, you can visit the following link. There you can set up the thermostat, you can adjust settings, re-set, adjust the temperature, the time and date, set some scenes, and find all other kinds of settings. Explore the key features, enjoy its intuitive nature and envision the endless possibilities of integrating the controller in any type of room thanks to its flexibility and beautiful design. Features and Benefits Easy and flexible time programming, also online; The detection of the open window automatically switches off the floor heating; Very latest 3rd generation intelligent timer taking your savings to another level; Consumption read out helps raise awareness to optimise settings; These are the features all the DEVIreg and DEVImat underfloor heating mats have asked for: # Easy to use and operate # Elegant design # Energy efficiency # Confidence in quality # Touch Screen and user friendly # Intuitive programming interface The DEVIreg Touch models available are: the frameless version (140F1065) and the version with the design frame (140F1064).DEVIreg Touch Thermostats at Sparks