Energy Management Systems
Imagine living in a house of the future…. How different do you think it would be from your current home?
The answer might be surprising, because we think that outwardly it wouldn’t seem that different at all. This is because the technology that is currently entering the market isn’t necessarily about visual innovations, but is more about optimising what you already have in situ.
Energy Management Systems (EMS) are a great example of this. When building a house from the ground up, or retrofitting technology to improve your daily living, an EMS works alongside common technologies such as solar panels, EV chargers and heat pumps. It manages these technologies for you, to run your home efficiently and save you money.
For example, to continue your future home scenario: It’s 5pm and you are driving home. It’s winter and outside it’s dark and cold; but when you get home, you find your house knew to expect you by monitoring your daily patterns and learning when your likely arrival would be.
The house is snug, with upstairs spaces perhaps kept a little cooler for better sleeping. The curtains are drawn, having used sensors and local weather information to determine what time the sun would go down. The underfloor heating is warm underfoot and your lights are set at just the correct brightness. Music is playing quietly in the background giving the space a warm and homely feel.
Your solar panels have been running all day. Your battery storage system is full with energy taken from the panels as well as bought through your tariff at an off-peak, cheaper rate. You can now use your kettle, oven and tv using this energy from your battery, rather than energy from your provider at the peaktime expensive rate. Your washing machine and dishwasher ran a cycle when solar production was at a high and your battery storage was full.
Fast forward six months and it’s summer. During the warmer months, the sensors in each room continuously monitor the temperature and adjust blinds and shading as required to keep each room at the right temperature. Fan assisted radiators in the bedrooms have cooled the space down by a few degrees to assist sleeping.
Having a flexible energy tariff, and using it with an EMS means that your home is saving you money without you having to do anything other than simple routine changes. It constantly learns and changes the setup of your home to ensure that energy is used frugally, keeping costs down and reducing your carbon emissions.
If you would like to talk to us about the potential benefit of installing an EMS to your existing property or installing in your ground up build, please get in touch and we will be happy to talk you through the process and costs involved or read more about EMS here
