Gas prices have increased by over 57% since the start of the year. The increase is not over and electricity is expected to follow from the start of 2022. “In France, we don’t have oil but we have ideas”. This slogan, after the first oil shock, had marked the French. Almost 40 years later, one of the ideas for paying less for energy is to install or have a connected thermostat installed on your boiler.
This smart thermostat connected to the wifi of the house takes control of the ignition of the boiler. It guarantees the temperature of the home by regulating the temperature of the water that goes into the radiators according to several parameters, such as the outside temperature, the sun beating down on the windows or the heat generated by heating the neighbors.
Even better than configurable thermostats on which you define time slots without being able to modify them remotely, connected thermostats allow you to manage daily unforeseen events: an end-of-day meeting that drags on and delays your return home, making no need to increase the temperature from 6 p.m. or, on the contrary, an unexpected departure for the country house and the prospect of cozy comfort on arrival.
With a connected thermostat connected to the boiler, it only takes a few clicks on your smartphone for your heating to turn on or off and adapt remotely.
“1% here, 2% there, it ends up showing on the bill.”
Julien Nicol, heating engineerto franceinfo
Julien Nicol, heating engineer in Lorient, sees only advantages: “If there is no one at home, we avoid starting to heat too early. The main advantage of a connected heater is to be able to interact quickly. Everyone is used to going. on your phone. We are familiar with this kind of application. And it’s easy. Used well, it’s useful! “.
Equipping a connected thermostat represents an investment of 140 to 250 euros, without the installation. And the amortization is very fast. Audrey Vaudou is energy marketing product manager at Netatmo, which arrived very early on the connected thermostats market with a first model in 2013.
The savings obviously depend on the type of housing, its surface area, the number of occupants and the quality of the insulation. But they are far from anecdotal: “We can hope to earn between 20 and 30% on his annual bill, which represents, on average, between 100 and 200 euros. It can go up to 350 to 400 euros over a year. And therefore, a smart thermostat pays for itself in 1 to 2 years on average. “
Chronologically, the first element of the puzzle to install is the connected thermostat because it intervenes at the level of the boiler, the nerve center of the installation. Google (via its Nest brand), Tado or Somfy also offer them.
Secondly, thermostatic valves will be added to its radiators to regulate the temperature room by room. For example: 19 ° ideally in the bedrooms.
And then there is hot water which represents, on average, a third of the gas bill. Some hot water tanks, once installed, memorize your consumption habits to avoid heating the water at all costs when you do not need it. Last resort to lower your consumption: lower the temperature. Count on 7% savings for every degree you give up.