Although the Government’s domestic energy cap will deliver relief to millions this winter, the number of fuel poverty households is still set to rise significantly. Along with traditional approaches to tackling fuel bills, social landlords can now access the UK’s first smart thermostatic radiator valve (TRV) — Radbot 1. Energy Activist and Innovator Matt Sheen, Business Development Manager for Radbot at Secure UK Ltd, explains.
Prior to developing Radbot 1, I led a local charity that provided community-based energy efficiency advice, a role that helped me to understand the challenges faced by lower-income households when it comes to heating their homes.
One of the more frustrating aspects is the gap that exists between identifying fuel poor homes and their ability to access the solutions and technologies that will increase energy efficiency and help to lower their bills.
The measures needed to tackle fuel poverty have existed for several years, but the challenge is finding the time, money, and political capital to retrofit homes at scale.
Most fuel poor homes are cursed with poor levels of thermal insulation. Recent analysis of 21 million homes across England and Wales by EDF found that only 58% met the insulation standards of 1976 or earlier, while according to research by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, poorly insulated homes will use £1,000 more energy this winter.
With around 13 million homes requiring improved insulation, and the majority of those also likely to need new efficient low carbon heating systems, the massive inescapable challenge facing those tasked with achieving net zero by 2050 is clear.
When domestic energy prices began to rise rapidly last year, 2050 suddenly felt like a very long way away: people were going to need help with their bills immediately, not in five or 10-years’ time. Most of the 6.7 million fuel poor households identified by The End Fuel Poverty Coalition felt the financial pinch immediately, with many of those living in social homes turning to their landlords for assistance.
Social assistance
So, what could social landlords do to help? For most, the only realistic option has been to offer advice or short-term financial support, such as increasing welfare and hardship funds to help struggling customers. Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) for example, increased its tenant welfare fund by 50%, while Manningham Housing Association doubled its community investment budget. With
similar stories being reported at Hexagon Housing Association, LiveWest, Peabody, Hyde and Network Homes.
Whilst these packages bring critical short-term relief, they are expensive, unsustainable and do nothing to increase energy efficiency and reduce bills. When it comes to rapid technical interventions, what is apparent is that social landlords have relatively few options for quick, low cost and practical energy efficiency solutions.
Some have certainly tried. Aster, for example, supplied tenants with energy-efficient lightbulbs, reflective foils for radiators, window films and draft excluders, but I cannot find any examples (prior to Radbot 1) of new smart home energy efficiency devices fast tracked into tenants’ homes.
Smart TRVs
What is most exciting about Radbot 1 is that it can finally bridge the gap between ‘smart’ and ‘now’ — providing an intelligent device
that is uniquely affordable, immediate, and easy to install. It is a smart thermostatic radiator valve (or TRV) that turns radiators down based on room occupancy — and therefore lowering heating bills.
The Radbot TRVs can be fitted to radiators on virtually all wet, domestic central heating systems, including most district heat networks, and the device’s intelligent algorithm begins learning customer living habits as soon as it is activated.
It is extremely easy to fit, requiring no special tools or any assistance from an engineer, it simply screws in and replaces the existing radiator valve. It has also been purposely designed to operate without the need for a web connection, app or password, so the user has no
need to set up an account or own a smart phone or computer.
And like many effective technologies, all of Radbot 1’s complexity has been absorbed into the devices learning algorithm, making it a genuine fit and forget product that needs next-to-no technical or customer support. A single Radbot 1 costs around £30+Vat, and trials
undertaken at the University of Salford’s ‘Energy House’ presented energy efficiency savings of up to 30%.
Endorsed by the Energy Saving Trust, Radbot 1, also provides a SAP uplift of between one to eight points depending on the property. This helps to improve property EPC ratings, which in turn helps housing providers meet their energy efficiency and net zero carbon reduction targets. It is also an approved measure for the ECO4 and SHDF government energy efficiency schemes.
It was also our intention from the outset that Radbot 1 work in harmony with existing or future home energy devices or technologies and will still deliver benefits once homes are retrofitted with new energy-efficient heating systems or improved fabric, reducing energy consumption and subsequent carbon emissions.
More information on the Radbot 1 is available here.
