Smart Energy Apps
We hear all the time about how technology is making our lives easier, and sure it’s pretty great to be able to access lecture slides on your mobile on those days when you’re too lazy to make it out of bed… but what about when you wake up in the middle of the night and you’re turning into an ice cube from the cold?
What’s technology got to offer for those of us who are stuck in the conundrum of whether to brave the world without your duvet to turn the heating back on or whether to try and suck it up and get back to sleep? Well the good news is that this will never be an issue again- it’s entirely possible to control your electricity from your mobile, tablet or laptop!
If that’s not enough to get you excited, did you know that you could save on average £150 by using a smart energy app to regulate your energy so it’s not dwindling away when you’re out and about?
Hive
Hive costs £159 to set up but it will pay for itself in savings and to be honest, if you’re just renting a house for a year you really aren’t going to save enough to make it worthwhile. But, if you can ask your landlord about it they may well decide to install it and foot the bill to boot! You can set it up yourself if you’re savvy with DIY but if you’re liable to brick the entire boiler like me it’s probably better to get the optional engineer in to do it all for you….don’t want to lose that deposit after all!
Insteon
Insteon is definitely not a great idea for students. There’s no option for an engineer to set it up and it costs a whooping £198, but it offers the ability to control other appliances like lighting. I think all that power would go to my head to be honest and I’m personally not at that stage where I’m loathe to get up to switch on a light…but the ability to turn the lights off and on whilst in lecture to annoy my housemates is kinda appealing… yeah, I don’t think any student is ready for that level of power.
Evohome
Evohome is even more expensive that Insteon at £249 and this is definitely a poor option. Don’t even consider them when Hive is an option because you really don’t need this level of control over your heating at an extra £100 cost.
Nest
Nest has only been active in the UK a few months but they’ve made waves in the US. It’s also £249 which puts it out of student price range but it’s absolutely brilliant. It learns your schedule and automatically switches on and off according to where you are and your habits. Unfortunately it looks just like HAL 9000 so I’d be a bit wary to let one into my house even if it doesn’t have the ability to suck all the oxygen out of the house.
In the end, although it’s totally cool and useful it really depends on your circumstances and price range as to whether you should get this installed. If you’re going to be in that house for longer than a year it will pay for itself but otherwise it’s a bit too pricey to consider. Hopefully in a few years all students will have this technology at their fingers and will be able to live a life of heating luxury but until then our generation seems fit to miss out, unless they have a generous landlord.
