News

Using Controls To Help Limit Heating Costs

Electricity is the most expensive and carbon-intensive heating fuel available in the UK, the average annual cost of heating and hot water using electricity is £2,053. An Ofgem study found that there are over 2 million homes in the UK using electric heating systems, these tend to be homes with a lower efficiency rating, reflecting the higher running costs, and tended to be occupied by people with lower incomes. This means that often, those that can least afford it are paying for the most expensive method of keeping warm.

Longest Lasting Sangamo RPTS Announced

We have completed our search for the longest lasting Round Pattern Time Switch (RPTS) and found switches still going strong after six decades! Mick from Northumberland won a £250 Amazon.co.uk voucher for his 62 year old time switch. 

Managing Director, Mark Robinson, explained “we normally tell people that switches can last for many years and we were expecting entries to have been installed in the 1970’s but when they started arriving from installations the 60’s and then as early as 1954 we were astonished – in 1954 there was still food rationing! The longevity of these products is their strength. We still manufacture to the same standards so there’s no reason an RPTS installed today can’t last to 2078 and beyond.”

Using IFTTT With Your Netatmo Thermostat

The Netatmo Thermostat for Smartphone is a clever bit of kit, it monitors how long it takes for your home to heat up then, after a couple of weeks, starts turning itself on early to make sure your home is at the correct temperature for you arriving home from work! Netatmo have just announced that the Thermostat now has its own Channel using IFTTT making it even smarter!

Sangamo Thermostats & The EU's ErP Directive

On Saturday the 26th of September 2015 a new piece of EU legislation came into force, the Energy Related Products Directive (ErP Directive - ErP 2009/125/CE), as will be familiar to most people as the coloured bar rating on fridges, washing machines and other white goods, has now been extended to include space heaters with an output of less than (or equal to) 400kW and water heaters and storage cylinders with an output of less than (or equal to) 400kW and a storage capacity of less than (or equal to) 2,000 litres. This means any new domestic boiler or heating system must come with an appropriate label to let the user know its energy efficiency for heating and hot water output ranging from A++ (most efficient) to G (least efficient) and the sound level while operating.