In the UK, there are 4.4 million social housing properties accounting for over 15% of the housing stock. The vast majority of these homes still use fossil fuel boilers for their heating but with the increasing drive for social landlords to reduce emissions across their portfolio, many properties are transitioning to low-carbon heating options. The leading solution for decarbonising heating in social housing is heat pumps.
Social housing presents some distinct challenges when it comes to heat pump adoption. Heat pumps are not the same as gas boilers and take longer to heat up a home and hot water. This means they require a different approach to control which can be tricky when residents haven’t chosen the technology themselves. Heat pumps will also significantly increase a home’s electricity bill. With social housing residents more likely to be in fuel poverty and using prepayment meters, it’s important to make sure that each heat pump is running as efficiently as possible.
How can the Passiv Smart Thermostat help social housing residents?
When it comes to heat pump control, there are a number of different options ranging from traditional thermostats to smart or WiFi-connected thermostats. These controls aren’t best suited to heat pumps, with simple on and off control that reduces heat pump efficiency and can leave residents with a cold home. Heat pump controllers are also notoriously difficult to use, with one study finding that just 23% of people are able to set up a heating schedule – one of the most basic and vital functions of any heating controller.
The Passiv Smart Thermostat helps residents stay comfortable as they transition from boilers to heat pumps. Heat pumps run at lower flow temperatures and are not capable of providing the rapid bursts of heat typical of gas boilers. The Passiv Smart Thermostat learns how a home heats up and cools down and uses local weather forecasts to start heating a home and hot water at exactly the right time to make keeping comfortable with a heat pump simple. This same technology also increases the efficiency of a heat pump by 17% and when paired with the Passiv app, gives access to other cost-saving features, such as optimisation to solar generation and time-of-use tariffs. Together, these features can save social housing residents 30% on their heating bills.
The Passiv Programmer can be used to manage heating and hot water schedules in the home.
The Passiv Smart Thermostat gives complete control of a heat pump in the home with the Passiv Thermostat and Programmer, or from anywhere with the Passiv app. For many social housing residents, access to broadband acts as a barrier to benefiting from smart controls. With the Passiv Smart Thermostat, users have full control of their heating and hot water without the need for an internet connection or smartphone.
An experienced partner in social housing decarbonisation
Over the past ten years, Passiv has worked with social landlords to upgrade their residents’ heating to heat pumps fitted with smart controls. As part of the Energise Barnsley project, Passiv installed heat pump controls in 50 social housing properties in the Yorkshire town of Barnsley. Residents took part in flexibility events, shifting their heat pump consumption to support the grid and getting paid as a result. Passiv also reduced residents’ bills by optimising their heat pump to the Octopus Agile tariff, a dynamic electricity tariff that changes prices each half hour.
Passiv controls helped to reduce energy bills as part of the FREEDOM project.
Passiv also supported social housing decarbonisation as part of the FREEDOM project, with 40 households receiving new heat pumps fitted with Passiv controls. The Passiv controls allowed the heat pumps to operate with maximum efficiency while shifting consumption to lower-demand periods, earning residents extra money without impacting on their comfort.
Going forward, Passiv is continuing to support the decarbonisation of heating in the social housing sector. Passiv is currently involved in a retrofit fit project with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE), installing heat pumps alongside smart controls and insulation improvements in rural properties in Northern Ireland. The Passiv Smart Thermostat will help residents with the transition to heat pumps, offering simple control, efficient heat pump optimisation and improved comfort with smart preheating.
The Passiv Smart Thermostat is the perfect solution to help social housing residents transition to low-carbon heating. If you’re a social landlord and want to find out more, visit our partners page or get in touch with us at sales@passivuk.com.
