UK Smart Home Energy Guide 2026
Smart Home Energy UK 2026
Smart thermostats, radiator valves, plugs, energy monitors and sensors: which ones cut your bills, what they really save, and what to buy now that Nest has left the UK.
Last reviewed: 1 October 2026
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Which Smart Home Products Save Energy?
Smart home energy products don't make energy cheaper. They stop you paying for heat and power you didn't need: heating an empty house, warming unused rooms, leaving things on standby. Because heating is the biggest part of a UK energy bill, that's where the real savings are.
Unlike solar panels or a heat pump, most of these products need no installer and little money, and several work in rented homes. The savings are real but modest, so we've used independent evidence where it exists, not manufacturers' headline claims.
Start here: the upgrades in order of return
Best Smart Thermostats UK 2026
A smart thermostat replaces your existing thermostat and lets you control the heating from your phone, on a schedule, or automatically when the house is empty. UK trials by the Behavioural Insights Team found a learning thermostat cut heating gas use by 6–7% compared with a standard timer, room thermostat and radiator valves. On a typical gas bill that's roughly £50 a year, and more if you're replacing very basic controls or often heat an empty house.
Nest has left the UK. Google stopped developing Nest thermostats for Europe in April 2025. The Nest Learning Thermostat (3rd gen) and Thermostat E still work and get security updates, but there will be no new models, and older first- and second-generation units lost app control in October 2025. We no longer recommend buying one new.
tado° Smart Thermostat X
OpenTherm · Matter and Thread · Wired or wireless kits
The strongest all-rounder now Nest has gone. It supports OpenTherm, so on a compatible boiler it can turn the flame down instead of switching it on and off, which is where a lot of the saving comes from. It pairs with tado's radiator valves for room-by-room control. Scheduling and app control are free; automatic geofencing, advanced open-window detection and pre-heating need the optional AI Assist subscription at £3.99 a month, so factor that in.
Hive Thermostat Mini
Simple app · Easy install · Backed by British Gas
The cheapest route to a proper smart thermostat, and the most widely supported in the UK. Scheduling, app control and geolocation reminders work well and it's simple to live with. Two limits: it doesn't work with heat pumps, and some extras sit behind the optional Hive Plus subscription.
Drayton Wiser
Multi-zone · OpenTherm option · Nothing to pay monthly
Wiser gives you a thermostat kit that grows into full room-by-room control by adding its radiator valves, with every feature included and no monthly fee. It's popular with installers and a good fit for larger homes. The app is plainer than tado's, but the running cost over five years is lower.
Got a heat pump? Be careful with third-party thermostats
Heat pumps run most efficiently on their own controller with weather compensation, holding a steady low temperature. A thermostat that switches them on and off like a boiler can raise running costs. Keep the manufacturer's controls unless your installer confirms a smart thermostat is compatible. More in our heat pump guide.
Smart Radiator Valves (TRVs)
Smart TRVs replace the heads on your radiator valves and let you set each room's temperature and schedule separately: bedrooms warm at bedtime, the spare room barely heated, the home office warm only on work days. They screw on in a couple of minutes with no plumbing. One thing to know: a valve can only open or close a radiator. To switch the boiler on when a room needs heat, it needs a matching smart thermostat or hub.
tado° Smart Radiator Thermostat X Starter Kit
One valve plus the Bridge X hub · Rechargeable · Matter and Thread
The most capable smart radiator valve sold in the UK. The starter kit includes one valve and the Bridge X hub; extra valves add rooms. The battery is rechargeable by USB-C, about once a year, so there are no AAs to replace. It works on its own for single rooms or with the tado° Smart Thermostat X for whole-home control. As with the thermostat, open-window detection and geofencing need the optional £3.99-a-month AI Assist plan. Note that X-range devices don't work with older tado V3+ kit.
Drayton Wiser Radiator Thermostat
Pairs with the Wiser hub · All features included
The natural choice if you have, or plan to get, a Wiser thermostat kit. Each valve can call the boiler for heat on its own, and nothing is locked behind a monthly fee. Needs the Wiser hub.
Meross Smart Radiator Thermostat
Budget option · Alexa, Google and Apple Home
The cheapest way to try room-by-room control, and it works with all three voice platforms. It needs the Meross hub (sold in the starter kit), and on its own it can't fire the boiler, so it's best for trimming heat in individual rooms.
Smart Plugs
Smart plugs are the cheapest way to start. Plug one in, connect it to your Wi-Fi, and it shows what the appliance costs to run and lets you switch it off on a schedule or from your phone. Choose one with energy monitoring: the measurement is what changes habits.
Eightree Smart Plug with Energy Monitoring
Energy monitoring, timers and schedules, with Alexa and Google Home support. Sold in multi-packs, so it's the cheapest way to put a monitoring plug on several appliances at once.
Check Price on Amazon →TP-Link Tapo P110
The benchmark energy-monitoring plug: accurate readings, a good app with running-cost charts, and Alexa and Google support.
Meross MSS315
Works with Alexa, Google Home and Apple Home, with energy monitoring. The safe choice for a mixed household.
Eve Energy
Thread and Matter, runs locally with no cloud account, and very well made. Pricey, but the best fit for Apple Home users.
Top tip: move one monitoring plug around the house, a week at a time: tumble dryer, fridge-freezer, TV and console, dehumidifier. A tumble dryer used four times a week can cost over £150 a year, which is why our dehumidifier vs tumble dryer comparison is worth a look. Don't use a smart plug on anything rated above 13A, and check the plug's own limit for heaters.
Energy Monitors
An energy monitor shows what you're using in pounds and pence as it happens. Government research on the smart meter rollout found that households with a smart meter and display cut their energy use by around 2–3% on average. The people who save more are the ones who use the display to hunt down a specific waste, then fix it.
Your smart meter display
The in-home display (IHD) that came with your smart meter already shows live cost. Most end up in a drawer. Put it somewhere you'll see it and check it when the heating, oven or dryer is on.
Loop app
Links to your SMETS2 smart meter through the national smart meter network, with no hardware. Shows half-hourly use, estimates your background 'always on' power and compares you with similar homes.
Hildebrand Glow display
A smart meter display with a difference: it also streams live data to its app and, over local MQTT, to Home Assistant. It carries on working when you switch supplier. The choice for home-automation users.
Shelly clamp meters
A clamp on the incoming cable measures whole-home use every second, and extra clamps can track solar, an EV charger or a heat pump. No smart meter needed, but it should be fitted by an electrician.
The Sense monitor, which featured in earlier versions of this guide, has been discontinued.
Room Sensors: Temperature and Humidity
A thermostat only knows the temperature where it's mounted. Cheap Wi-Fi sensors show what's happening in every room, which tells you where heat is being wasted and where it's escaping. They're also the easiest way to catch damp before it becomes mould: indoor humidity that sits above about 60% is the warning sign.
Govee Wi-Fi Thermometer Hygrometer (2-pack)
Temperature and humidity · App alerts · History charts
Two sensors that report temperature and humidity to your phone over Wi-Fi, keep a history you can export, and alert you when a room gets too cold, too hot or too humid. Put one in the coldest bedroom and one in the room you heat most. Within a week you'll know which rooms are overheated and which need attention.
Smart Tariffs: The Missing Piece
Smart products save more when they're paired with a time-of-use tariff, which charges less at quiet times. The smart kit does the shifting for you: a plug runs the dishwasher at 2am, a charger fills the car overnight, a battery stores cheap power for the evening peak.
| Tariff | Cheap rate | When | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (price cap) | 26.32p/kWh | All day | Baseline for comparison |
| Intelligent Octopus Go | About 8p/kWh | Smart EV charging, plus an overnight window | EV owners with a compatible car or charger |
| Octopus Go | About 8.5p/kWh | A fixed overnight window | EV owners, home batteries |
| Octopus Cosy | About half price | Three cheaper windows a day | Heat pump owners |
| Octopus Agile | Changes every half hour | Cheapest when the grid has spare power | Flexible households, batteries |
Worth knowing: you need a smart meter for any of these, and switching is free. If you already have an EV, heat pump or home battery, changing tariff is likely to save more than any gadget on this page. Rates change often, so see our Octopus tariffs comparison and the October 2026 price cap for current figures.
How Much Can You Save?
| Product | Cost | Typical annual saving | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smart thermostat | £79–£180 | £50–£130 | 1–3 years |
| Smart TRVs (4–6 rooms) | £200–£400 | Up to about £100 | 2–5 years |
| Smart plugs (×4) | £30–£60 | £20–£50 | 1–2 years |
| Energy monitor | Free–£70 | About 2–3% of your electricity | Immediate if free |
| Room sensors (×2) | About £30 | Indirect: shows where to act | n/a |
Thermostat savings are based on the Behavioural Insights Team's UK trial (6–7% of heating gas) at the low end and manufacturers' typical claims at the high end. Radiator valve savings depend heavily on how many rooms you can leave cooler. Subscriptions, where you choose them, add about £48 a year and lengthen the payback.
Smart controls are step one of a bigger plan
Controls and a smart tariff come first because they're cheap and make everything after them work better: solar, a battery, a heat pump and an EV charger. Our guide to electrifying your home puts all six steps in order, and insulation cuts what your heating has to do in the first place.
Smart Home Energy for Renters
Most of this page works in a rented home, and everything in the first list comes with you when you move.
No permission needed
- Smart plugs and room sensors: nothing to install
- Energy monitor apps and your smart meter display
- Smart radiator valves: keep the old valve heads and swap them back when you leave
- A smart tariff, if you pay the energy bill
Ask your landlord first
- A smart thermostat: it's wired to the boiler, so get the landlord's agreement
- A smart meter: you can ask your supplier, but tell your landlord
- Anything that involves the consumer unit, such as clamp meters
Renting and want to go further? See the energy efficiency bundle and plug-in solar.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Guides
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