With winter on the horizon and energy prices about to rocket once again, UK homes will be looking for ways to cut their monthly bills. Turning off appliances, lowering the thermostat by a few degrees and using energy-efficient devices – such as air fryers – will all help to keep the cost down but Samsung also reckons it has a clever way to help consumers spend a little less.
The tech firm’s SmartThings service, which lets you control everything from washing machines to your curtains, has just had an overhaul with it now offering full integration with popular Hive internet-connected thermostats. That basically means you can now control the heating from the same SmartThings app that looks after your online lightbulbs, smart plugs, video doorbells, robot vacuums and more.
The Hive update also lets homes set new temperature targets as well as turning things off and on when customers are on the move and not at home. This should help to cut down on wasted energy but also make sure rooms are warm when opening the front door.
It’s a nice addition and that’s not all with Samsung is also boosting its partnership with British Gas.
This collaboration was first announced earlier this year and offers consumers an easier way to take advantage of the British Gas PeakSave programme. This option gives homes cheaper energy prices at less busy times during the day or night.
Samsung says that SmartThings Energy users can now automate appliances’ operating modes during these periods which sometimes offer energy at half the usual price. For example, do your washing and cooking between 11am – 4pm on Sundays and you’ll get electricity at 50% less than normal.
There are even rewards handed out with British Gas boasting that it has paid over £13 million to 650,000 customers taking part in the scheme.
The final update is bringing Tesla services to SmartThings as well. This allows users to check on their Tesla products and get alerts such as power disruptions and outages.
Speaking about the update, Deborah Honig, Chief Customer Officer, Samsung UK and Ireland, comments: “We know that controlling energy consumption is a top priority for our customers, and as we head into winter this becomes an even bigger priority.
“We are continually evolving our SmartThings energy management features and extending our partnerships with British Gas and Tesla, to make it even easier and more intuitive for customers to manage their home energy usage.
“By providing new automated tech solutions that help our customers save time, money and energy, we are seeing even more people do that ‘little bit extra’ every day to take of their home and the planet.”
The app is totally free and works on both Android and iPhone as well as Samsung’s televisions.
