British Gas is updating its Hive smart energy app with geolocation alerts as it reaches 75,000 UK homes,
The new feature will alert users when they have gone out and left their heating on, or when they are coming home and the temperature is set lower than they would like – prompting them to change their settings manually.
The upgrade helps Hive to catch up with smart energy systems like Tado, which monitors your location and automatically adjusts your heating.
Kassir Hussain, director of British Gas Connected Homes, said: “Our customers interact with Hive Active Heating 14 times per week, on average.
“Our new Geolocation feature will help you get even more from the product, sending helpful reminders if you’ve gone out and left the heating on, or if you’re coming home and the temperature is set lower than you’d like.
“These helpful prompts mean there’s no need to heat an empty home, or come home to a cold one – another way of putting people in control of their heating, and making it easy for them to save energy and money.”
British Gas also announced that Hive has been installed in 75,000 British homes since its launch in autumn 2013, costing £199 including installation.
British Gas predicts it will save an average of £150 per year, although you don’t have to be a British Gas customer to use it.
The geolocation feature was activated in a new version of the iOS app on Saturday, April 26, and will be launched ‘soon’ for Android users.
It’s switched off by default, but once turned on, users can set temperatures and distances which will trigger an alert so they can then remotely control their Hive system.
You can read Recombu’s review of Hive Active Heating, and see how Hive compares to competitors like Nest, Honeywell Evohome, Heat Genius, OWL, Tado, Salus iT500, Cosy and Climote.
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