In contrast to the hardware, the app is beautifully designed. It’s very clearly laid out, with color coding for temperatures allowing you to identify at a glance the temperature for each room of your house. Performance

We were blown away by how simple the Honeywell Evohome was to set up and use. The app is brilliantly designed, and all of the features are genuinely useful. It doesn’t feel like there’s anything superfluous about the kit or the app.As a result if you have a Nest or ecobee thermostat, your only real options are to integrate them with your smart home hub and then buy a compatible smart valve. I’ve seen some valves that have HomeKit support, meaning that you could setup some custom automation routines that combine your smart thermostat and smart radiator valves. Yes this isn’t direct integration, but it’s still a big step towards a truly smart (and automated) heating system.

So, if your home is cold, but you're scared about increasing your heating bills, here's our round up of the most popular smart radiator valves, including models from Netatmo, Tado and Eve.Below are the three simplest heating setups. We show you what you can and can't do with them. Thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves There’s also a dedicated holiday mode where you input the dates you are away and the application can make sure your house is heated for your return, without using any unnecessary energy while you’re away - which all helps to reduce your bills. While you have a reasonable amount of freedom when it comes to the placement of the T6R, you need to make sure it's in a room that is representative of your home's average temperature; there's no point placing it in a conservatory or a room that's generally poorly heated, as you'll end up wasting power and money. Design and display By not having to heat the entire house, Evohome will save you more money on heating bills than other systems; however, the initial outlay means that the system will also take longer to pay for itself.

When compared to standard thermostatic radiator valves, the smart alternative is a great upgrade. The added convenience of simply programming schedules as well as other intuitive functionality make them a worthwhile investment. However, it’s important to note that they may require a smart system/controller and they aren’t standalone. This is due to the internet connection requirement, which allows them to be remotely controlled via a smartphone app. There’s no built-in geofencing, so you can’t turn off your heating automatically when you go out. Alternatively, you can use IFTTT to adjust your heating automatically. Using the Life360 service, for example, you can turn off your heating when you go out and turn it on when you return. Most kits are relatively easy to set up and don’t require any professional installation. Manufacturers go to extreme lengths to ensure compatibility with older radiators. The third-party smart TRVs reviewed here all do much the same thing, it is the control thermostat that is the most important choice. The Honeywell EvoHome is suited for much larger properties. All six other thermostats are compatible with the vast majority of heating systems (old and new boilers) and will operate the boiler efficiently based on a learned pattern of when you need heat.The valves have a heat on-demand feature that will come in handy when the Hive thermostat is installed along with it. As designed, the valve will boost the thermostat as and when required in the room. The second option is easiest, but it might not stay as up to date as the first option (i.e. whose to say that Worcester Bosch will keep the system working nicely together in 5 or 10 years time?). Initially the T6R struggled to connect to our smartphone and home WiFi, but after a couple of attempts we were up and running.

Read our full expert guide on how smart radiator valves work to get the most out of your smart heating This best list covers everything from single thermostats to full-on multi-room systems with individual control. We’ve also included a wide range of brands such as Honeywell, Nest and Tado, to name a few.Although you can use a smart thermostat to control your home’s heating, a smart radiator valve allows you to operate the radiators separately. They are a great addition to any central heating system because they allow you to have complete control of any radiator via a smartphone application or even through voice commands and other smart devices. Unlike some others, it also doesn't learn patterns of usage, or provide you details on how much energy you’ve used/saved. We liked