Heating control expert, Drayton, recently surveyed heating engineers, plumbers, electricians, and renewable installers to understand what its customers are looking for from smart heating controls and how important it is to have a reliable system from a manufacturer they can trust.
When it comes to the features that are most desired by homeowners, the survey found that a heating control that can be managed via a smartphone app (66%) and a system that offers room-by-room heating control (50%) were the two most common requests that installers were asked for last year.
However, following rising energy costs, energy-saving features – such as smart modes – came in a close third (48%). Additionally, the flexibility to include further connected devices at a later date was desired by just under a third of customers.
While having a solution that meets customers’ needs is essential, it is also important that installers are confident in working with the product, as according to the survey the most common issue that causes delays on the job was products that are hard to install (64%). Alongside this, product compatibility issues were another top cause of wasted time, cited by 44% of installers.
When issues like this occur, it is crucial that technical support is available from manufacturers; but according to a quarter of installers (25%), they were unable to access this support or find the information they were looking for online.
Merlin Milner, Product Owner for Water-based Systems at Drayton, comments, “The results of our research highlight that in today’s market, customers are prioritising simplicity and convenience; they want the ability to control their heating remotely via a user-friendly app on their mobile and ways to improve efficiency. As such, it’s crucial that tradespeople have a go-to solution that they can trust to deliver all of these key features and doesn’t cause them delays when working.
“The Wiser solution is a one-stop solution for installers, that offers all of this and more. With multi-zoning capabilities and smart modes, installers can help their customers save up to 30% on an average energy bill, as well as access valuable data via Insights. Wiser is capable of controlling a wide range of heating systems and is easily scalable as additional devices can be added to the system at any time.
“For installers, Wiser is incredibly easy to fit, as it is compatible with the standard UK backplate and can be set up without requiring the customer’s Wi-Fi details. Plus, should any issues arise, here at Drayton we have a number of different ways for installers to get assistance. Along with our UK-based customer support team, we also offer online training courses via Drayton Rewards+, video tutorials on YouTube, and technical documents can be found on our website. All of this helps ensure a smooth and speedy installation, so they can get on with the job and onto the next customer.”
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