Centrica and Mixergy to deploy smart hot water tanks in UK households

/ Technology & Smart Cities / Thursday, 03 October 2019 05:31

Centrica, UK energy firm, has announced that it will roll out new smart hot water tanks to track hot water levels and help consumers better understand their usage within their households.

The smart hot water tanks consist of a combination of sensory technologies and the Internet of Things (IoT). The new tanks will be offered to customers via British Gas in an effort to decarbonize heating within the UK.

Mixergy, a startup funded by Centrica, found that according to the National Grid’s Future Energy Scenarios, 23 million households will have to opt for low-carbon heating solutions by 2050.

In fact, hot water tanks consume almost the same amount of energy as a small car and have not received much attention in terms of innovation over the years.

The way the new tanks will work is through the sensor and IoT technologies which will track the hot water levels and the usage habits of the household which means that water volumes will become more personalized. Also, the right amount of water will be heated at the right time for any given household that uses this new technology.

Centrica has stated that this could reduce heat losses water energy uses by almost 40 percent annually and could in fact save more than 10 percent on hot water bills per year which account for approximately £100 per year.

“We use our proprietary technology to unlock the power of Mixergy’s tanks in order to provide firm frequency response to the electricity grid,” said Centrica’s Chairman and group director of technology and engineering, Charles Cameron.

He added, “The first batch of 100 hot water tanks which are now in homes in the UK will, at times of stress, be capable of capturing energy at low market prices on sunny or windy days when there is an abundance of renewable on the network, all whilst maintaining efficiency, cost and comfort for our customers.”

Mixergy’s Dr. Pete Armstrong stated that while Centrica has been working towards reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions through leveraging excess renewable energy on the grid, Mixergy reduces “bills for householders by only heating the amount of hot water they require.”

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