Smart heating systems in the UK have moved far beyond a single thermostat you can control from your phone. Today’s best systems offer room-by-room temperature control, integration with heat pumps, automatic adjustments based on weather and occupancy, and detailed energy reporting. With UK gas bills still high and a government push toward electrification, understanding smart heating options has never been more valuable.
A smart thermostat (see our best smart thermostat UK guide) controls your whole home from a single point. Multi-zone smart heating goes further: it controls the temperature in each room independently. This matters because UK homes are typically heated unevenly — a south-facing living room warms up in winter sunshine while a north-facing bedroom stays cool, yet a single thermostat treats both the same.
Research from the Energy Saving Trust suggests that using thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) correctly — keeping unused rooms cooler — can save 8–15% on heating costs alone. Smart TRVs automate this process entirely.
| System | TRV price (each) | Works with | Boiler control? | Heat pump compatible? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tado° Smart Radiator Thermostat | £79.99 | Alexa, Google, Apple Home, Matter | Yes (with tado° thermostat) | Yes |
| Drayton Wiser TRV4 | £39.99 | Alexa, Google | Yes (with Wiser hub) | Yes (limited) |
| Honeywell Home T6R + Evohome | From £45 | Alexa, Google | Yes (Evohome controller) | Yes |
| Homematic IP | From £49 | Alexa, Google, Apple Home | Yes | Yes |
| Shelly TRV | £39.99 | Alexa, Google, Home Assistant | Via integration | Yes |
tado° is our top recommendation for a complete multi-zone smart heating system in the UK. The combination of a central smart thermostat (controlling your boiler) and smart radiator thermostats (controlling individual radiators) creates a genuinely intelligent heating system. The tado° app shows you which rooms are heating, which are at temperature, and which are being suppressed — giving you a real-time map of your home’s heat.
The geofencing is tado°’s standout feature: it tracks household members’ phones and adjusts heating based on everyone’s location, not just the last person to leave or arrive. When the last person leaves, heating drops to frost protection. As the first person approaches home, pre-heating begins. In a typical UK detached home, this alone saves significant gas compared to a fixed schedule.
tado° now supports Matter, which future-proofs it well. The subscription-based Auto-Assist feature (around £2.99/month) automates geofencing and open-window detection; without it, you need to confirm these actions manually. Many users find the free tier sufficient.
Drayton’s Wiser system offers smart TRVs at around £40 each — significantly less than tado°. The Wiser Hub (required, around £60) ties the system together and connects to the boiler. The system is well-regarded among UK heating engineers and works with most combi and system boilers. Room-by-room schedules and a clear app make it genuinely accessible.
The main limitation versus tado° is less sophisticated geofencing and no weather compensation. But for a UK homeowner who wants multi-zone control at an affordable price, Wiser is excellent value — especially in homes where the plumber is already familiar with the Drayton brand.
The UK government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme provides grants of up to £7,500 towards air source heat pumps. If you’re considering a heat pump, your smart heating system needs to work differently — heat pumps operate most efficiently at lower flow temperatures run for longer periods, rather than the on-off cycling of a gas boiler.
This means weather compensation becomes critical: the system automatically adjusts the flow temperature based on outdoor temperature, maximising heat pump efficiency. tado°, Honeywell Evohome, and Homematic IP all support weather compensation. Standard thermostats that simply switch the heat pump on and off significantly reduce its efficiency.
When pairing a heat pump with a smart thermostat, look specifically for “OpenTherm” compatibility — this protocol allows the controller to modulate the heat output rather than simply switching on and off. Heat pump manufacturers including Vaillant, Daikin, and Mitsubishi Electric all offer compatible smart controls, often with their own apps that provide COP (coefficient of performance) data.
If your home has solar panels, pairing them with a smart heating system unlocks additional savings. Systems with API access (tado°, Home Assistant integrations) can detect when solar generation is high and pre-heat the home using free electricity, reducing gas or grid-electricity consumption. This kind of optimisation is currently only practical with Home Assistant or similar advanced platforms, but the hardware to support it is available right now.
Installing a smart TRV system is more complex than fitting a single smart thermostat. The boiler connection typically requires a qualified heating engineer — particularly if you’re switching to an OpenTherm connection, which needs specific wiring. Budget £150–£300 for professional installation of a full multi-zone system. DIYers comfortable with basic heating controls can often fit the TRVs themselves (they thread onto standard radiator valve bodies) and have an engineer handle only the boiler-end wiring.
For most UK homes, the optimal smart heating setup is: one smart thermostat controlling the boiler, smart TRVs in every room except the one containing the main thermostat sensor, and the whole system tied into your chosen voice assistant for override commands. This setup, combined with well-set schedules, typically reduces heating bills by 20–30% compared to a basic programmable thermostat.
Pair your heating system with the right smart home hub to unlock automations beyond what the heating app offers — for example, triggering an “away” heating mode when your smart doorbell detects you’ve left, or linking heating to your smart lighting system for a fully integrated home.
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