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Installer Training Days

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Installer Training Days

Recently our technical sales team have been conducting site surveys and meeting installers across the country who are currently working on Genius Hub projects. It has been excellent for our team to meet such skilled installers and visit new properties which will be controlled by the Genius Hub system. We have been able to offer unique advice on setups and free training to installers who have wanted to learn more about the Genius Hub.

From our team Alasdair and Will recently visited Stoke on Trent to meet Carl Spooner. Carl is an excellent installer who has a large amount of knowledge on installing the Genius Hub into properties. Whilst visiting site our Technical Sales team had the opportunity to take a look at some upcoming projects and share some ideas on how the Genius Hub can be very useful in settings such as HMO’s and commercial properties.

These days on site also give our team the opportunity to provide one on one training to the entire installer team, this ensured that Carl and his team have more knowledge on site when it comes to the Genius Hub, so when setting up a new system or even commissioning an existing system they can do so with ease.

Would you like to be part of our next installer training day? If yes then please contact our technical sales team. We would love to hear from you.

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Techadvisor Top 5

We feature in Techadvisors Top 5

We’ve been listed in the top five best smart thermostats of 2021 on the highly reputable Techadvisor site

Dominic Preston the Deputy Editor has put together his pick of the top ten smart thermostats you can buy, and we’re pleased to be placed in the top five of those.

These are genuine reviews where you can see Matt Egan’s full review of the system here. Matt doesn’t just do a desktop review of the Genius Hub, he has it installed into his own home and he has lived with it along with his family for over 5 years now. We are one of the most established smart thermostats on the market, and to show just how much Matt liked it, when he moved he took the Genius Hub with him!

Like with the reviews from Trusted Reviews here, where we got 4.5 stars out of 5, we listen to what the tech journalists have to say and their feedback on the system. All the feedback goes into the review; both positive and negative, so you know you are getting an honest review of the system. You’ll have seen with the launch of Alexa in April this year that we listened and agreed to the feedback from Trusted Reviews, and it was important for us to make your Genius Hub as connected as possible to other smart things in your home.

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Summer Sale – Smart Plugs & Range Extenders

15% off Smart Plugs and Range Extenders

From Tuesday 1st June 2021 we are launching a special summer offer of 15% off our Genius Smart Plugs and Genius Range Extenders, this deal is exclusive to new system purchases only (devices must be purchased in conjunction with a Genius Hub). This deal will end on Wednesday 30th June so make sure to take advantage of the deal whilst you can, simply enter BOOST-15 at the checkout to claim your discount. For further details on this deal or to discuss a quote please contact our sales team who will be more than happy to help.

The Genius Smart Plug will boost the wireless signal strength from the Genius Hub to the other Genius wireless devices, and because of this stronger communication signal battery life is improved.

Larger properties need a number of Smart Plugs to give rock solid communication to every corner of the home. The Create Your System automatically calculates number required for you.

In addition, Smart Plugs can also be scheduled to turn on and off from the app. This allows you to set them up in your home and use them to control other things, for instance lamps. Each Smart Plug strengthens the wireless network, improving battery life for the battery powered devices too.

The Smart Plugs give you very reliable communication around the property by using self-healing mesh network technology. Self-healing allows for the system to recover when power is lost to devices or they are moved. A mesh network allows for redundancy, so even if a device gets damaged, another can act in its place. The more signal boosting devices you add the more it increases battery life by providing easier lines of communication back to the Genius Hub.

The Range Extender will boost the wireless signal strength from the Genius Hub to other wireless devices, and because of this stronger communication signal battery life is improved. It is wired in place so it cannot be tampered with and uses a neon to show it is powered and working.

Install the Range Extender behind a fused spur (pictured) to ensure it cannot be tampered with. This makes it popular for student housing, guest houses and offices, where maintenance and reliability is of utmost importance. Being wired ensures it is always powered on to always boost the signal to the other devices.

Each Genius Hub system can use a number of Range Extenders to give you rock solid communication around the property using self-healing mesh network technology.

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Welcome to Castrads

Welcome to Castrads

Castrads, established in England, manufactures custom-built, custom-finished radiators as well as controls and fittings that are suitable for hydronic heating systems. Inspired by the past but always looking to the future, their products combine classic form and enduring functionality with the most up-to-date technology.

Founded by Chris Baylis in 2006, Castrads has since been taken over by his sons Nick and Adam Baylis. Nick and Adam have built upon the strong foundations laid by their father.

Adam now runs UK operations while Nick develops Castrads North America in NYC. Beyond the family, Castrads has been built by a team of highly talented and committed individuals, many of whom have been with them for over ten years. They’re passionate about what they do, and they do it well.  No matter what your design needs we are very confident that Castrads have the perfect solution for your home. 

Castrads and Genius Hub work perfectly together because of our bespoke painted Genius Radiator Valves , this device combines flawless design with intelligent efficiency. The Genius Radiator Valve is available in a range of different colours to match the beautiful radiators supplied by Castrads. If you would like to find out more about the colours available please view the Signature Range by Castrads.

Please click here if you would like to learn more about Castrads and Genius Hub.

We spoke to Adam Baylis on his views and experiences of Genius Hub, if you would like to find out more on Adam’s opinions please click here  

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Working from Home with Genius Hub

Working from home

Working from home with Genius Hub

We understand that it’s tough working from home and you are likely to be juggling multiple duties, whether you are working, homeschooling  or maybe both you are likely to be spending more time than ever at home, but this doesn’t mean your heating bills have to suffer. We thought it would be useful to suggest some tips for your Genius Hub system whilst working from home. 

Number one, remember you don’t need to always have the heating on in your entire home, remember to zone your property using Genius Radiator Valve  so rooms you are not heating rooms which aren’t being used during the day such as children’s or spare bedrooms. Zoning rooms within your home will reduce the energy usage of your home as you will not have to constantly heat unnecessary rooms, many customers report savings of 22% off their energy bills and some have reported up to 40% savings. Also remember even if a window is left open in one of your zones our Genius Radiator Valves have an automatic valve shutoff when they sense a window has been left open which will ensure no heat is escaping from your cosy home.

During lockdown you may have converted a room into a home office or you are lucky enough to have a dedicated study in your home, but remember these rooms don’t need to be heated when you aren’t using them. Whether it is your day off from work or you have booked the afternoon off to teach your children algebra you can ensure your office heating isn’t being wasted by installing a Genius Room Sensor. This device will allow you to access Footprint Mode,  the system will schedule the heating automatically so you don’t have to think about when you use the room. The system will learn when you use the room by the occupancy triggers detected from a Room Sensor and build the schedule from these triggers. The system will also react to when the room is used, so if you leave the room early or enter the room outside of the predicted schedule the system will also modify the heating accordingly. Alongside Footprint Mode, you can also access our Sense Mode, in this mode, you can set up a 7-day schedule to control the heating in this zone, in a similar manner to Timer mode. You set up a ‘heating period’ to suit your needs, including start time, end time, temperature, along with whether you want the period to switch on regardless or only when someone is in the zone. 

Just because you are working from home doesn’t also mean you can’t speak to Alexa to ask her to play your favourite song, maybe ask what the weather is like outside but why not try something different? Ask Alexa to boost your heating if it drops a little bit chilly in your office, or when it’s approaching 5 o’clock and the light is drawing in you could ask Alexa to turn on your lamp. These possibilities are made simple with the Genius Hub system, simply connect your Alexa with your Genius Hub system.

Remember you can always add Genius Smart Plugs to your system so you can control devices such as desk lamps or plug in electric heaters. 

As you are at home more than ever you may also want to check your heating history, remember this is easy to track through our mobile app. Just select the zone you want to view, then click the three dots on the right hand side of your screen and choose ‘zone chart’. This will let you view your heating history for that specific zone and change the view from the last hour, last 24 hours, week and month. This makes it simple to view your heating trends for individual zones.

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How to Design your HMO

Large Service HMO
Small Service House

How to design your HMO

Attention to HMO and student landlords! Creating a quote with Genius Hub just got even easier. With our new and improved Create Your System design tool you can now select a preset to base your design from. Then you can make the further amendments to create the perfect design for your HMO property. However, do not fear if you aren’t a landlord we have other presets for you to choose from such as from scratch, three bed, four bed or flat. 

 As a supplier of controls for large properties we understand that when designing a system for your property it can seem to be very repetitive as all of your rooms will have a similar setup. With our new Create Your System tool we wanted to ensure it was as easy and efficient to use so we have added a duplicate button. This means that when adding zones with the same setup they can be easily added with the click of a button.

We have also added our new products to our Create Your System including the all new Electric Relay , Genius Motion Sensor and Powered Room Thermostat. These devices can easily be included into a zone or alternatively added as additional items at the bottom of the Create Your System tool. 

Please remember our technical sales team are always here to answer any questions you have about your proposed design, so please feel free to contact us.

Alternatively please click here to find out more about how the Genius Hub system can control the heating for your HMO/ student property. 

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Home Building and Renovation

David Hilton reviews Genius Hub

We at Genius Hub are delighted to report that we have featured in the well renowned Home Building and Renovation Magazine’s April Release. We would like to thank David Hilton for his review of the Genius Hub system. David was able to install a range of devices as  part of the Genius Hub system to give his feedback on its quality and reliability when it comes to smart heating controls. David is an expert of the smart heating world having had the Honeywell Evohome system installed into his home for many years before upgrading it to Genius Hub in late 2020. Working for the National Self Build and Renovation Centre  David comes across all manor of smart heating systems and have to field customers questions every day, so we are very pleased that he’s now seen the light and swapped his home to be a Genius Hub home. We want to let David do the talking on the Genius Hub system so make sure you subscribe to April’s edition of the Home Building and Renovation Magazine.

April’s Edition of the Home Building and Renovation Magazine is now available via the website where you can purchase a monthly subscription to find out all the greatest tips, news on the market as well as reviews of your favourite products. You can now save 10% when you subscribe to the Home Building and Renovation Magazine, just click here to claim your 10% off.

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Get Ready for our New Release

Get ready for our latest release

Are you ready for the new App and Hub software?

The latest app is now on general release and you need to make sure that your mobile device and Genius Hub’s are up to date. The new app on your phone should be: 5.4.0. You can check this here

See the ‘App release info’. If you’re using a web browser then there is no need to worry about the app as we make sure the web app is always up-to-date.

You ALSO need to upgrade your Genius Hub (this needs to be done in addition to updating the Genius App), you will see a blue (i) icon on the home page of your app when your hub is ready to be upgraded, similar to the image above. Make sure you check this as you won’t benefit from the significant improvements we’ve made to reliability this winter if you don’t upgrade. This update is the result of 12 months of work and testing for our hub team with a lot of the work going into the reliability of the main system processes running on your hubs. The other BIG thing is an improvement to the battery life in your devices (especially the Genius Radiator Valves).

We’re pleased that we can offer updates like this over the air and this improves your system with out any physical intervention in your property for you, but know that this only works if you make sure yourself that you have the latest software running on your hub. Please check it here. Your ‘Hub Info’ needs to read 5.4.7, if not then please upgrade your Genius Hub with the arrow next to ’Check for Hub Updates’. This update will be made available via a phased rollout, so make sure you keep an eye on your app home page for the blue (i) when it’s available for you.

There are some new features in there too, not just stability and communication improvements. If you are the proud owners of our new Powered Room ThermostatsElectric Relays, or Genius Motion Sensors, then you need to make sure you upgrade your Genius Hub to get the full benefit of these new devices.

Other new features include being able to change the frost protect temperature – useful for those who want to be able to shut the system off from the home page ‘power’ icon when they leave the property for extended periods of time during the cold winter months, but also want to be able to customise the temperature that each room shuts down to. 

Other improvements include; bug fixes to the displaying of zone status when in sense mode, correcting the chart axis for on/off zones, improving the Android accessibility font sizes, correcting some of the theme display bugs and fixing some of the links in the app user manual on iOS. We’ve been sure to go through the app trouble shooting wizard too and added in any missing solutions as well as adding in all of the required support for the new devices we’ve released this autumn.

Finally, don’t forget that in this app we’ve built help videos into the app doctor too. When you’re in the app doctor you will see videos stepping you through the process, from helping you to add new devices to your Genius Hub to helping you remove a stubborn Genius Radiator Valve from a radiator.

As always we’re not stopping there and for a full list of what we’re working on short and long term please see our R&D Roadmap and our Change Log.

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Future of heating with Genius Hub

Jigsaw 4

The future of heating with Genius Hub

We’re reflecting on how you will be heating your homes in the future.

Many of you will have noticed the Genius Hub push in the summer of 2020 to release more components that control electric heating. This is because we see a big shift in building control and the government legislation to promote the installation of electric heating over gas central heating.

Preempting this shift into more electric heating in properties, we have recently been developing and releasing more products in the Genius Hub family that control electric heating. These include our all new Powered Room Thermostat and our all new Electric Relays.

The Powered Room Thermostat will give control of anything from electric underfloor heating, to electric space heating, to electric Infrared panels.

This new Powered Room Thermostat can control up to (3.6 kW, about 20 square meters) of electric underfloor heating, and can protect the floor from overheating with its integrated floor probe connection. The Powered Room Thermostat can also be used to control wet underfloor heating for sensitive floor coverings such as engineered wood, vinyl or a laminate floor.

This is a versatile device as it can also be used to control electric space heaters as well as infrared panels. With its built in PID control it is an easy to use device that you can either walk up to on the wall to adjust the temperature in the room (if you don’t want to use the app), or you can pull out the app and give the heating a boost from anywhere.

Not stopping there we also released our new Electric Relay. This is something that can be used to control an electrical load (2.4 kW), and has been designed for controlling electric heaters, so it’s ideal for things like Infrared heating panels or Infrared heated mirrors to take the chill out of your bathrooms. It doesn’t stop there though; you can also use them for heated towel rails, small electric space heaters, kick space heaters, or even outside lights. This is the perfect solution where you want something that you can tuck out of the way as they come with a single surface mount pattress (similar to a single light switch) and blank faceplate.

For the heating of your homes we have teamed up with the UK manufacturer Jigsaw Infrared. They have a new range of beautiful custom infrared heaters which work very well with Genius Hub controls as well as providing an attractive heating solution for any room. 

We are proud to be working with Jigsaw as their panels are manufactured in Britain (Yorkshire to be more precise) and they conform to the highest manufacturing and safety standards. This range of very high quality, high efficiency heaters is an excellent choice when it comes to heating either a whole house or perhaps just an extra room in a new extension. Working from home in the shed at the bottom of the garden… this could be just the ticket to stop those frozen hands tapping on that keyboard.

Being made in the UK means you can also get custom panels faster, be that an infrared mirror to exactly match the wall in your bathroom, or an image printed onto an infrared panel with no reduction in heat output, which can be a problem for companies applying images after the manufacturing process.

 

Get in touch with Jigsaw directly for any of your Infrared heating needs, and they will be happy to ensure you choose the right heater for your home which will also work with your Genius Hub.

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Stocking fillers from Genius Hub

Stocking fillers from Genius Hub

The most wonderful time of the year is upon us and its the perfect time to exchange gifts with family and friends. We at Genius Hub have some excellent products which are perfect for a stocking filler this Christmas.  

The first Genius Hub product perfect for this Christmas is the Genius Room Sensor. This device is an excellent addition to a Genius Hub system as it allows the user to access the Sense and Footprint modes within the app, which are based upon Occupancy Detection. The Genius Room Sensor accurately measures the temperature in a room, plus it can sense when you use a room, to pre-heat that room to your preferred temperature when you are there and automatically save energy when you are not. You could even use the Genius Room Sensor to turn on your Christmas Tree lights. This product is the perfect size for a stocking filler and can easily be installed without any tools, so there’s no need to purchase a tool kit this Christmas.

Top view of Genius Motion Sensor

The next Genius Hub product which is perfect for a stocking filler this Christmas is the Genius Motion Sensor. Similar to the Genius Room Sensor this product will detect occupancy within the zone you place it into, however the Genius Motion Sensor is more discreet as it has the capability to be placed in the top corner of a room,  this provides excellent occupancy detection capabilities due to the Wide Angle of coverage. This Christmas there will be no need to schedule your radiators from your smartphone, allowing you to join in the festivities as much as possible. This is possible due to our Footprint mode or Sense mode. Adding a Genius Motion Sensor (or Genius Room Sensor) to a room where you’ve installed a Genius Radiator Valve or using Genius Hub to control your electric or underfloor heating, enables the system to learn when you normally use the room and automatically heat it ready for your arrival while also turning down your heating when you leave.