Countless sci-fi films have painted a vivid picture of the automated home; lights, window blinds and music responding seamlessly as the hero returns home to his futuristic bachelor pad.  But for those of us who aren’t millionaires, this dream has remained elusive: even the most ‘affordable’ systems can easily run into thousands of pounds.  But there’s one category of home automation technology that’s better than affordable, or even free – you could easily be quids-in!

What, somebody’s going to pay you to install a fancy home cinema and pipe music into every room of your home?  Not quite.  But smart heating control systems not only make your life more convenient by allowing you to control your heating from anywhere (even from bed), it can save so much on your energy bills that the technology can typically pay for itself in a year or two – and save thousands in its lifetime.

They all allow you to schedule your heating so it’s off when the house is empty, and the best systems save more by switching off individual rooms when you’re not there.  Heat Genius even goes one step further and uses motion sensors to automatically schedule your heating, so you don’t have to do a thing.