New data shows UK smart thermostat users have saved millions on their energy bills

If you’ve been considering making the switch to the best smart thermostat, new data collected by Hive could be all the persuading you need. New data has shown that over the past decade, Hive customers have collectively saved almost £325 million on their energy bills and saved over 1 million tons of carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere.

For those new to Hive, it’s a smart home company that designs and manufactures smart thermostats, smart lighting, EV chargers, sensors, smart plugs and connectivity. As part of British Gas, Hive’s thermostats have become popular smart devices in most homes around the UK that allow for better control over their heating and cooling.

To see how effective its smart thermostats (like the Hive Thermostat Mini) have been since the company’s launch in 2013, Hive collected 10 years worth of data that suggests a huge shift in the public’s attitude towards smart homes and climate change. 

With over two million thermostat users, key statistics from the data shows that Hive customers have saved £325 million on energy bills over the past 10 years. Looking at the energy-saving side, customers have saved enough carbon to power 366,483 homes a year, drive four million miles and charge 380 billion smartphones.

After collecting this data in celebration of Hive’s 10 year anniversary, the team decided to look into the shift in attitude towards smart thermostats. The experts realised that 87% of people were concerned about climate change and the impact human behaviour had on the environment. This, coupled with the cost of living crisis, saw a significant increase in the adoption of smart home devices.

Other factors that have seen more and more people switch to smart thermostats is extreme weather, mainly following big storms in 2014 and 2018. With weather becoming more unpredictable, people became more concerned about the amount of energy they were using. During 2020 when most people had to work from home, smart thermostats and devices saw a significant increase as lighting and heating was being used more regularly as everyone was spending time indoors.

Hive looked further into the data and found that with sustainability and the cost of living in mind, more people were focused on future proofing their homes. In a recent survey, Hive found that 47% of Brits said they made changes to their homes to make it greener, including 37% installing smart metres, 34% choosing smart lighting and other main changes like roof insulation and water metres.

After reviewing this data, the Hive team gave their predictions for what the future could look like. Futurist, Dan Sodegren commented “smart thermostats represent an easy, accessible gateway for Brits to contribute towards becoming Net Zero… In the next decade, smart thermostats hold tremendous potential to catalyse environmental transformations. Their wider adoption can substantially reduce carbon emissions… These devices not only optimise energy but align with the shift towards smart homes, steering us towards a future of living that's sustainable, digitally integrated, and efficient."

While Hive is committed to technology like its Hive Heating Plus subscription which monitors how much customers spend on heating, British Gas has started to turn off Hive smart devices. The recent discontinuation of the Hive Nano 1 Hub, Hive Camera and Hive Leak Sensor is the first round of scraps and Hive is set to pull the plug on other devices in 2025. 

Hive has stated its only turning off its smart security devices so its ethos towards saving money and energy with its smart thermostats still ring true. If we could put forward our own predictions, we wouldn’t be surprised to see more smart energy products coming from Hive… or at least we’re hoping to see some new devices in the future!