This smart AC controller is a must-have if your air conditioner is lacking

When it comes to keeping cool during the summer, most people turn to the best fans in an effort to manage the humidity. But, while fans can offer heat relief during the hotter months, they actually work to draw heat away from you by circulating the air around you, rather than pumping out cold air like the best portable air conditioners do.

Air conditioning isn’t massively common in the UK, but long gone are the days that AC units were just for offices and shopping centres. The latest air conditioners are designed for the home and most of them come with built-in smart features so you can control them via your smartphone or voice commands. While this is incredibly beneficial for your indoor cooling and comfort, they can come with a pretty big price tag.

If your air conditioner isn’t ‘smart’ or you feel it’s not performing as well as you’d like it to, you can fix that problem by investing in a smart AC controller. Compared to smart air conditioners that connect to your Wi-Fi to unlock a plethora of smart features, smart AC controllers are external devices that pair with your current AC unit and use Wi-Fi to control and communicate with it via its infrared signals.

Smart AC controllers act as an upgrade to your AC’s remote and offer better and more personalised cooling and commands. Essentially, what this means is that you don’t need to replace your existing air conditioner but instead, you can use a smart AC controller to add smart features to your current unit.

There are a few smart AC controllers on the market from the likes of Tado and Sensibo, but a new release from 2023 is the Netatmo Smart AC Controller. Netatmo has been providing smart heating solutions for the home since 2011 and offers a range of smart products including indoor and outdoor cameras, smart thermostats and weather stations.

The brands’ latest release, the Netatmo Smart AC Controller allows users to control their air conditioner or air-to-air heat pump at any time, to boost the comfort in the home and reduce energy usage. Whether your AC unit is fixed or mobile, the Netatmo Smart AC Controller is compatible with all air conditioners that use an infrared remote control with a screen that displays its settings. You can check if your AC is compatible using Netatmo’s energy products compatibility tool.

It uses omnidirectional infrared technology which enables users to install the Netatmo Smart AC Controller anywhere in a room and connect it to their AC easily and without any professional installation. It only takes a few minutes to configure and once it’s plugged in near your air conditioner, you can mount it on the wall or place it on your furniture.

Once the Netatmo Smart AC Controller is connected, it allows you to customise and control the temperature in your home and offers temperature and comfort analysis. Similar to the best smart thermostats and smart ACs, the Netatmo Smart AC Controller can create cooling and heating schedules and you can adjust the temperature via the Home + Control app on your phone. It can also be turned off or on remotely, and it’s compatible with voice assistants like Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri.

Tailoring your AC with the Netatmo Smart AC Controller helps reduce energy consumption, resulting in cheaper monthly bills. Not only can you set up schedules tailored to your routine or time of day, but the Netatmo Smart AC Controller also has Eco-Assist, a built-in geolocation function that shuts off devices when you leave the house.

For ‘non-smart’ air conditioners that are in desperate need of an upgrade, a smart AC controller is a clever way to do this, and it saves you a ton of money rather than having to replace your entire existing unit. The Netatmo Smart AC Controller is available for £99.99 on the Netatmo website or select retailers like Amazon and B&Q.