A large proportion of carbon emissions come from socially rented houses and apartments/flats, which is why Switchee exists: to reduce energy consumption and operating costs for residents and landlords alike. The company enables social housing providers to make big changes and hit challenging financial and environmental targets with real-time, remote data analytics.

The Switchee solution consists of a smart thermostat with multiple sensors that is connected to a remote analytics platform delivering property insights and an interface for residents and landlords to improve communication and appointment scheduling. Switchee uses the 1NCE IoT Lifetime Flat to connect their smart thermostats independently with local Wi-Fi via the cellular network.

Background

With a Switchee Smart Thermostat installed, residents optimize energy use, reduce consumption and lower heating bills by up to 17% – in the process, future-proofing their homes and putting them on the way to having Net Zero emissions. A personalized platform identifies condensation, dampness and mould risk, and homes that meet the standard for “fuel poverty” – when households cannot afford to maintain livable temperatures at a reasonable cost. Switchee partners with more than 100 housing providers as a 3rd party heating control system that can used with any type of home environmental type, from combi gas boilers to air and ground source heat pump technology. Currently the company has more than 15,000 operational devices in use, mainly in the UK.

Challenge

One of the main challenges of the Switchee System is to securely transfer the collected data independently from locally available networks to the cloud platform. The system is designed to reduce costs and help landlords avoid the difficult resources and costs needed to setup and maintain their own individual network infrastructure. Switchee needs to be scalable and easy to implement in any environment.

1NCE Solution

1NCE offers global connectivity and software services via cellular networks at a flat rate, with costs tailored to meet the specific demands of the project’s devices and served by a one-time payment that usually lasts over the lifetime of a device. This allows device developers to calculate the costs for connectivity into their devices without uncertainty down the road. Regardless of the wireless network – 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE or NB-IoT – 1NCE globally supports all mobile technologies to meet the individual demands of its customers’ solutions. Connectivity no longer adds ongoing operating expenses but is instead included in the startup costs for one fee.