Bristol Energy have been working with Energy Systems Catapult to become the first energy supplier in the UK to trial selling ‘heat as a service’, rather than kilowatt hours (kWh).
Bristol Energy first UK supplier to trial ‘heat as a service’
Currently energy suppliers in the UK can only sell energy to customers in strict units known as kilowatt hours (kWh). But a government-backed trial is offering households the chance to buy a Heat Plan tailored to their individual home and lifestyle.
Capitalising on digitalisation and emerging smart home technology, heat as a service provides consumers with improved control over their heating, making it easier for them to identify where they are wasting heat.
Crucially, it also gives consumers the ability to determine and pay for different levels of warmth and comfort depending on their lifestyle, through smart technology.
Catapault living lab
Energy Systems Catapault (ESC) have been running detailed trials over the past two years with residents in a ‘Living Lab’ of 100 homes spread across the UK. Each property has been upgraded to smart home levels that are predicted to be common by the middle of the 2020s, with sensors providing room-by-room temperature control linked to a digital platform.
In a first of its kind trial, running this winter and over the next 12 months, households in Catapult’s Living Lab will be offered the chance to switch to a newly-designed Heat Plan by Bristol Energy.
Everything we do at Bristol Energy is founded in social purpose. The heat plan trial in collaboration with Energy Systems Catapult is an important step in our journey to creating energy products which are fairly priced for everyone, support sustainable energy supply and the decarbonisation of our homes and businesses. By testing heat as a service, we can truly understand what our customers need, rather than just giving them what we think they want.
-Samantha Nicol, Head of Innovation and Marketing at Bristol Energy
Bristol Energy will be continuing to trial and evolve the product before bringing it to market later in 2019. This is an exciting product development that is the first step in revolutionising heating our homes.