Category: case-studies
Simon Healy, Homeowner in Belfast
The Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club, Cultra
Fitting a Genius Hub system in Peter Herold’s home in March 2021.
Gaia Smart Energy fitted a Genius Hub system in Peter Herold’s home in March 2021. Peter was so impressed with the system that he decided to also have it installed in his busy veterinary surgery, Cornerstone Vets, soon afterwards.
The veterinary surgery demonstrates the full breadth of what the Genius Hub system is capable of: it controls the Daikin Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR), extract fans, ventilation fans, electric heaters, hot water cylinder and wet radiators. This will provide optimum comfort and energy savings.
Gaia installed the system within 4 days.
We were able to work around a busy veterinary surgery, and the complex nature of all the equipment being controlled, with minimal disruption to the day-to-day operations of the surgery.
Before the Genius Hub was installed, I controlled the temperature just by manually opening and closing each of the valves on the radiators in each room. Sometimes I would forget and leave a room on, wasting energy. I also have lots of staff who are too busy to remember to turn off the heating when it is not needed.
The main consideration was really the ease of control of the temperature, via an app on the mobile phone.
I can control the temperature even if I am not in the property, and I can very much fine-tune the temperature on recurring schedules. Having installed Genius Hub in both my home and my business, I find this very beneficial both in work and at home. So for instance, I can ensure that the staffroom is warm at lunchtime.
When Genius Hub was fitted to my home, I knew very quickly that it would be ideal for my Veterinary practice. When the Gaia engineer came out to survey the building I was surprised to find that I could control all of the electric heating, air conditioning and ventilation fans etc. as well as the radiators.
Yes, I have saved significant money on both gas and electric energy bills. Like a lot of people nowadays, I want to avoid wasting energy.
I find the system very user friendly. If I’m not at the practice, my staff can control each individual room but the system can never run beyond closing time due to the way it’s set up, so I don’t need to worry about it being left on all weekend.
Joe was a pleasure to work with. He attended to any small problems which popped up in a friendly and confident manner.
A property built around 1885 in East Belfast
Simon Healy lives in a 3 storey semi-detached Victorian building in a leafy part of East Belfast. It is a single brick construction with top floor dormer type ceilings. His heating system consisted of an oil-fired boiler and 25 radiators, and was almost 40 years old at the time of having Genius Hub installed.
Some minimal energy-saving features were in place already. The ground floor was insulated with Icynene insulating spray foam and some (but not all) windows were either double or secondary glazed.
How did you control your heating before installing Genius Hub?
Simon explains why introducing a zoned system using Genius Hub was an essential step in improving the heating system in his home. In particular, he had never previously been able to adequately heat his top floor, but the new system allowed him to get sufficient heat up to the top floor for the first time.
The heating system had been installed in 1985. The oil-fired condensing boiler heated 25 Radiators, all controlled by thermostatic radiator valves (TRV’s) and a pressurised hot water system through a dual time-switch for central heating and hot water.
I basically had an all-on/all-off timer with no zones, except a separate flow to heat water which returned to the boiler via the heating return flow and thus bled return hot water into the radiator system even when heating was off.
When the heating was on, the three radiators on the top floor never reached a temperature other than lukewarm. This was due to the fact that (being three storeys) the demand on the whole system when on, was too much for water of any reasonable temperature/pressure to reach the top floor rads.
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Simon explains why introducing a zoned system using Genius Hub was an essential step in improving the heating system in his home. In particular, he had never previously been able to adequately heat his top floor, but the new system allowed him to get sufficient heat up to the top floor for the first time. After much research, Simon found that the Genius system was the most cost-effective way to achieve significant energy savings in his home.
Redesigning and installing a new heating system, which had been installed in 1985, would have involved enormous expense in re-piping and zoning.
Since the radiators were all approaching 40 years old, replacing them would have been an enormous job, never mind the building work involved.
Another consideration was the cost of a longer term investment in making the building more thermally efficient overall.
The Genius System offers the full control of the system down to each individual radiator, keeps the whole house at a minimum temperature at all times and heats only the rooms/ areas that are required at that time. When I considered the best option, it therefore followed that there must be considerable savings as against the original system I described above.”
“Having looked at a few of the other smart control systems on the market, most of them were only able to supply a limited amount of radiator valves without having to connect a second controller. The Genius System could cope with the number of rads I have and a few more if required.
I found that the reading material for Genius Hub was very comprehensive, and talking to Gaia representatives and indeed Genius Hub themselves clarified all my questions.”
Most notably, the full control it gives us– day and night. We visit family abroad and would prefer not to have to leave the boiler/ hot water on, even at low temperatures. The Genius system can either be turned off completely with the automatic frost protection set at 4 degrees (the Genius radiator valves will exercise themselves at regular intervals thus avoiding jammed pin valves), or left running in selected rooms at a low temperature, say 15 degrees.
Secondly, we have also fitted motion sensors (the Smart Occupancy Detection feature) in some rooms, and this gives us added control and functionality.
Thirdly, the remote control of every aspect of the system can be monitored/ controlled from anywhere!
Fourthly, the Genius Telephone/ Email Support works well– they can monitor your whole system remotely.
Even before the cost of energy rocketed in recent months, I have calculated that the Genius System has reduced my oil consumption from 3 fills of oil a year to 2.
The installation was quick and remarkably tidy, with little or no mess. It was a two-day job. In that time, the system was drained down, new radiator valve bodies were fitted to accommodate the Genius smart radiator valves, and the Genius controls system was fitted and commissioned.
There was an initial learning curve, where I had to get accustomed to the terminology. Above all, I had to adjust my preconceived ideas on central heating (having spent my career going from totally analogue to totally digital systems, I am still somewhat digitally challenged). I have found the system very flexible and easy to use. It just looks after itself.
I found dealing with Gaia pleasant and reassuring. Not having had any experience with a smart-controlled central heating system, I was concerned about whether I had made the right decision. Joe dealt with my queries and questions with patience.
The installation was quick and remarkably tidy, with little or no mess.
The response to my various questions etc. during the initial period after installation and, indeed, subsequently were promptly dealt with. The telephone/ email support from Genius directly is easy to use and helpful – they can look at your system remotely and usually see what is going on.
I have asked Joe to come once a year to inspect and check the system, change batteries etc. After his last visit to do this, I haven’t had to see him since!
Simon Healy
The Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club is one of the largest Sailing Clubs in Northern Ireland with around 1,000 members
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Our heating system before didn’t allow for much control– it was separated into 3 zones to heat different areas of the Clubhouse, but this was ineffective and led to areas being heated that weren’t being used on a daily basis. The control system was in the bar and could be accessed by everyone, and this didn’t allow it to be managed effectively.
We needed to upgrade our boiler and wanted a more cost effective, efficient and environmentally friendly way to manage zoning the heating, so that only rooms that are being used are being heated.
We wanted it to be controlled by management only. We also wanted to be able to plan a week in advance what heat was needed, and when to be most efficient. It needed to be simple and easy to use, and remotely operable if required.
The detailed proposal and demonstration of the product provided the answers to all of our issues with the heating, and allowed us to control the heating room by room, both remotely and on site.
It allowed us to limit access to those who needed it, and also gave an option for a 1 hour local override of the controls at the radiators if required.
It is easy to use and you can plan a week in advance for heating various rooms that are only used occasionally. It is more efficient and means we only have heating where and when we need it, so there is less wastage and it is friendlier to the environment.
Our energy consumption has dropped significantly since installing the Genius system and upgrading the boiler. This reduction has been crucial for our business in the current climate of rising gas prices.
It is extremely easy to manage, both through the PC and through the app on our phones. Zones can be updated and amended in seconds.
The service that Gaia has provided has been excellent. The after sales support has also been excellent in helping make sure that the system is fully functional and working to the best of its ability.
