Heat pump manufacturer Daikin has partnered with smart home tech expert Hive to bring heat pump control to the Hive app.
Daikin’s ‘Altherma 3’ heat pumps will be brought into Hive’s energy management ecosystem, which boasts around two million customers who can control their heat pumps from the Hive app.
This includes personalised heating schedules and energy spending tracking, as well as optimising customer heat pumps to be used when low grid demand offers access to cheaper and greener electricity.
The two companies will launch the integration as part of a trial later this year and roll out the system once the trial is complete.
Gail Parker, low-carbon homes director – heat pumps at Hive, said: “Domestic heating is one of the largest emitters of carbon in the UK and will require collaboration to address this challenge. As we integrate Daikin heat pumps with our market-leading Hive technology, we are making electric heating affordable and simple by giving them the visibility they need to control their heat pump and energy usage.
“As we work towards heat pumps joining the Hive ecosystem of well-loved products, we’re providing customers with a simple way to see and manage all their devices in one easy-to-use app.”
Boosting the reach of heat pumps
This is not the first time Daikin has worked to address the issues holding back the wider use of home heat pumps. While this new partnership with Hive seeks to boost the appeal of heat pumps by making them easier for users to control, the company has also launched other schemes aiming to close the skills gap in the space.
In July 2023, Daikin UK joined forces with Quantum Group to create bespoke training facilities at 150 further education colleges across the UK to enable more heat pump engineers to be trained.
More recently, the firm announced plans to upskill 50 heating and plumbing tutors at nine colleges in Greater Manchester, enabling them to train the next generation of engineers in the installation of low-carbon heating.
Meanwhile, Hive and British Gas, both owned by Centrica, will soon be launching a heat pump-specific energy tariff to reduce running costs and incentivise the installation of heat pumps throughout the UK.
