Best smart radiator valves tried and tested: From Drayton, Hive and more

Jul 19, 2023

If you’re looking for ways to reduce your fuel bill long term, going smart could be the answer

smart radiator valve (SRV)? What, it went to uni? Got a Masters? No, not that kind of smarts. It just means you can control the radiators in every room of your home individually through an app on your phone, anytime and anywhere.

Even if you have the oldest sort of radiator valves, the ones you turn manually that have little numbers on them that go from ‘Off’ up to ‘Max’, you can turn up and down the heat without having to crouch down and fiddle about. Just open the app, select the room and decide whether to power up and how hot you want it to be. It makes life simple and cost effective if you know, for instance, you’re only going to be in one room working from home all day, or that you want to get the bedroom cosy before you head up for the night.

However, there are a few things you need to have and need to know before you jump on the smart conveyer belt.

You’ll need a connecting device to go into your modem so your mobile phone can communicate with the smart valves. However, if you already have a smart thermostat, then you probably already have one of these installed. If not, SRVs usually come with one.

Yes. You don’t need a specially trained engineer. Just take off the old one, put an adaptor on the SRV if it needs one (again, they usually come with these or else check you’re buying one that will be the right size), pop batteries into the SRV (you’ll want AAs) and put the new valve on. Hey presto.

Here’s our pick of the bunch

Best for: An easy, effective way to get on the smart radiator valve bandwagon

Easy to install – there are simple step-by-step instructions online – and compatible with most radiators., Tado is one of the leaders in the smart home market. The brand claims you can save an average of £294 annually, or 22 per cent, by using its smart radiator valves, but this is probably only the case if you were profligate with your heating in the past.

However, Tado’s Energy IQ feature in the app does allow you to get fuel-cost predictions each month, compare the cost with previous months, as well as previous years (which might make grim reading), and you can see how you use energy, which could help you to cut back.

Other cool features include automatically turning the heating off when no one’s home, open-window detection, weather adaptation and smart schedules so heating is never used unnecessarily. Finally, a big bonus, Tado smart valves will fit 95 per cent of radiators.

Price for a three pack.

Best for: Larger homes

To get you started, Wiser – which makes the Drayton range of smart radiator valves – recommends you get its Multizone Kit 1. This comes with everything you need to set up with its smart heating system and convert two rooms to smart heating, You can then add more smart radiator valves – or smart room thermostats, as Wiser calls them – until your whole home is smart. You can also simply buy one of its smart radiator valves (£40).

It’s compatible with Google Home and Alexa (“Alexa, turn the heat to 21 in the living room”) and can be affixed to 90 per cent of radiators (or you can use its adaptors, which come with the kit), but you do need the Wiser heating system to make it work through the internet. Once set up, though, it can control up to 16 rooms.

Best for: If you’re on a budget

At the lower end of the price point for a smart radiator valve, you can get two for half the price of just one of most of the other brands. Like the others, these allow for individual room temperature control, will work with Alexa and Google Assistant, and you can set them to come on at certain times and at particular temperatures. While these smart radiator valves will do the job at a great price – in fact, if you buy multi-packs the price gets even better – you do need a bit of patience to set up the app.

Best for: Easy to install

This six-pack of smart radiator valves are voice (through Alexa and Google Assistant) controlled, as well as remotely through the app on your smartphone. You can set up weekly schedules so, for instance, you can have the heating turned off if you’re out all day at work Monday to Friday, but turn up the heat during the weekend days.

They also have open-window detection, so it will automatically turn off the heat in that room. They’re easy to install, will fit most radiators and run on two AA batteries (not included). Of all the smart radiator valves we looked at, this one was the most pleasing to the eye, so if you care about design details, that might sway you.

Best for: Those who relish quiet

While some smart radiator valve make a bit of a sound when they do their thing, the Hive ones are pretty quiet. They also have a wide temperature range – 0° to 40°C – while most top out at 30°C. Like most of the other brands mentioned here, they are both voice (through Alexa and Google Home) and remote controlled through an app on your smartphone.

You can programme it for seven days, will work with any sort of boiler, and need those two AA batteries to get going. It needs a Hive smart hub to work (sold separately), but is an easy system to install and get up and running.

Best for: If you prerfer a trusted brand

What sets this smart radiator valve apart from the herd is both the trusted brand name – it’s a well-known, long-standing one – and the display, which shows the temperature, battery power and other useful info. It comes with adapters in case your radiator fitting isn’t instantly compatible, brackets to hold it in place and batteries, which have a long two-year life.

It has up to six daily programmable settings, is voice (through Alexa and Google Home) and remote controlled. Features include open-window detection, so it will shut off If the temperature drops suddenly and it’s compatible with any boiler. It works through the EvoHome thermostat controller (sold separately).

Price for 4.

Best for: When you want to buy British

If you like the idea of buying British, these smart radiator valves will be your go-to as they’re made by a medium-sized company based in the UK. The valve comes with a variety of adapters to make sure it will fit just about any radiator out there and the Zigbee Gateway is included, which will let you get going straight away through Alexa, Google Home or your smartphone. It’s available in white or anthracite, so you can match it to your decor and, once you’ve bought this starter kit, you can buy additional Sandy Beach smart radiator valves on their own, without the Zigbee Gateway, to smarten up (Geddit?) your whole home.

Best for: The non-tech savvy

Another smart radiator valve that will work off the Zigbee Gateway, so if you already have this you’re on to a winning combo. It comes with adapters, so you can fit it to almost any radiator and, unusually, an actual manual (most are online). It’s voice (through Alexa and Google Home) and smartphone app controlled, runs on two AA batteries (not included) and is easy to install. In fact, that’s its USP. They come at the lower end of the price range for smart radiator valves, so make a good choice if this is your first foray into the smart world.