As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly reduce heating costs with smart home automation.

What to actually do

1. Hand it to a person

   The route this page recommends

   A person who owns the outcome does this end to end, worth it when the failure is dear.

2. Use a tool built for this

   Second choice

3. Do it yourself

   The distant third

   A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

   How to actually do it

   1. Open your heating app, thermostat instructions and smart-home platform, then record the make and model of the boiler, thermostat, hub, radiator controls and any sensors.
   2. Gather a recent energy bill, your tariff details, typical occupancy times, rooms that need to remain warm and any known cold spots or draughts.
   3. Paste those details into the prompt and ask the chatbot to separate no-cost schedule changes from changes requiring compatible equipment.
   4. Compare the proposed rules with the thermostat and platform instructions, removing any action that the documented equipment cannot perform.
   5. Create the agreed schedules and presence rules in your existing heating app, changing one group of settings at a time so you can undo a problem.
   6. Check the next bills or meter readings against comparable periods while recording unusual cold weather, guests, working from home and other changes.
   7. Ask the chatbot to interpret the comparison only after you paste the observed readings, and use a qualified heating or electrical professional for any boiler, wiring or safety-control work.

   Prompt

   Help me design a safe, low-cost smart heating plan for my UK home. Do not assume compatibility and do not tell me to alter gas, electrical or boiler safety controls myself.
   
   My heating system and controls:
   - Boiler or heat source: [describe it]
   - Thermostat or smart thermostat: [make and model, if known]
   - Heating zones: [describe them]
   - Thermostatic radiator valves or other room controls: [describe them]
   - Existing smart-home platform and devices: [list them]
   - Broadband or hub limitations: [describe them]
   
   My home and routine:
   - Occupants and usual presence: [describe it]
   - Rooms that must stay warm: [describe them]
   - Usual heating times: [describe them]
   - Rooms that can be cooler: [describe them]
   - Known draughts, insulation or cold spots: [describe them]
   
   My energy information:
   - Tariff type and unit rates: [paste current details]
   - Recent heating or energy bills: [paste relevant figures]
   - Meter type: [describe it]
   
   Give me a practical plan in this order:
   1. List the information that is missing and explain why each item matters.
   2. Separate actions that need no new equipment from actions that need compatible hardware.
   3. Propose a heating schedule and room-by-room rules based only on the information supplied.
   4. Explain how to implement each rule in my named platform, or say that I need the manufacturer instructions.
   5. Identify any rule that could waste energy, cause discomfort or conflict with another rule.
   6. Give me a simple way to compare energy use before and after the changes without claiming a saving that the evidence cannot prove.
   7. Mark anything that needs a qualified heating or electrical professional.
   Do not invent prices, savings, device compatibility or technical specifications.

   Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.