Current Situation

In my flat the heating is controlled by an analogue dial that controls the temperature that the boiler turns on and off at. The only means of controlling the time is vial a dial on the boiler itself. This is very inaccurate and also inefficient as there is no scope for changing the heating times on a per-day basis. This all combines together to mean that the central heating costs a lot more than it should and has a larger impact on the environment that is necessary. 

See below for the dial thermostat that currently controls my flat heating.

 What to do About it

I decided that a fun (and valuable) project would be to overhaul the heating control system within my flat, the barrier to making it worthwhile was very low, after all. 

I could, of course, have shelled out £200 for a full Nest-style system, however as an engineer that's no fun. Home grown it was. 

Nest thermostat... total waste of money ;)

Project Aims

Once this project is complete I hope to have a fully functional control system for my flat's heating. It won't just be a prototype, I plan to actually put it to use. Due to this, there were a few goals that the project had to reach:

- Control the heating more accurately and efficiently than the current system

- Be retrofittable to the current setup, so I am able to get my damage deposit back when I move out. 

- Cost less than an off the shelf model (hopefully a lot less!)

With these in mind, I set about looking at possible solutions and ideas that I could incorporate into my design.... TO GOOGLE!.....