Even penguins enjoy keeping cozy thanks to smart heating in the kindergarten
The parent-run initiative Karl & Liesl e.V. was founded in 2010 in Munich’s Untergiesing district. It has since expanded to run a nursery, a kindergarten and an after-school club for around 100 children.
A parent-run initiative like ours consumes a great deal of time and effort, plus we need to keep a constant eye on our operating costs. However, as we don’t just want to save money, but also lighten the load on our staff and the environment, we’ve recently started using smart radiator valves to intelligently control the indoor temperature according to our facilities’ actual needs. In this post we share the lessons we’ve learned.
Customized heating to suit different needs
Toddlers attend our day nursery, where rooms are spread over two floors in the old building. These rooms need to be warm by 8 am, and the bathrooms must be at a suitable temperature for diaper changing.
By contrast, the rooms we use for our after-school club can stay cooler until the start of homework supervision at 11 am. Meanwhile, our kindergarten kids enjoy a constant temperature, as they sometimes spend the whole day in their group room during colder times of the year.
None of our facilities are in use after 5 pm, so we lower the temperature in the evenings as well as on the weekends and when we’re closed – which is also good for the environment.
The Eve app provides guidance – and even more can be achieved with a few helpful tips
Our installation requirements are straightforward: A Wi-Fi network, an iPhone with the Eve and Home apps on it and an Apple TV device or a HomePod for remote access. Nimble fingers to remove the old radiator valves and fit the new smart ones also come in handy. Each smart valve comes with batteries, various adapters and a compatible mounting screw.
The QR code that needs to be scanned into the Eve app is also included on a small card for reference (here’s a helpful tip: Jot down the name of the room and the location of the radiator in case you need to reset an accessory and set it up again, such as “Office, right side”). One really important thing is that you should only use iOS devices with the same Apple ID when setting up everything for the first time. You can then grant access to other users afterwards.
Scheduled heating patterns
If you opt for the remote-control convenience with HomePod mini, HomePod or Apple TV as a home hub, you’ll be just as impressed as we were, once everything’s up and running. With Apple ID authentication and remote access via iCloud and Apple TV, the smart radiator valves can be controlled in groups from anywhere. Then, all it takes to allow other family members, or in our case specific team members, to control the radiators is to send an invite via the Home app.
What we really like is the smart use of schedules. We’ve set different heating patterns for our regular working days, vacation care in the after-school club and for when our facilities are closed – and we can populate everything via a dedicated calendar in our iOS device. As an example, all our radiators stop heating at 5 pm, on weekends, on public holidays and when we’re otherwise closed. It’s simply ingenious! And best of all, as there’s never any let up in our workload. Eve Thermo can finally relieve us of certain tasks – which takes a load off our mind, is great for the initiative’s coffers and good for the environment. Thanks, Eve!
Requires iPhone or iPad with the latest version of iOS/iPadOS
Requires iOS/iPadOS 16.4 (or later) / Android™ 8.1 (or later), Matter controller / Thread Border Router
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