Two housing companies located in Helsinki are saving money on underfloor heating with Themo's Energy Saving Service. The decision was easy for the boards of the housing companies, as the company is responsible for the cost of underfloor heating, and the savings provided by the service always exceed its price – and Themo will continue to handle the entire process in the future as well.
The Desiro and Rocket housing companies are the owners of two adjacent five-story buildings completed in 2008 and 2009. The housing companies share common facilities and cooperate on matters pertaining to energy consumption, among other things. The housing companies are also discussing a merger that would take place in 2023, says Erno Simonen, a member of the Board at Rocket.
Quick and easy way for housing companies to save energy and money
One of the development projects aimed at reducing the consumption energy carried out by the Board of Desiro and Rocket concerned the optimization of underfloor heating. The fact is that underfloor heating consumes more energy at housing companies than the lighting used in the common facilities and the elevators.
The Boards looked at different options for a year before making the decision. The Themo Energy Saving Service is in practice the only solution that is available as an easy and risk-free turn-key package and allows for price optimization based on exchange electricity. The housing companies are currently on fixed-price electricity contracts but may in the future switch to exchange electricity.
“We calculated that the 50% reduction in the consumption of electricity by underfloor heating could allow us to save 10–20% on our electricity bills. We intend to use the money we save on our other development projects. The option for price optimization based on exchange electricity was also a pleasant surprise.”
Erno Simonen, member of the Housing Company Board at Rocket
The Housing Company Boards of Desiro and Rocket believe that they are tasked with developing the company further and constantly seeking new solutions that could be used to ensure the comfort of living comfort but also the economic stability of the housing company and the maintenance of the property value. If the housing companies were not engaged in development projects that require money, the savings achieved could reduce the pressure to increase the property management charges, for example.
The Themo Energy Saving Service is also suitable for housing companies where the cost of underfloor heating is included in the shareholders’ electricity bills. In this case, centralized optimization of underfloor heating can reduce each resident's electricity bill – without sacrificing living comfort.
Ask how the Themo Energy Saving Service can help your housing company save on underfloor heating costs!
Themo Energy Saving Service was implemented smoothly in close cooperation
Desiro and Rocket comprise approximately 100 apartments in total. Each apartment was equipped with Themo Smart Thermostats in early 2023. The underfloor heating is not controlled by the residents and instead the optimization takes place in a centralized manner using Themo's intelligent algorithm based on the criteria determined by the Board of the housing company. The most pressing need is to allow for sufficient heating in the evenings and morning to ensure that the structures can be kept dry.
“Previously, residents may have even turned the underfloor heating completely off, as they believed that this would reduce their electricity bills. This meant that some moisture remained in the bathrooms, which presented a risk in terms of structures. In turn, others kept their underfloor heating on at all times and even setting it too high in some cases. Excess heat can eventually reduce structural integrity. It is much better that underfloor heating in all bathrooms within the building is optimized centrally to ensure that the heating is sufficient to keep the structures dry without causing damage.”
Erno Simonen, member of the Housing Company Board at Rocket
Themo worked in close cooperation with the Boards of Desiro and Rocket to draft an agreement that was both appropriate and fair. Themo Smart Thermostats are optimized using the included SIM cards. This eliminated any issues the residents had regarding the data security of the devices.
Both the Boards of the housing companies and Themo informed residents of any changes to be made sufficiently in advance. During the installation process, it turned out that approximately 10 of the SIM cards provided by the telecommunications operator had configuration issues. Themo took care of the situation immediately and faulty SIM cards were replaced with new ones.
Installations within the apartments were completed swiftly: as the existing wiring was sufficient, the replacement of a single thermostat took just a few minutes.
High-quality service and immediate savings without the need to invest were decisive
Working with Themo's sales and installation teams has been easy. Iiro Karttunen was responsible for the installations and kept residents up to date on the progress via the housing company's Facebook group, for example. Once data on the consumption of electricity by underfloor heating has been collected for a few months, Themo will prepare a report to the housing company showing the difference in consumption before and after the implementation of the Themo Energy Saving Service.
“The best thing about the Themo Energy Saving Service is the fact that it allows us to save both energy and money as soon as the installation is complete. As the implementation requires zero investment, the only things we needed to do to achieve savings was to familiarize ourselves with the matter and make the decision. In the future, nothing else is required from us, as Themo will take care of everything, including the response to potential issues.”
Erno Simonen, member of the Housing Company Board at Rocket
The price of the Themo Energy Saving Service paid by the housing company is based on the number of Themo Smart Thermostats. In the case of Desiro and Rocket, a total of 116 Themo Smart Thermostats were installed in the apartments.
The price of the Themo Energy Saving Service to housing companies is €3.75/thermostat/month (VAT = 0%). Themo guarantees that the savings on electricity bills will always exceed the price of the service for the corresponding period.
Ask how the Themo Energy Saving Service can help your housing company save on underfloor heating costs!
