Smart thermostats have become increasingly popular in recent years, with manufacturers promoting the devices (which are basically connected central heating controllers that can be managed through a smartphone app) as highly effective in helping households reduce their energy consumption.

However, despite offering a number of useful functions that make it easy to track energy consumption and automate heating, research suggests that smart thermostats often have limited impact because users end-up overriding their scheduled programmes (for instance, by manually adjusting their heating). The benefits are likely to be particularly limited for people who work from home, given that they will have fewer opportunities to fully turn off their heating.

As a result, some experts suggest that learning how to effectively manage your heating schedule may well save you more money than installing a smart thermostat.