Energy-efficient heating with zone temperature control

There are still many residential buildings and private houses across the UK that have a heating system based on the on/off control of a single zone. This often fails to create thermal comfort in every room and wastes energy by heating unoccupied rooms. Zone temperature control offers a practical solution that increases comfort for all occupants and helps to save energy at the same time.

What is zone temperature control?

In a single zoned system one thermostat controls all the heat emitters throughout the building. The thermostat is often installed in a central location such as the living room or hallway and measures the temperature in that specific location. Although this type of system is very easy to use, in practice temperature requirements usually differ from room to room.
Zone temperature control combines multiple thermostats, each controlling the temperature of a specified zone. By installing individual controls in different areas, they can easily be set to different temperatures. Since not all areas will require heating at the same time or at the same temperature, this allows more tailored temperature control and avoids wasting energy on unoccupied rooms.

For example, in a building with Myson underfloor heating and radiators, our Unisenza control range, includes a wiring centre that can connect to up to 10 different room thermostats. This allows users to set their desired temperature based on personal preferences for each individual room. On top of that, heat can more easily be focused on specific areas, such as a living room or kitchen, and minimised in rooms that aren’t being used.

Advantages of zone temperature control

The ability to heat specific rooms has two key advantages.

1. Custom zone temperature control allows users to create their ideal level of comfort in every zone. Using programmable thermostats such as the Unisenza WiFi thermostat even makes it possible to set a different heating schedule for different rooms based on the users’ typical daily or weekly activities.
2. Zone temperature control saves energy and money by adjusting the thermostat in zones that are seldom used. Simply closing off any unused zones means energy is only consumed where and when heating is required. If a Unisenza WiFi thermostat is installed, it’s even possible to pair it with the intuitive Unisenza app and control the ideal room temperatures, time programs, or other settings wherever and whenever you want. Within the app users can also activate geo location, a feature that uses the smartphone’s location to determine the users’ movements and then automatically adjusts the temperature setting to maximise flexibility and energy efficiency.

Estimated energy savings with zone temperature control

To make it more concrete, we ran a simulation comparing a base control system with a zone control system in a house with four rooms of 25m2 each, all equipped with a radiator. In the simulation, every room exchanges heat with the environment through its exterior walls, roof, and windows. Each path is simulated as a combination of thermal convection, thermal conduction, and the thermal mass. It’s assumed that heat is not transferred internally between rooms. The radiators get heat from hot water and exchange this with the air mass in the room.



We ran a simulation comparing a base control system with a zone control system in a house structure with four rooms of 25m2 each. The simulation shows that when the thermostat of a base control system is installed in the coldest room, the other rooms are overheated. With a zone control system the situation improves.

The base control system has a single thermostat installed in room 1, which is the coldest as it has more windows. For the zone control system, the house is split in 2 zones of 2 rooms, with a motorised valve and a thermostat for each zone.

The simulation shows that when the thermostat of a base control system is installed in the coldest room, the other rooms are overheated. With a zone control system the situation improves. With regard to energy cost, a zone control system allows for 12% savings in energy costs.

Taking zone temperature control to the next level

In addition to a comparison between a base control system and a zone control system, our simulation also includes an eTRV control system whereby each radiator is equipped with an Electronic Thermostatic Head from our Unisenza Plus control range. These can easily be connected to the Unisenza Plus Gateway, which in turn can be connected to the user-friendly Unisenza Plus app. This allows users to monitor and control all of the heat transfer systems linked to the app wherever and whenever they want. The ETHs can, for example, be linked to a thermostat for precise time and temperature zone control (TTZC) and optimal comfort. And, because the electronic thermostatic heads are completely wireless, they are easy to implement in new build as well as updating an existing system.

Read our guide to electronic thermostatic heads for new builds and renovation

Example 1: ETH stand-alone system linked directly to the receiver

Example 2: thermostats linked to ETHs and receiver

The simulation showed that the ETH control system, which perfectly aligns all devices, provided significantly greater energy savings - a reduction of 24% compared to the base control system, and 13% compared to the zone control system. The electronic thermostatic heads ensure a proportional control of the water flow and there is no longer any overheating in the rooms.

If you want to know more about the possibilities of our Smart controls range, don’t hesitate to contact us or visit the web page.