Best Smart Home Gadgets for Saving Energy UK

Best Energy-Saving Smart Home Gadgets at a Glance

1. tado° Smart Thermostat X – Best Overall Energy-Saving Gadget

If reducing household energy use is the main objective, a smart thermostat is one of the first devices worth considering.

The tado° Smart Thermostat X lets you create heating schedules, control your heating remotely and integrate heating into a wider smart-home system.

tado° says its customers can reduce heating energy consumption by around 22% on average, although the actual saving in any individual home will depend heavily on how the heating was previously controlled, the property itself and household behaviour.

Why It Can Save Energy

• Create heating schedules around your routine.
• Lower temperatures automatically when heat isn't needed.
• Control heating remotely.
• Integrate individual radiator controls.
• Use Matter and Thread within compatible smart-home systems.

For UK buyers, tado°'s current X range includes wired and wireless models designed for different heating systems.

Best for: Households that want more precise control over central heating.

Buy on Amazon: tado° Smart Thermostat X

2. tado° Smart Radiator Thermostat X – Best for Room-by-Room Heating

Heating an entire home to the same temperature can be wasteful if some rooms are rarely used.

A smart radiator thermostat allows you to control individual radiators more precisely.

The tado° Smart Radiator Thermostat X can be fitted to compatible thermostatic radiator valves and used to control rooms individually.

This means you could keep a frequently used living room comfortable while lowering the temperature in a spare bedroom during the day.

Why We Like It

• Individual room control.
• Remote radiator adjustment.
• Scheduling.
• Rechargeable battery.
• Matter and Thread support.

tado° states that its Smart Radiator Thermostat X works with a wide range of radiator valves and requires either a Bridge X or another compatible Thread Border Router.

Best for: Homes where different rooms are used at different times.

Buy on Amazon: tado° Smart Radiator Thermostat X

3. TP-Link Tapo P110M – Best Smart Plug for Energy Monitoring

The Tapo P110M is one of the most useful inexpensive gadgets for finding out how much electricity individual appliances consume.

It includes built-in energy monitoring and allows you to enter your electricity tariff so the Tapo app can estimate running costs.

You can also create schedules so connected devices operate at particular times.

The P110M is Matter certified, making it attractive for buyers who want broader smart-home compatibility.

Useful Features

• Real-time power monitoring.
• Historical electricity consumption.
• Estimated energy costs.
• Schedules and timers.
• Remote control.
• Matter compatibility.

One limitation worth knowing about is that TP-Link currently directs users to the Tapo app for its full energy-monitoring functionality rather than exposing all of that information through Matter.

Best for: Measuring and controlling the electricity consumption of individual appliances.

Buy on Amazon: TP-Link Tapo P110M Smart Plug

4. TP-Link Tapo P110 – Best Budget Energy-Monitoring Plug

The older Tapo P110 remains a strong choice if Matter support isn't important to you.

It provides energy monitoring through the Tapo app and allows you to see how much electricity a connected device is using.

You can also create schedules and timers, helping prevent appliances from remaining switched on longer than necessary.

TP-Link also allows users to input energy prices so consumption can be translated into estimated cost.

Good Uses Include

• Monitoring televisions and entertainment equipment.
• Checking how much power office equipment uses.
• Scheduling lamps.
• Measuring appliance standby consumption.
• Comparing electricity usage between devices.

Best for: Buyers who want affordable energy monitoring without requiring a hub.

Buy on Amazon: TP-Link Tapo P110 Smart Plug

See our full Best Smart Plugs UK guide for more options.

5. Smart Motion Sensors – Best for Reducing Lighting Waste

Lighting doesn't normally account for as much household energy consumption as heating, but there's little reason for lights to remain on in an empty room.

A smart motion sensor can automate this process.

For example:

Trigger: Motion detected in hallway.
Action: Lights switch on.
Follow-up: Lights switch off after no movement is detected.

This works particularly well in:

• Hallways.
• Bathrooms.
• Utility rooms.
• Garages.
• Landings.

Products such as the Aqara Motion and Light Sensor P2 can also detect ambient light, so compatible automations can avoid switching lights on when a room is already bright enough.

See our Best Smart Sensors UK guide for more options.

6. Smart Temperature Sensors – Best for Better Heating Control

Thermostats only know the temperature at the location where they're installed.

A separate smart temperature sensor can provide more useful information about conditions elsewhere in the room or property.

When integrated with a compatible heating system, this can make heating control more accurate.

For example, instead of relying on a thermostat located in a warm hallway, a system could use a sensor in the living room where you're actually spending your evening.

Best for: Improving temperature accuracy in multi-room smart heating systems.

7. Smart Lighting – Best for Automatic Light Control

Modern LED bulbs are already highly efficient, so replacing ordinary LEDs with smart bulbs won't automatically produce significant savings.

The benefit comes from better control.

Smart lighting allows you to:

• Automatically turn lights off.
• Create occupancy-based routines.
• Reduce brightness when full illumination isn't required.
• Control groups of lights from one automation.

Combining smart bulbs or switches with motion and presence sensors is generally more useful for saving electricity than simply controlling lights from a phone.

8. Door and Window Sensors – Stop Heating the Outdoors

A cheap contact sensor can also contribute to smarter heating.

Some smart-home systems allow you to create an automation when a window is opened.

For example:

Trigger: Bedroom window opened.
Action: Reduce or pause heating in that room.
Follow-up: Resume normal heating after the window closes.

This can help avoid wasting heat when rooms are being ventilated.

The exact automation available depends on your heating system and smart-home platform.

9. Smart Energy Monitors – Best for Understanding Whole-Home Usage

Smart plugs are useful for measuring individual appliances, but a whole-home energy monitor can provide a broader picture of electricity consumption.

These systems can help you understand:

• How household electricity use changes throughout the day.
• When energy consumption peaks.
• How much electricity the home uses overnight.
• Whether behaviour changes are reducing consumption.

The information itself doesn't save energy, but it can make waste much easier to identify.

Which Smart Home Device Saves the Most Energy?

For most UK homes with gas central heating, a smart thermostat and intelligent radiator control generally have greater potential to reduce overall energy use than smaller devices such as smart plugs.

That's because heating consumes considerably more energy than many everyday electrical devices.

The actual savings depend on your home and how efficiently you already use energy.

Can Smart Plugs Really Save Energy?

Smart plugs don't save electricity simply by existing.

Their value comes from two functions:

• Showing you how much electricity something consumes.
• Automatically switching devices off when they're not needed.

For example, you might discover that an older piece of equipment uses more electricity in standby than expected.

You can then decide whether it's worth scheduling the smart plug to turn the equipment off overnight.

However, don't assume every standby device is worth switching off. Modern electronics can consume very little standby power, so measure first rather than creating unnecessary automations.

Smart Heating Can Offer Bigger Savings

Heating is where smart-home automation can become particularly valuable.

A traditional heating schedule might heat the entire property at fixed times regardless of which rooms are occupied.

A more advanced setup can combine:

• A smart thermostat.
• Smart radiator valves.
• Room temperature sensors.
• Schedules.
• Presence or occupancy information.

This makes it possible to heat areas of the home when they're actually needed rather than treating every room identically.

Do Smart Home Gadgets Use Electricity?

Yes.

Smart devices themselves require power, whether from the mains or batteries.

However, most sensors and smart plugs consume relatively small amounts of energy compared with the appliances or heating systems they're controlling.

The important question is whether the automation saves more energy than the smart device consumes.

A smart plug that's continuously powered but controlling an appliance with almost no standby consumption may provide little financial benefit.

A thermostat preventing several hours of unnecessary heating is a very different proposition.

Best Energy-Saving Smart Home Setup

If reducing energy use is your main goal, we'd prioritise devices in this order:

1. Install a smart thermostat.
2. Add smart radiator valves to frequently and infrequently used rooms.
3. Use energy-monitoring smart plugs to identify high-consumption appliances.
4. Add motion sensors to rooms where lights are regularly left on.
5. Add door/window sensors to improve heating automations.
6. Monitor consumption and adjust automations based on real data.

This approach focuses spending where it's most likely to have a meaningful impact rather than buying smart gadgets simply because they're connected.

Can Smart Devices Work With Cheap Overnight Electricity?

Yes, and this can be particularly useful for households using time-of-use electricity tariffs.

Some smart plugs allow you to schedule appliances to operate during cheaper periods.

Depending on the appliance and electricity tariff, you could potentially schedule suitable devices to run when electricity costs less.

Always follow the appliance manufacturer's safety guidance and don't use unattended scheduling for equipment that requires supervision.

Should You Buy Matter-Compatible Energy-Saving Devices?

Matter is increasingly useful when building a smart home because it allows compatible devices from different manufacturers to work across supported ecosystems.

Products such as the Tapo P110M and tado° X range already incorporate Matter support.

This can reduce your dependence on a single ecosystem when expanding your home later.

However, some specialist features may still remain inside the manufacturer's own app. For example, advanced energy-monitoring information may not always be exposed through a Matter platform.

Read our Matter Smart Home Explained guide for more information.

Are Energy-Saving Smart Gadgets Worth the Money?

They can be, but only when solving a genuine energy-management problem.

A £20 energy-monitoring smart plug can be valuable if it reveals an appliance that's costing more to run than expected.

A smart heating system may justify a much larger investment if your existing heating frequently runs when nobody needs it.

On the other hand, replacing efficient devices simply to gain app control is unlikely to produce meaningful savings.

The best strategy is to measure, automate and optimise rather than assume every smart gadget lowers your bills.

Our Verdict

If reducing household energy use is your priority, we'd start with smart heating rather than smart lighting.

The tado° Smart Thermostat X and Smart Radiator Thermostat X offer much greater potential to influence household energy consumption because they target heating directly.

For electricity monitoring, the TP-Link Tapo P110M is one of the most useful affordable additions. It allows you to see what individual appliances are actually consuming instead of guessing.

After that, motion sensors, contact sensors and automated lighting can reduce smaller areas of waste while also making your home more convenient.

The most effective smart home isn't necessarily the one with the most gadgets. It's the one where a relatively small number of devices perform useful automations every day.

For more products and ideas, visit our main Best Smart Home Gadgets UK guide.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What smart home device can save the most energy?

Smart thermostats and individual radiator controls often have the greatest potential because they can reduce unnecessary heating, which represents a significant part of household energy use.

Do smart plugs reduce electricity bills?

They can help if they're used to identify energy-hungry devices or switch equipment off when it isn't needed. Simply plugging an appliance into a smart plug won't automatically reduce its energy consumption.

Are smart radiator valves worth it?

They can be particularly useful in homes where rooms are used at different times because they allow heating to be controlled individually rather than heating the whole property uniformly.

Can smart sensors save energy?

Yes. Motion, occupancy, temperature and contact sensors can trigger automations that reduce unnecessary lighting or heating, although the savings depend on how they're configured.

Does Matter help save energy?

Matter itself doesn't reduce energy consumption. Its benefit is interoperability, making it easier for compatible devices from different manufacturers to work together in automations.

Is a smart thermostat worth buying in the UK?

It can be particularly worthwhile if your current heating schedule is inefficient or your heating frequently runs while the house is empty. Savings vary significantly between properties and households.

Related Smart Home Guides

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• Best Smart Sensors UK
• How to Start a Smart Home
• Best Smart Home Devices for Beginners
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• Smart Home Automation Ideas