Samsung Electronics today announced it has teamed up with British Gas, enabling customers to better manage their energy use in homes around Britain. This new initiative — an expansion of SmartThings Energy to integrate British Gas’ PeakSave incentive program — provides users to make their home more energy-efficient with less intervention.
“As one of the U.K.’s most trusted brands, British Gas is the perfect fit for us as an innovative technology business,” said Chanwoo Park, Executive Vice President at Samsung Electronics. “Together we are now able to harness SmartThings Energy to provide customers with easier control into optimizing their daily routines and energy use.”
British Gas is the U.K.’s leading supplier of energy and home services, and it has been providing these services to Britain’s homes for over 200 years — having launched in 1812 as the world’s first utility company. In addition to supplying energy to 10 million UK homes and businesses, it is also focused on getting the U.K. to net zero by 2050 through helping customers to reduce their homes’ carbon footprints with a range of energy-efficient home improvements.
One of the core outcomes of the collaborative relationship is the integration of SmartThings Energy’s Auto Demand Response (Auto DR) feature with British Gas’ PeakSave in Great Britain starting from today. PeakSave rewards British Gas customers for shifting their electricity usage during peak hours when demand for electricity is high. Customers can easily take advantage of the program through SmartThings Energy’s support for Auto DR, which automatically adjusts appliances’ operating modes when an event is triggered. Customers can then earn money for using less electricity during the events.
There are a few different methods for activating SmartThings Energy’s Auto DR feature depending on the type of appliance. First, it can automatically turn on the AI Energy Mode in SmartThings Energy to save extra energy use in the supported appliances.1 Second, with the power-off function, users can consume less energy from having their appliances turned off when appropriate — this includes certain third-party lights and plugs.2 Finally, savings can also be achieved through smart temperature adjustment for EHS (Heatpump) products and third-party thermostats.3 SmartThings Energy even helps users who do not own Auto DR-compatible appliances by sending alerts in the application when a peak event is triggered enabling users to take action in their own ways to save energy when notified.
In addition to Great Britain, Samsung has already rolled out its DR service in a number of other regions — including Seoul, California and New York in 2023. Samsung plans to explore further collaborations and continue to provide multi-faceted programs that contribute towards the Net Zero Home, as it looks to expand the service across the world. Recent achievements along these lines include the energy-efficient residential community in Brobyholm, Sweden announced in November 2023, as well as the Southern Company project unveiled at CES® 2024.
To learn more about SmartThings Energy, visit Connect your home with Samsung SmartThings | Samsung United Kingdom.
About British Gas
British Gas is Britain’s leading supplier of energy and services and the country’s biggest retailer of zero carbon electricity. It is part of Centrica, a company founded on a 200-year heritage of serving people. It provides energy, products and services to over 10 million U.K. homes and businesses, supported by around 7,500 highly trained engineers and technicians. It also offers a range of innovative products and services, including Hive and the on-demand digital trades service, Local Heroes. Its purpose of helping customers live sustainably, simply and affordably drives its strategy and its People and Planet Plan.
1 Currently supported by nine Samsung appliance categories including refrigerators, air conditioners, washers, dryers, dishwashers, air purifiers, dehumidifiers, hoods and TVs. Selected models only.
2 Currently supported by four Samsung appliance categories including air conditioners, air purifiers, hoods and TVs. Selected models only. Supported third-party devices are only selected plugs, lights and switches.
3 Currently supported by Samsung Eco Heating Systems and EPA E/Star-certified thermostats. Selected models only. Support is currently only provided in the U.S. and E.U.
Source: Samsung
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