The Power of Data: What Smart Heating and Motion Sensors Reveal About How We Really Use Energy
Data doesn’t just reduce bills — it tells stories.
Across student accommodation, PBSA portfolios, and mixed estates, smart heating and motion data are revealing surprising patterns in how people use energy — and how property managers can use that insight to improve comfort, fairness and efficiency.
At Energenie Solutions, we’ve analysed thousands of heating events, temperature setbacks, and occupancy readings across multi-tenant portfolios. The findings are as fascinating as they are useful.
Every Room — and Every Resident — Has a Heating Personality
Not all students (or tenants) use heat the same way. Some prefer their rooms near sauna levels; others barely turn it on.
Our data shows that individual heating behaviour can be mapped and matched to property characteristics.
Warm-preferring students can be placed in south-facing bay windows or top-floor rooms that naturally retain more heat.
Cooler-preferring tenants can be located in shadier or ground-floor rooms, reducing energy waste and complaints.
The result: a better alignment between occupant preference and building physics — improving comfort without using more energy.
Detecting Supplementary Heating and Fair-Use Breaches
By analysing heat signatures and consumption spikes, we can identify when occupants are using unauthorised or supplementary heaters — often breaching tenancy “fair use” policies.
Instead of guesswork, property managers now have evidence-based visibility to address policy breaches fairly and consistently. This supports both cost control and carbon reduction targets.
Spotting Empty Flats and Holiday Shutdowns
Heating and motion data can also show when entire flats or blocks have been unoccupied — for example, during Christmas or Easter breaks.
For building operators, this insight unlocks clear savings:
Automated setback schedules can lower or suspend heating.
Maintenance teams can safely access properties.
Energy wastage from background heating or forgotten radiators is eliminated.
Linking Energy Patterns to Student Lifestyle and Course Type
When we overlay anonymised tags like student course type, the results get even more interesting.
We’ve seen that Computer Science and Engineering students tend to use more heating energy at home, often studying for long hours in their rooms.
Meanwhile, arts or outdoor-focused courses typically show lower usage.
This kind of behavioural insight helps universities and accommodation providers make smarter decisions about building design, zoning and policy — and even how to communicate energy efficiency habits to different groups.
Staff vs. Students: The Thermostat Myth
One assumption we often hear is that “staff know better how to use the heating than students.”
Our setback and override data often says otherwise. In some organisations, staff rooms showed as many manual overrides and unnecessary thermostat boosts as student flats.
It’s not just about who uses the heating — it’s about how intuitive the controls are, and how feedback can shape behaviour.
This is where data-led education can make an immediate difference.
Comparing Build Quality Through Thermal Data
Finally, one of the most powerful uses of heating analytics is comparing build quality between manufacturers or sites.
By analysing heat-up rates and cooling velocity, we can identify:
Which lodges, pods or accommodation types retain heat most effectively
Which ones suffer from poor insulation or air leakage
Where retrofitting controls alone won’t be enough
This provides landlords and developers with quantifiable evidence of construction performance — not just EPC scores or assumptions.
From Data to Decisions
Smart heating and motion analytics aren’t just about automation; they’re about understanding human behaviour, building performance, and operational opportunity.
For asset owners, this means:
Smarter room allocation and energy zoning
Proactive detection of waste or misuse
Evidence-based maintenance and investment decisions
Data-driven reporting for ESG and decarbonisation goals
At Energenie Solutions, our platform turns this data into clear, actionable insights — giving property owners a live view of how buildings really perform, room by room, day by day.
Start Unlocking Your Data
If you manage accommodation or multi-site estates, it’s time to look beyond bills and meters.
Let’s turn your data into decisions that save energy, improve comfort and support your net-zero roadmap.
👉 Book a data insight consultation
or visit energeniesolutions.com to learn more.
