The City of Genk and EDF Luminus are looking for 300 smart Genk residents

The City of Genk and EDF Luminus are looking for 300 Genk residents willing to try out a ‘smart thermostat’. In 2014, EDF Luminus and the City of Genk signed a cooperation agreement to exchange expertise and develop concrete sustainable and innovative projects concerning smart cities together.  The first project concerned the optimisation of public lighting, and now their collaboration translates into a new project with 300 Netatmo smart thermostats being put at the disposal of Genk residents for free.  

Heating and hot water represent about 85 percent of the total energy consumption of households, while lighting and domestic appliances account for 15%. So most savings can be made on the heating budget. The smart thermostat takes into account the house’s level of insulation and the outside temperature by means of an automatic link to the weather forecast. As such, the inside temperature can be controlled easily, even when you are not there. This saves up to 10 percent of energy.

“This project makes the smart city concept tangible. In the coming years, the challenge is to turn Genk into a smart city both socially and technologically ready for the future. Sustainable management of energy has an important role  to play in this", says Joke Quintens of the City of Genk. “Now we are making the cooperation agreement with the city of Genk very concrete for its residents. Our smart thermostat calculates the optimum heating cycle of their home: based on the insulation present and the outside temperature, the thermostat determines how to heat the house most efficiently. Moreover, the participants will receive a personal energy report containing information about their consumption and energy tips each month”, says project leader Geert Leppens of EDF Luminus.

To participate in the project, you do not have to be a Luminus customer, participating is free of charge. Moreover, the thermostat will be installed by a Luminus technician and the participants will receive assistance until 2017. At the end of this period, the participants are allowed to keep the thermostat. They are, however, asked to provide feedback on the thermostat by means of a questionnaire.

Anyone who would like to participate can do so via www.luminus.be/smartcitygenk.