The heating industry is far less conservative than is sometimes claimed: Yuon Control AG has developed a heating control system that factors in weather forecasts and buildings’ thermic properties to cut energy use by an average of 25%. It is mainly intended for use with district heating.
Context
In Switzerland, buildings are responsible for around 40% of energy use and a third of domestic CO2 emissions. Heating of residential and commercial properties is one key area where energy savings could be made. Yuon Control, which was launched in Bern in 2020, developed a fully automated heating control system (patent pending) to help achieve that goal. A study by Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts found that it cuts energy used for heating by 9–34% compared with conventional systems. Because the system is mainly used in district heating networks, the savings are multiplied across a large number of buildings.
Technology
The control system reduces energy use without compromising on comfort in people’s homes. An optimisation algorithm developed by co-founder Lorin Mühlebach at ETH Zurich ensures that buildings are only heated when necessary. It does so by factoring in weather forecasts. The self-learning system also assesses buildings’ thermic properties, such as their heat retention capacity. On this basis, it predicts heating requirements and controls the heating accordingly – for instance, shutting it off if clear skies and warm sunshine are expected in the next few hours.
Maturity
District heating operators can use the control system to heat buildings in their network in a way that avoids production peaks in the central heating plant. That helps to cut CO2 emissions, since production peaks are often covered using gas-fired heating. The Landiswil district heating network in the canton of Bern installed a Yuon control system in autumn 2023, and several other Swiss networks have followed suit. Although it is primarily focusing on the domestic market for now, Yuon is already in talks with potential customers in Germany. A first funding round in early 2024 raised CHF 600,000. A second round is planned for the end of the year.
‘The heating industry is going through a period of transformation that offers great scope for improvements and new business models.’ Sebastian Hersberger, CEO and co-founder of Yuon Control AG
This profile is taken from the second edition of the Cleantech Startup Overview, published in 2024. Read the full report here.
