Aira Intelligence: the app and smart controls for Aira heat pumps

Aira Intelligence is the software layer that runs an Aira heat pump. It reads conditions inside the home and outside it, watches what electricity is costing, and decides when the heat pump should run. Aira states that it helps cut energy bills by £490 a year with an Aira Heat Pump, and by £1,390 a year with the full Aira Home Energy System¹.

It is not a separate box or a thermostat you buy on its own. It comes with an Aira system, and it is the reason Aira describes its heat pump as "4X more efficient than a boiler, powered by Aira Intelligence"². The controls are the manufacturer's, the data runs through the manufacturer's systems, and the savings figures are the manufacturer's own.

What follows is what Aira says the system does, what it depends on, and where the household still sits on the grid and on a supplier.

How the optimisation works: sensors, data and machine learning

Aira describes Aira Intelligence as blending "machine learning, mathematical modelling and thermodynamic simulations to make smart, energy-saving decisions"³. In plain terms, it builds a model of the house, checks that model against what the sensors actually report, and adjusts.

The inputs are threefold. From the home: indoor temperature, humidity and usage patterns. From outside: weather forecasts and air temperature. From the heat pump itself: flow rates, power consumption and heat pump performance³. Aira puts the hardware at 15 sensors and over 100 data points per minute³.

That is a lot of measurement for a domestic heating system, and it is the basis of the claim that the system learns the building rather than following a fixed curve. That is a statement of intent, not a current feature.

The approach sits inside a wider direction of travel. The government's 2025 heat and buildings analysis names "digitalisation and integration of control systems to enhance system optimisation (inclusive of use of AI)" as an innovation need for heat pumps through to 2030⁶. Independent work points the same way: the Energy Data Taskforce set out operational optimisation as enabling data to be layered across assets to support system optimisation⁷, and a Catapult case study describes a platform using "sensors, actuators and control software to transform the performance of buildings"⁸.

Smart tariff behaviour: running when prices are lower

On a smart tariff, Aira states that Aira Intelligence "automatically adjusts when your heat pump runs, using more electricity when prices are lower and easing off when they're higher"⁴. The same wording appears across Aira's tariff pages, naming day and night tariffs and dynamic tariffs as the examples⁹.

That behaviour only means something because of how time-of-use tariffs are billed. The Energy Saving Trust explains that a smart time-of-use tariff charges a lower price during lower demand, off-peak periods¹¹, and Which? describes them as using half-hourly smart meter readings so companies can charge lower rates when demand is lower and electricity is cheaper¹². The tariff sets the prices; the software decides when to draw power.

The same logic applies to a battery. Independent guidance on renewable tariffs describes setting a battery to charge when electricity is cheap and discharge when it is expensive¹³, and Aira's Power Hub manages how energy flows between solar panels, battery, heat pump and the grid, which is what allows Aira Intelligence to optimise across them¹⁴.

Savings: up to £490 a year with a heat pump, £1,390 with the full home energy system

The headline figures are Aira's. Aira Intelligence "helps slash your energy bills by £490/Y" with an Aira Heat Pump, and by £1,390/Y with the Aira Home Energy System¹. Aira repeats the £490 figure on its heat pump pages, describing a heat pump as slashing energy bills "by up to £490 a year"⁹, and on its renovation guidance as a saving from switching from a gas boiler¹⁵.

Those are manufacturer figures and should be read as such. Aira itself attaches conditions: the £490 calculation assumes "Savings" is selected in Aira Intelligence settings, and "Savings vary depending on home, usage and tariff"¹⁰. The £1,390 figure is for a system that includes solar and battery storage, not a heat pump alone.

Independent and official figures are lower and more cautious. The government's own guidance states that heat pumps can save a typical gas household around £234 per year when they opt for smart electricity tariffs and remove the gas meter, based on prices at the time¹⁶. The CPA reports air source heat pumps saving around £540 per year on heating bills¹⁷. Nesta's work puts the whole-life cost of an air-to-water heat pump at £270 per year more than a gas boiler in a smaller home, after running cost reductions⁶.

The gap between £490 and £234 is not a contradiction so much as a difference in what is being counted: whether the gas meter and standing charge go, what tariff is assumed, and whether solar and storage are in the package. Aira's own running cost figure for an air source heat pump is about £912 a year for heating, falling to £744 on Cosy Octopus⁵.

Tariff compatibility, including Cosy Octopus and EV tariffs

Aira's position is that the optimisation is tariff-agnostic. Aira states that "With Aira Intelligence, your Aira Heat Pump can optimise against any energy tariff"⁴, and that it works "seamlessly with a growing list of smart tariffs", naming Cosy Octopus, and shifting energy usage to when prices are low³. Aira has also said it is "the first clean energy tech installer to offer product optimisation against hundreds of energy tariffs"¹⁹.

That matters because the alternative is a control system tied to one supplier. Aira's own tariff pages describe the arrangement as having no lock-ins or restrictions⁴.

Where the household has an electric vehicle, the picture is more mixed. Aira states that Aira Intelligence adjusts heating around the household's EV tariff⁴. On the vehicle side, compatibility is not universal: Which? notes that there are some vehicles that will not work with the Intelligent Octopus Go tariff²¹, and charger compatibility varies, with some chargers listed as compatible with Octopus Intelligent Go and others not²². A UK Power Networks trial found that shifting EV charging can help manage renewable energy on the network, describing Intelligent Octopus Go as Octopus Energy's most popular smart tariff²³.

What it means for household energy independence

Aira Intelligence changes when a home uses electricity, not where that electricity comes from. The heat pump still runs on mains electricity from a supplier, and the household still depends on the grid for every unit it draws. What the software does is move consumption into cheaper and often lower-carbon hours, which is a real benefit but a different one from generating your own power.

Where the household adds solar and a battery, the position shifts. Aira states that when both import and export tariffs are connected, Aira Intelligence "balances heating, storage and export automatically, so your home uses a"¹⁰. The Power Hub manages flows between solar panels, battery, heat pump and the grid¹⁴. That is the point at which a home starts covering some of its own demand rather than buying all of it.

The wider context is that household energy independence is a live policy subject. The Energy Independence Bill proposes a new Warm Homes Agency, new laws to support reformed efficiency standards, and new data-sharing powers²⁴. Independent analysis suggests "energy patriotism" could cut homes' foreign energy dependence by 80%²⁵, and Solar Energy UK links more homegrown energy to greater energy independence²⁶.

The dependence that remains is specific and worth naming. Aira Intelligence is an internet-connected control system: it needs broadband, it needs Aira's servers and app, and it needs the manufacturer to keep supporting them. The Commons Library describes an energy smart appliance as "an internet-connected appliance that can adjust its electricity usage automatically based on signals received remotely"²⁷. That is the trade: better timing in exchange for a connection to a company's platform.

Where Aira Intelligence fits in the wider Aira system

Aira Intelligence is not sold on its own. It is the intelligence layer inside an Aira installation, and Aira's model is vertically integrated: Which? Trusted Traders records that "Aira design and build their own systems and use their own employees for installation"²⁸. The company was founded in 2022¹⁹.

The surrounding pieces are the heat pump itself, the Aira Power Hub, solar panels and the Aira Power Store battery, and the Aira Zero tariff²⁰. Aira describes the whole package as "one complete home energy eco-system that can cut your energy bills by up to 50%"⁹. Aira's all-inclusive plan includes premium app features and remote monitoring and fix⁵, and the plan's terms were updated with effect from 19 May 2026²⁸.

The process starts with a free home energy assessment, which Aira describes as reviewing the current solar system, electricity use and available installation space¹⁴, and which Aira also offers as the first step for a heat pump installation¹⁸. Aira states it will help with planning permission if needed¹⁵.

For a household weighing this up, the honest summary is that Aira Intelligence is a genuine control improvement with manufacturer-quoted savings that are higher than official and independent estimates, delivered inside a closed system. It rewards a household that already has, or intends to add, solar, a battery and a smart tariff. It does not remove the grid connection, the supplier, or the reliance on one company's app and servers.