A clean-tech start-up that has developed the first smart thermostat for social housing, has raised £605,000 in seed funding.

Switchee said it will use the money to expand the technology to social landlords.

It will help residents save money by detecting occupancy and turning heating off when a property is empty as well as help combat fuel poverty.

The technology also provides aggregated, remote data analytics for landlords, allowing them to better manage large scale residential portfolios, drive down the cost of service delivery and enhance residents’ well-being.

Some of the investors include the Green Investment Bank.

Adam Fudakowski, Managing Director at Switchee, said: “Housing associations are facing revenue cuts combined with increased rent-collection costs and regulatory standards for maintenance, condition and environmental performance of homes. Switchee helps alleviate these burdens by lowering energy bills for residents and reducing service costs for landlords.

“The feedback to date from our pilots with housing associations has been extremely encouraging, from landlords and residents alike.  We are focused on a significant summer installation programme into 11 housing associations and thanks to the overwhelming success of this funding round, we can meet growing demand and substantially upgrade our analytics to deliver an even better return on investment for our clients and lower fuel bills for residents.”