Photo of the heata unit

Why waste heat?

Computers get hot and data centres use a huge amount of energy to deal with it. Remarkably the waste heat from a large data centre could provide hot water for 30,000 homes.1

But moving heat is hard, it requires new infrastructure or a pre-existing heat network. Moving data is easy, so we've taken the servers to where heat is needed, in people's homes.

We harness the heat from compute to provide free hot water for those that need it, turning a compute problem into a social benefit.

heata unit attached to boiler in an airing cupboard
heata unit host quote
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Working in IT I know how much heat servers give off. Re-using it to offset hot water heating makes so much sense.
Ian
heata host
Bordon, UK
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heata unit attached to boiler in an airing cupboard

How it works

How the heata unit works. New way to 3D render
heata unit attached to boiler

Benefits

  • Uses energy twice, for compute and hot water.
  • We pay for the electricity we use, saving households:
    - Up to £120 / year (offsetting gas).2
    - Up to £340 / year (offsetting electricity).2
  • Each unit saves up to 750kg of CO2e / year.3
  • Easy to install and update, no plumbing required.
  • Fits vented hot water cylinders, a version for unvented cylinders is in development.
Interested in joining the network?

Installation overview

Our patented thermal bridge is fitted to vented domestic hot water cylinders and provides the attachment point for our powerful server.

We've tested the installation process with British Gas engineers and checked that it doesn't invalidate cylinder warrantees with one of the UK's largest cylinder manufacturers.

To find out if your cylinder is suitable for a heata unit, download our summary brochure which includes the cylinder checklist and installation overview.
Download
Diagram - How the heata unit works with your boiler
heata unit attached to boiler in an airing cupboard
heata unit attached to boiler in an airing cupboard