Across Europe, heat pumps are rapidly becoming the backbone of residential heating, and a key part of the continent’s path to decarbonisation. Yet even these efficient systems can place pressure on the grid when demand spikes during the coldest winter months. To address this challenge, the Nordics are leading the way, combining digital innovation with practical energy efficiency.
Finnish energy company Väre, together with Kapacity.io, has launched a smart control solution that automatically optimises the electricity consumption of heat pumps in residential homes. The system adjusts heating based on hourly electricity prices, weather forecasts, and thermal capacity of the home by shifting consumption to cheaper hours without compromising comfort or requiring additional hardware.
“Our customers who own heat pumps can save on their electricity bills effortlessly. Our goal is to make smart energy use easy and appealing,” says Väre’s Chief Growth Officer Antti Martikainen.
No hardware, full impact
The solution supports all major heat pump types, such as air-to-air, ground-source, and air-to-water, and integrates with most models already controlled via a mobile app. That means no installation work, no extra hardware, and no disruption for the user: All integrations are software-only.
“We have offered smart control for heat pumps since last autumn, and customer feedback has been excellent,” says Väre’s Business Manager Krista Jaatinen-Koskela.
“Electricity bill savings have ranged from 5–12 percent for air-source heat pump control and up to 20 percent when the service manages heating and hot water with ground-source or air-to-water heat pumps.”
These are real savings, achieved passively, which makes the service especially attractive for households that want to reduce energy costs without changing their daily routines.
Nordic know-how, European potential
Finland, with over over 1.6 million installed heat pumps, has one of the highest per-capita penetration in the world. The region’s harsh climate and energy-conscious consumers have made it an ideal environment for testing and deploying high-performance, intelligent heating systems. Nordic companies are now exporting this expertise to the rest of Europe.
“By combining our expertise, we are advancing sustainable development by offering additional savings to already energy-efficient homes,” adds Jaakko Rauhala, Managing Director at Kapacity.io.
Enabling a smarter grid
Smart control doesn't just benefit the individual homeowner – it supports the entire energy ecosystem. By automatically shifting thousands of small heating loads away from peak demand periods, the system provides valuable flexibility to the grid, reduces the need for peak generation, and enables greater use of renewable power.
Väreis taking a leading role in this shift. With the right technology and partners, it shows how energy services can cut costs, support the climate, and help the electricity grid work more efficiently.
Interested in hearing how Kapacity.io unlocks behind-the-meter flexibility with heat pumps? Contact us to hear more on how home decarbonisation and smart load management go hand in hand.
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