Airzone joins cooling demand project

UK: HVAC controls company Airzone has joined with project partner Equiwatt to deliver CoolDown – the £5.5m Ofgem-funded UK research project designed to manage UK cooling demand. 

The project, led by SP Electricity North West and National Grid, in collaboration with University College London and Guidehouse Europe, centres around demand-response events, where users voluntarily reduce or temporarily pause air conditioning usage during periods of high electricity demand – typically weekday evenings for one or two hours.

As a key technology partner, Airzone brings its expertise in HVAC control and automation to help manage cooling demand more efficiently. Working in partnership with climate technology company Equiwatt the initiative aims to better understand how increasing air conditioning usage could impact the UK electrical grid as temperatures continue to rise and electrification accelerates across heating and transport.

Equiwatt is a free UK mobile app and climate technology platform that rewards households for reducing or shifting their electricity use during high-demand peak times.

CoolDown events are triggered when periods of peak electricity usage are forecast using factors such as weather conditions, renewable energy generation and expected electricity consumption to anticipate when the network could come under pressure. Customers signed up to the trial will then be notified via the Equiwatt app and can choose to reduce their cooling usage by manually switching off their equipment.

Through the new partnership, Airzone takes this one step further by introducing automated control through Airzone Cloud. Instead of relying on customers to manually adjust their air conditioning themselves, participating Airzone systems can respond to peak demand periods by adjusting cooling and automating energy-saving actions. This makes it easier for households to participate in demand response events, even when no one is at home to manually trigger the action. 

CoolDown is conducting two UK-based summer trials: trial one was completed in September, having initially prioritised the Northwest region, before expanding in size and scope for trial two in 2027 with the integration of National Grid’s licence areas.

“Demand for air conditioning in the UK has gradually increased in recent years until the hottest summer on record this year, when it dramatically skyrocketed to the point where demand overtook supply,” noted Fernando de la Cruz Quintanilla, Airzone’s new markets EMEA director. “We therefore anticipate Brits to plan ahead for next year by installing AC in their home or business facilities. By using intelligent controls to manage when and how cooling systems operate, we can help reduce pressure on the network while keeping customers comfortable.”

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