One possible solution is connection to the Urban Heating Network. However, this option involves significant initial installation costs and may not be approved by the local authority if the size of the residence is deemed insufficient.
And there’s more. Full connection to the RCU is not an option, as the network does not cover the entire territory. It is mainly deployed in densely populated urban areas. The work required to install or extend it is extensive, and may cause temporary disruption, particularly to traffic or access to buildings.
Total dependence on a single network also presents risks: in the event of a breakdown, no back-up solution is available.
Finally, the heat produced is centralised, making it difficult to regulate each individual home.
So what strategy should we adopt?
The solution lies in an innovative hybrid approach, intelligently combining existing boiler rooms with heat pumps (PAC). This model makes it possible to significantly reduce the share of gas, thus contributing to decarbonisation while limiting the risks of shortages or price hikes for this fossil fuel.
Optimisation takes place in real time, thanks to a dynamic control system that automatically selects the most appropriate energy source at any given moment. This choice is made according to several criteria: current energy costs, CO2 emission levels, and the possible availability of self-consumption production.
This intelligent approach maximises savings while accelerating the ecological transition, without requiring technological breakthroughs or disproportionate investments. The system constantly adapts to market conditions and the specific features of each building, offering a tailor-made solution for a gradual, controlled energy transition.
The success of this hybrid approach relies to a large extent on the advanced connectivity of the boiler rooms. Indeed, without real-time data feedback and automated analysis capabilities, dynamic optimisation between gas and electricity could not reach its full potential.
Thanks to connected systems, hybrid boiler plants become truly intelligent energy platforms, capable of :
- Continuously collect operational data (temperatures, flow rates, yields)
- Combat drift and over-consumption
- Instantly analyse the cost and carbon impact of each energy source
- Automatically switch between different energy vectors
- Anticipate needs by integrating external data (weather, energy tariffs, consumption peaks)
- Detect anomalies to anticipate future malfunctions
This connectivity also enables predictive maintenance, identifying anomalies before they lead to breakdowns or over-consumption. It provides managers with a centralised view of their energy assets, facilitating decision-making and performance monitoring.
In this way, digitising boiler plants is more than just a technical upgrade: it is the essential foundation for the large-scale deployment of high-performance hybrid solutions, serving both the energy transition and cost control.
Find out more about our solution for collective heating systems:
- Boiler room performance monitoring
- Real-time consumption monitoring
- Monitoring of management services
- Rapid detection of malfunctions
