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In an era where data drives decision-making, social housing providers can no longer afford to lag behind. The key to unlocking operational efficiencies, cost savings, and most importantly, ensuring resident safety lies in embracing intelligently designed remote technology solutions. At Vericon Systems, we believe that connected solutions can transform the way social housing is managed, enhancing the lives of thousands of residents across the country.
For years, the maintenance of heating systems has followed a reactive pattern – wait for a breakdown, then scramble to repair or replace. This approach is not only costly but leads to resident dissatisfaction and even safety risks. By harnessing real-time data from Vericon’s BCM, which tracks boiler performance metrics such as flow temperature, return temperature, and system pressure, social housing providers can proactively schedule maintenance, reducing unexpected failures and keeping residents warm and safe.
BCM’s real-time monitoring capabilities send intelligent performance data to the cloud, where it can be interrogated and analysed to predict and identify common failures such as low pressure, loss of gas, and even a frozen condensate pipe. Its GSM connectivity provides a secure data stream to and from the device, reporting in real time to the cloud, removing any dependence on an occupant’s Wi-Fi network. Plus, each BCM has a complete and detailed record of its history and audit trail, allowing for the review of all actions, alerts, and notifications that have occurred throughout its entire lifetime. And with universal compatibility, BCM is designed to monitor housing stock in real time and is capable of operating with all major boiler brands, as well as being future compatible with air source heat pumps and hydrogen boilers.
Boiler breakdowns due to low pressure are a common and frustrating emergency. These avoidable callouts place a burden on maintenance resources and leave residents without heating or hot water. Vericon’s AutoFill solution autonomously monitors boiler pressure in real-time, detecting when a system is losing pressure and autonomously repressurising the system to prevent breakdowns. When the boiler pressure falls below a specific limit, the AutoFill system initiates the filling procedure. During this process, AutoFill operates for three seconds to fill and subsequently checks the pressure. This cycle continues until either the desired 1.5 bar is attained or a failure is identified within the system.
AutoFill provides real-time notifications, with every top-up recorded on the portal with a timestamp. Should another top-up be necessary within a 90-day period, an engineer will be alerted to address the issue. In the event that a third top-up is needed, the system will be identified as needing an engineer visit and preventing any further top-ups. AutoFill is seamlessly integrated within the existing fill loop of the boiler, ensuring complete compatibility with any boiler system.
Mould growth and damp conditions pose serious health risks to residents, from respiratory issues to long-term conditions. Traditional methods of detection rely on visual inspections, often missing early signs of moisture issues. Vericon’s MultiDOT sensors track temperature and humidity in real-time, enabling the swift identification of potential mould and damp risks, allowing for prompt remediation and ensuring a safe living environment. MultiDOT serves as a diagnostic tool that can be reused for properties experiencing damp and mould issues. After installing the device and resolving the issue, it can be installed in the next property. Landlords and property managers can use MultiDOT to monitor temperature and humidity levels in specific areas where it is installed, ensuring tenant safety by identifying potential mould and dampness problems early. MultiDOT provides instant, real-time information, its technology enabling seamless analysis of critical data points, enhancing the decision-making processes.
“Although the Vericon system has only been live for a matter of months, we are already seeing positive results,” says Chris Roberts, Sustainability Manager at Plus Dane Housing.
“With the ability to proactively monitor, manage and evaluate humidity levels within our properties, we can prevent the build-up of damp and mould and all of the problems they bring. Vericon’s ongoing service and support has been first class.”
Fuel poverty and being able to monitor vulnerable residents is a growing concern within the social housing sector. These individuals may face various physical, mental, or financial challenges that could impact their safety and well-being. Vericon will monitor properties of residents tagged by the housing provider as vulnerable for signs of activity.
Vericon can monitor energy usage in real-time, identify properties with low room temperatures, frequent energy outages, or unusual energy usage patterns, highlighting where support is needed. By targeting assistance to those most in need, social housing providers can make a real difference in tackling fuel poverty and helping vulnerable residents.
Vacant properties pose unique challenges, from being able to prevent damage to avoiding unnecessary energy waste. Vericon’s BCM enables the remote management of heating in void properties, ensuring pipes don’t freeze and avoiding costly repairs. It’s a simple yet effective way to increase operational efficiency and reduce costs.
Ensuring statutory compliance for emergency lighting is a critical yet often time-consuming task. Vericon’s Emered solution automates the testing and reporting of emergency lighting, providing full audit trails and ensuring all systems are safe and compliant. Emered can be installed and commissioned on to any luminaire in under 10 minutes and will carry out tests over the next 10 years and beyond. Importantly, Emered performs both monthly and annual tests, including the mandatory 3-hour test, and the flick test, for complete compliance. Using Vericon’s Portal, test schedules can be set per device allowing for staggered testing in a single building, ensuring compliance with BS5266. The EmeRed will automatically send all test results to Vericon Connect. The Connect system will then notify specified users to any failed lamps or those requiring preventative maintenance.
Don’t just take our word for it. Our solutions are already delivering real results for social housing providers.
“Working with the Vericon team and their eco-system has been a refreshing experience,” said Paul Hutchins, Innovations Contract Manager at LiveWest.
“The Vericon trial has given LiveWest an opportunity to fully understand an option as a future service strategy and how the innovative concepts could flow into existing structures and workflows.”
Rob McFerran of Selwood Housing commends Vericon’s Surveyor Cube, stating, “The implementation of The Surveyor Cube has proved to be a valuable tool for Selwood Housing and our customers, improving resident comfort and aiding in our joint effort to eradicate damp and mould from our housing stock.”
The Surveyor Cube consists of a plug & play BCM, several MultiDOT devices, adhesive pads and full portal access with the capability to instantly view and report on a properties environmental conditions. The Surveyor Cube can be installed in minutes, with no specialist tools or knowledge. The Plug and Play BCM has a three pin plug fitted to allow for simple power-up and re-deployment. All information collected by the devices is sent via the plug and play BCM to Connect to be interrogated and analysed by our machine learning algorithms. The data can then be reviewed and downloaded for a full audit trail.
At Vericon Systems, we’re dedicated to improving the lives of social housing residents through innovative connected solutions. By partnering with us, housing providers can benefit from streamlined operations, significant cost savings, and improved resident satisfaction. Our mission is to enhance property management and resident living, one connected home at a time. We believe that intelligently designed remote technology solutions that provide insightful data and enable remote interventions are the key to unlocking a more efficient, effective, and resident-focused future for social housing.
The question is, are you ready to unlock the power of real-time data and start transforming your operations with intelligently designed remote technology solutions?
For more information about how Vericon can benefit your housing projects call 01242 582 555 or email [email protected]
Together, we can make a significant impact in combating fuel poverty and ensuring a better future for social housing.
As temperatures drop, the reliability of your residents’ heating systems becomes paramount. Pressure-related issues are all too common, leading to costly repairs, inconvenient breakdowns, and unhappy residents. In fact, under-pressure faults are the most common reason for boiler faults, resulting in systems shutting down and leaving residents without heating or hot water until the issue is resolved. According to Rightio, up to 45% of people have experienced a boiler breakdown in the winter, highlighting the importance of proactive maintenance during the colder months.
When under-pressure faults occur, they often require immediate attention from an engineer. This can lead to increased costs for emergency callouts, not to mention the inconvenience and potential disruption for residents. By preventing these faults from occurring in the first place, social housing providers can avoid these unnecessary expenses and ensure residents stay warm and comfortable.
Vericon Systems’ AutoFill is the intelligent solution you need. This innovative device intelligently monitors and automatically repressurises central heating systems, preventing pressure-related issues before they become major headaches. With real-time notifications and alerts, your team can conduct proactive maintenance to keep systems in optimal condition – no matter the temperature outside. AutoFill records each top-up made, along with the corresponding date and time, providing a clear history of maintenance activities.
If another top-up is required within 90 days, the system will flag it for an engineer to attend to, ensuring potential issues are addressed promptly. In the event of a third top-up being necessary, AutoFill will deactivate the device and immediately alert an engineer to ensure urgent assistance and prevent any further top-ups, minimising downtime and disruption for residents.
AutoFill is universally compatible with traditional boilers, making it the perfect addition to your existing infrastructure. By partnering with Vericon Systems, you’ll not only streamline your heating maintenance but also enhance resident satisfaction, reduce costs, and stay compliant.
Don’t let pressure-related issues leave your residents in the cold this winter. Discover how Vericon’s AutoFill can revolutionise your approach to heating system maintenance.
Is your organisation ready to embrace a more proactive, efficient approach to heating maintenance? Our team is here to discuss how Vericon Systems can help you transform your operations and improve the lives of your residents.
For more information about how Vericon’s products can benefit your housing application call 01242 582 555 or email [email protected]
Together, we can make a significant impact in combating fuel poverty and ensuring a better future for social housing.
Heating system failures are not only a major source of tenant complaints but also contribute significantly to reactive maintenance expenses. As such, social housing providers must adopt innovative strategies to optimise heating management, improve efficiency, and ensure reliable performance. Let’s explore traditional gas boiler monitoring and how social housing providers can leverage advanced solutions from Vericon Systems to achieve these goals.
Heating and hot water system failures account for the highest share of reactive maintenance expenses in social housing. These failures are disruptive, costly, and generate the most complaints from tenants. The traditional approach to boiler maintenance, which relies heavily on reactive repairs following a failure, is inefficient and often results in prolonged periods of discomfort for tenants.
Monitoring the health of a boiler enables maintenance providers to shift from a reactive to a proactive maintenance approach. By leveraging advanced monitoring solutions, maintenance teams can remotely manage issues, dispatch engineers proactively, and schedule preventive maintenance. This integrated planned and preventative maintenance program not only reduces downtime but also extends the lifespan of the boiler, ultimately leading to cost savings and improved tenant satisfaction.
Vericon Systems offers innovative boiler and air source heat pump monitoring products designed to meet the unique needs of social housing providers. Our BCM (Boiler Control Module) and other monitoring solutions provide real-time insights into the health and performance of heating systems, allowing for timely interventions and efficient management.
Enables maintenance teams to monitor the health and performance of boilers remotely, reducing the need for on-site visits.
Allows for the early detection of potential issues, enabling proactive maintenance and reducing the likelihood of system failures.
Provides valuable data on boiler performance, helping maintenance teams make informed decisions and optimise heating management.
Reduces reactive maintenance expenses and extends the lifespan of heating systems, leading to significant cost savings.
Optimising heating management is essential to improving efficiency and ensuring reliable performance. By adopting advanced boiler monitoring solutions from Vericon, social housing providers can transition to a proactive maintenance approach, reduce downtime, and enhance tenant satisfaction.
Investing in these innovative products not only addresses the immediate challenges of heating system failures but also paves the way for a more efficient and cost-effective future.
For more information about how Vericon’s boiler monitoring can benefit your housing projects call 01242 582 555 or email [email protected]
Managing damp and mould is an ongoing challenge for landlords. This problem is often exacerbated by the reliance on unstructured and fragmented data from multiple systems. The lack of integration makes it difficult for landlords to obtain a comprehensive view of the problem, hindering their ability to understand the data and prioritise repairs effectively.
Social landlords typically collect environmental data from various sources to monitor the condition of their properties. However, these data sources are often isolated in different systems, providing only a partial view of the issue at hand. This fragmentation leads to inefficiencies in identifying and addressing damp and mould problems, as it is challenging to pinpoint the most critical areas requiring attention.
Vericon offers a solution to this problem. By integrating environmental data from multiple devices across an entire property portfolio into a single online portal, Vericon provides a unified view of the property conditions.
This comprehensive approach allows social landlords to monitor their properties in real-time, analyse, and act upon environmental data efficiently.
Vericon’s online portal leverages powerful data analytics to help housing providers make sense of the vast amount of information collected by their sensors. The platform identifies patterns, pinpoints problem areas, and generates easy to understand actionable reports. This data-driven approach ensures that housing providers can address issues promptly and effectively.
Integrating all damp, mould, and environmental data into a single online portal offers social housing providers a multitude of benefits that streamline property management and enhance the living conditions for residents.
Having all environmental data, including damp and mould information, in one online portal provides a unified view of the property portfolio’s conditions. This integration breaks down data silos and allows for a holistic understanding of various environmental issues across different properties. Additionally, incorporating boiler telemetry into this centralised system can help identify issues such as fuel poverty, which has a direct link to the risk of damp and mould. By monitoring boiler performance and usage patterns, housing providers can detect signs of fuel poverty early and take proactive measures to mitigate its impact, thereby reducing the likelihood of damp and mould development.
Vericon’s online portal leverages powerful data analytics to help housing providers make sense of the vast amount of information collected by their sensors. The platform identifies patterns, pinpoints problem areas that require immediate attention, and generates actionable reports. For instance, it can detect if ventilation fans are being turned off, working ineffectively, or even if they need cleaning. This level of detailed monitoring ensures that housing providers can address issues promptly and effectively, preventing small problems from escalating into larger, more costly repairs.
With all relevant data accessible in one place, decision-makers can more effectively prioritise repairs and maintenance. This ensures that resources are allocated to the most critical areas, improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of property management.
Centralised data enables advanced analytics and predictive maintenance strategies. Using Community Learning and AI, Vericon can identify patterns and trends in environmental conditions meaning housing providers can take proactive measures to prevent issues before they escalate, reducing long-term repair costs. For example, Vericon can highlight ineffective fans or fans that have been turned off. Addressing these issues promptly can cost around £100, whereas waiting for the problem to escalate can result in repair costs running into thousands of pounds. This proactive approach ensures that minor issues are resolved before they become major, costly problems.
Maintaining a historical record of environmental data in one portal allows for trend analysis over time. This historical perspective is invaluable for identifying recurring issues, assessing the effectiveness of past interventions, and planning future maintenance strategies.
Having a comprehensive and easily accessible record of environmental data supports compliance with regulatory requirements. Housing providers can demonstrate a proactive approach to maintaining property standards, reducing the risk of penalties associated with poor living conditions.
With comprehensive data in one portal, housing providers can allocate their repair and maintenance resources more effectively. By focusing on the most severe and problematic areas, they can maximise the impact of their efforts and ensure that resources are used where they are needed most.
A centralised portal provides a clear audit trail of actions taken to address environmental issues. This accountability ensures that all stakeholders are aware of the steps being taken to improve property conditions and can track progress over time.
When a surveyor or operative visits a property with reported damp and mould issues , by scanning the QR code on the device an audit log is created showing the person along with the date and time of their visit. They also have the ability to attach photographs to the room, again date and time stamped to show the actual condition pre and post any work activities.
As the property portfolio grows, the centralised portal can easily scale to accommodate additional data and new properties. This ensures that housing providers can continue to manage environmental conditions effectively, regardless of the size of their portfolio.
Having all damp, mould, environmental, and heating telemetry in one online portal empowers social housing providers with a comprehensive, efficient, and proactive approach to property management. This leads to improved health and safety for residents, optimised resource allocation, regulatory compliance, cost savings, and ultimately, higher resident satisfaction.
Contact Vericon today to learn more about our damp & mould monitoring products and how they can benefit your portfolio.
Complete the form on this page and we will be in contact, alternatively please get in contact us by calling 01242 582 555.
Winter poses significant challenges for social housing providers. As temperatures drop, the demand on boilers skyrockets, leading to frequent breakdowns. This not only incurs high costs but also leaves residents in the cold. To mitigate this, it’s crucial to act now.
Boiler breakdowns during winter are costly and disruptive. By integrating Vericon’s advanced IoT boiler monitoring solutions, you can ensure your systems are prepared for the colder months.
During winter, boilers face increased strain due to heightened demand and temperature fluctuations. This can cause components to contract and expand, leading to leaks, ignition failures, and other faults. Without regular maintenance, these issues can result in costly repairs and increased emergency calls.
Vericon’s solutions provide real-time remote monitoring, performance oversight, and maintenance data. This allows you to detect and address issues before they escalate into full-blown breakdowns. With Vericon, you can ensure your heating systems are winter-ready.
This includes:
Regular maintenance is often overlooked, leading to severe problems during winter. As maintenance calls surge, finding available staff and resources becomes challenging, often forcing reliance on expensive subcontractors. Proactive maintenance, facilitated by Vericon’s monitoring solutions, is key to avoiding these pitfalls.
Boiler breakdowns in winter can leave residents without heat, compromising their comfort and safety. By installing Vericon’s monitoring solutions now, you can proactively maintain your systems, significantly reducing the likelihood of winter breakdowns and ensuring reliable heating for your residents.
Don’t wait for winter to hit. Contact Vericon today to discover how our cutting-edge boiler monitoring technology can revolutionise your maintenance strategy and protect your properties. Our team is ready to provide a solution tailored to your needs.
Act now to ensure your residents have reliable heating this winter.
Contact Vericon today to learn more about our boiler monitoring products and how they can benefit your portfolio.
Complete the form on this page and we will be in contact, alternatively please get in contact us by calling 01242 582 555.