Empiric Student Property: Maple House, Liverpool

Project Overview

Maple House, a student accommodation facility serving Liverpool’s university population, is managed by Hello Student, the operating brand of Empiric Student Property plc. The building, which was completed in 2011 and was heated by standalone panel heaters in each room, required a heating upgrade to improve energy efficiency, reduce operational costs, and enhance control across individual rooms and shared spaces. 

The project involved replacing the aging electric panel heaters with Smarter Panel Heaters developed by SmarterDM by Dimplex, alongside the installation of environment sensors in each room and a centralised control system. The goal was to modernise the heating infrastructure while delivering measurable energy savings and improving the student experience.

The Challenge

At Maple House, in common with all Hello Student properties, all utility costs are bundled and included within rent, so students have no financial imperative to ensure that heaters are switched off when they leave the room or open the windows. The existing heating system at Maple House had reached the end of its life and was outdated. With no centralised control, energy was often wasted heating unoccupied rooms, and building managers had limited visibility into system performance.

With a short refurbishment window during the summer, Empiric needed a solution that could be installed quickly, with minimal disruption and which would reduce energy consumption and improve operational oversight without negatively impacting comfort for student residents.

The Solution

SmarterDM installed Smarter Panel Heaters and environment sensors across 147 bedrooms and 46 communal kitchens. The system was deployed with minimal disruption — averaging just 15 minutes per room — and immediately brought all heating under centralised control via the SmarterDM portal.
 

The Heater

The heater installed is an intelligent panel heater, based on the market-leading Dimplex PLXE, enhanced with bespoke control hardware and software developed by SmarterDM. The Dimplex PLXE platform provides a robust, reliable foundation, while SmarterDM’s customisation adds intelligence and adaptability tailored to the PBSA environment. The SmarterDM software and hardware can even be retrofitted onto existing Dimplex PLXE heaters, massively reducing capital cost for PBSA providers who have these heaters installed and are looking to upgrade their system.
 

LoRa Connectivity: Fast, Non-Invasive Deployment

The entire system is connected via LoRa (Long Range Radio) — a low-power, wide-area wireless protocol designed for secure, long-distance communication between devices.
 

LoRa connectivity means no cabling is required, reducing installation time and cost, and no interference with the building Wi-Fi, preserving network performance for student and building managers alike. This made LoRa ideal for the Maple House retrofit project, where disruption was minimised and the existing infrastructure was not compromised.

Smart Sensors for Smarter Energy Use

In each room the Smarter Panel Heater is paired with an environmental sensor that monitors and measures temperature, humidity and occupancy. The environment sensor communicates, across the LoRa network, with a central King Gateway which connects to cloud top enable remote reporting and management at a room, building and an overall estate level.
 

Heaters at Maple House can now be turned down or switched off automatically when rooms are unoccupied — addressing one of the largest sources of energy waste in PBSA environments. The system also enables fault detection for proactive maintenance and gives building owners like Empiric valuable data that can identify, through anomalies and spikes in temperature, when potentially dangerous supplementary heaters and appliances like rice cookers are being used by students.

Intelligent Control & Seasonal Adaptation
 

SmarterDM’s system includes seasonal protocols that can automatically adjust heating schedules and control limits based on the time of year. At Maple House two seasonal protocols were employed: Spring/Summer settings reduce energy use while maintaining comfort and Autumn/Winter settings ensure warmth during colder months.
 

Students retain control over their own heating, but central limits are applied to prevent excessive energy use. This balance between autonomy and oversight helps conserve energy without compromising comfort.

Results & Feedback
 

The installation at Maple House is more than a technical upgrade, it represents a step in Empiric’s commitment to sustainability, operational excellence, and tenant wellbeing.

By deploying the SmarterDM system, Empiric has:
 

• Reduced energy consumption by up to 60%, contributing directly to carbon reduction targets and ESG reporting.
• Improved building intelligence, enabling proactive maintenance, better space utilisation, and enhanced compliance monitoring.
• Empowered residents with responsive, comfortable heating while maintaining central oversight to prevent waste.

The system’s LoRa-based wireless architecture ensures fast, non-invasive deployment, making it ideal for retrofit scenarios across Empiric’s wider portfolio. With no reliance on building Wi-Fi and no need for cabling, installations can be completed quickly and cost-effectively — as demonstrated by the 15-minute-per-room rollout at Maple House.
 

This project also supports the decarbonisation of electric heating in the PBSA sector, offering a scalable model for other operators seeking to balance energy efficiency with resident comfort. By combining smart hardware with intelligent control, SmarterDM enables real-world progress toward net zero goals without compromising on usability or performance.

Empiric’s collaboration with Dimplex reflects a shared vision: to deliver technology that works for people and the planet, and to do so in a way that’s practical, measurable, and future ready.