A new way to help British Gas customers save money on their energy bills is being launched

SAMSUNG has launched a way for British Gas customers to use a handy app to reduce their monthly energy bills.

The SmartThings application allows households to manage their smart home appliances from a smartphone or tablet.

It is free to download for all Android owners, including Samsung fans and even iPhone users.

It's even available on Samsung televisions.

The app has recently been integrated with British Gas' PeakSave service, thanks to a new partnership between the two companies.

The PeakSave service sends British Gas customers notifications about the best times to use home appliances to save money on any compatible appliance.

This means that customers of British Gas, Britain's largest energy supplier, can now check the SmartThings app to see when it is best to turn on the stove or washing machine at a certain time.

In addition to alerting customers about energy prices, the app also provides real-time usage tracking.

The app now includes British Gas' PeakSave Sundays deal, where the energy supplier offers customers half-price electricity at the end of the week between 11am and 4pm.

This will happen every Sunday until the end of February.

Explained: Samsung's SmartThings app

These are the main features of the SmartThings app:

• Remotely control connected devices, check their status and program actions for each device.
• Create “Scenes” to group different devices and set simultaneous actions.
  • For example, to turn off all the lights and the TV at once).
• Personalize the settings of the connected devices.
• Share permissions with up to 20 “Members”.
• Receive notifications when the status of a connected device has changed.

“Through the partnership, British Gas will integrate with Samsung's SmartThings app to help customers optimize their home appliances to use energy when costs and demand are lower,” the pair wrote in a joint announcement.

“The partnership will also help customers on their journey to decarbonise their homes by introducing smart technologies in a way that is simple and powerful.”

From the beginning of this year, British Gas will also include Samsung heat pumps in its range.

“This, combined with the recently increased UK government grant for boiler upgrades of £7,500, creates an attractive package of financing options to help people make the transition more affordable,” the companies added.

It is important to note that the app only works for your smart devices.

So if your washing machine, dryer or whatever you want to be able to control via the app is not 'smart' or connected via Wi-Fi, this partnership may not be that useful to you.