British Gas has signed an agreement with Heata to explore using waste heat from servers in homes.

The companies will be conducting a trial together to determine whether a distributed cloud computing platform with servers hosted in people's homes instead of in a physical data center could be a viable solution for heating houses in the UK.

Each server is attached to the home's hot water cylinder, which is heated as the server processes data. A heat unit can provide up to 4kWh of heat per day, and it is hoped this can replace some of the output from the property's gas boiler, thus reducing the gas used and carbon footprint.

The electricity used by the server is paid for by heata, which could also help households reduce costs.

“This trial with British Gas is an exciting step, and we hope other businesses will follow suit. With a small change to where they place their data processing, businesses throughout the UK could be supporting their communities as a byproduct of their cloud computing,” said Chris Jordan, Heata co-founder.

The trial will last three months and see 10 heat units installed in the homes of British Gas employees. The servers will be used by British Gas, so the company will be providing free hot water for its employees as a byproduct of its cloud computing needs.

Paul Lodwidge, head of energy product and propositions from British Gas, said: “Innovative projects like this are another example of how the UK is becoming a leader in cutting carbon emissions. heata is a true pioneer in the way it has developed a solution that can reuse waste heat and deliver significant cost and carbon savings. We’re proud to be able to support them with this latest trial and will work together to share insights and learnings that will enable the business to scale up its offering.”

Heata has previously partnered with Civo on a similar pilot scheme to heat UK homes in 2023.

Reusing waste heat is becoming increasingly popular. Also in the UK, Deep Green uses its "digital boiler" Edge data center to heat swimming pools in Exmouth and Yorkshire. Civo is also a partner of Deep Green.