Prefect Controls
About the company
Prefect Controls is a UK company specialising in heating controls and energy management for multi-occupancy buildings. Its Irus system now runs in more than 180 UK sites, and Prefect estimates that around 10% of UK student accommodation is controlled by one of its products.
What do they do?
Prefect position themselves as specialists in intelligent energy management for multi-occupancy buildings such as student accommodation, build-to-rent, co-living and hotels. Their Irus system centrally controls room-by-room heating and hot water through a web portal, using occupancy so that only rooms in use are heated.
- What it does: Central, room-level control of heating and hot water from a web portal.
- Integration: Controls both electric and wet heating systems, with the Irus ControlSensor in each room.
- Data and reporting: Monitors temperature, humidity, light and noise, with live usage data across blocks.
- Proof point: Curlew Capital halved heating energy at The Refinery, saving nearly £70,000 a year; Irus won Energy Management System of the Year at the 2025 Energy Saving Awards.
Prefect suits operators of student accommodation, build-to-rent, co-living and hotels, where energy is used in rooms that management teams cannot easily enter or control.