Custom heating configuration app development from product data
Appfront builds apps for installers, wholesalers and manufacturers who put together heating systems: a heat pump, boiler or hybrid system with a cylinder, buffer vessel, manifolds, radiators or underfloor heating and controls, assembled from manufacturers' and wholesalers' product data, checked for capacity, connections and compatibility, with a bill of materials that becomes a quote or order directly. So that an engineer or adviser never assembles a set that doesn't fit together, and every item in the quote is a real product.
What is a heating configuration app built on product data?
A heating system is a combination of components that must fit together: the heat pump or boiler, the cylinder, a buffer vessel, manifolds, the radiators or underfloor heating, pumps, valves and the controls. Each component has technical characteristics in the manufacturer's product data: capacity, temperatures, connection sizes. A heating configuration app uses that data to assemble a set that works and turns it into a bill of materials.
Without an app like this, an adviser puts the set together from catalogues and experience, checks the connection dimensions in PDFs, and retypes the items into a quote. A heat pump with a boiler that doesn't match its capacity, a forgotten fitting, an item that is no longer available: it only comes to light at delivery or on installation day. And the knowledge of which combinations work sits with the two people who have been doing it for years.
We build custom solutions because the configuration must match your range and your rules: which brands and product lines you stock, which product data you have available, which combinations you do and don't want to propose, how you price, and which systems receive the quote or order. A trade product database knows the components; it doesn't say which components together form a working installation.
Built on real product data
Components with their technical characteristics from the trade product database and from manufacturers, up to date and with availability, as the building blocks of the configuration.
Checked for coherence
Rules for output, flow temperature, connection sizes and compatibility. A combination that won't work is never suggested.
From set to quote
The complete parts list with accessories and your prices, converted into a quote for the customer or an order with the wholesaler.
How we build your heating configuration app on product data
We start with the installations you assemble: which combinations occur most often, where you get the technical data from, and how often something turned out not to fit.
Your brands and product lines, the product data you have, the rules for combinations drawn from experience and manufacturer information, and the systems for quotes and orders.
Importing items with technical specifications, and recording the rules for output, temperatures, connections and compatibility.
The app in which an adviser or fitter puts the installation together, with checks and suggestions for suitable parts.
The parts list with accessories and prices, conversion to a quote or order, integrations with costing and ERP, and then ongoing management.
What a heating configurator app built on article data actually does
The components below come up in almost every heating configurator. Which ones you need depends on your range and on who is doing the configuring.
Article data import
Articles, technical specifications, images and prices from the trade article database, from manufacturers and from your price list, updated regularly.
Configuration steps
Choose the heat source, storage, emitters and controls, step by step, with only the parts that fit your earlier choices.
Compatibility rules
Rules for output, flow temperature, connection sizes, voltage and compatibility between brands and series.
Accessories
Fittings, valves, pumps and mounting materials that belong with the chosen items, added to the parts list automatically.
Availability and pricing
Availability and price per article, with an alternative if something is out of stock.
Quote and order
The bill of materials as a quote for the customer or as an order with the wholesaler, without retyping.
Who we build a heating configurator app from article data for
The app is intended for businesses that currently put installations together from catalogues, PDFs and experience.
Installers of heat pumps and heating
Many different situations per home. Configuring on site and the quote are the core.
Technical wholesalers
Installers who need help putting systems together. A configurator that is correct and feeds into an order matters most.
Manufacturers and importers
Manufacturers with their own product lines and many combinations. Rules and a dealer configurator are what is needed.
Consultancies
Designers working on projects with multiple homes. Checking for coherence and a bill of materials per type are at the heart of it.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
This page is about putting together a system from item data. For the installer who fits and maintains heat pumps, see our page on heat pump software. For configurators in general, see our page on a product configurator, and for quotes with variants, our page on a CPQ system. You can read about how we work under get software built.
Why Appfront for your heating configurator app built on article data?
An installation that doesn't fit together only shows up on installation day. That is what we build around: putting systems together from real articles, checking for coherence, and producing a bill of materials that is complete.
No set that doesn't fit
Output, temperatures and connections are checked as the system is put together. Anything that won't work is not suggested.
Nothing overlooked
Accessories come along automatically. The missing fitting discovered on installation day is a thing of the past.
Company knowledge
The rules on which combinations work live in the app, not only in the heads of two experienced advisers.
Security and privacy for a heating configurator app built on article data
The app contains article data, prices, configurations and quotes, sometimes with customer data. Access is set up per role: fitters and advisers configure, purchasing manages prices, administrators maintain the rules. Every change to a rule is logged with name and time.
The app runs in a European data centre, with encrypted storage and daily backups. Integrations with the item database and wholesalers use your own keys, which can be revoked.
Frequently asked questions about an app for configuring heating systems from article data
Questions that installers and wholesalers ask before getting started with this.
It imports items with their technical specifications, lets an adviser or fitter build up a system step by step, checks output, temperatures, connections and compatibility, adds accessories, checks availability and price, and converts the parts list into a quote or order.
From the trade article database in which wholesalers and manufacturers supply their products, from manufacturer data, and from your own price list. We will review which sources you can use in the first step.
Built from rules we record with you: output of the heat source and emitters, flow temperatures, connection sizes, and which series from which brands work together. Those rules come from manufacturer data and the experience of your advisers.
The app can use the result of a heat loss calculation to select the output. The calculation itself usually takes place in dedicated calculation software; the app can connect to it.
Yes. The bill of materials with your prices becomes a quote for the customer, or an order with the wholesaler, without anyone having to retype articles.
Advisers in the office, fitters at the customer's home, or installers who configure as a customer of a wholesaler or manufacturer. Depending on the role, the app can show different articles and prices.
Check that first. Many manufacturers have a configurator for their own products, and that is sufficient if you stock a single brand. Custom development makes sense if you combine brands, if your own rules and prices must apply, or if the configuration needs to feed directly into your quoting or ordering process.
An installation that already checks out on paper?
Tell us which brands and systems you put together, what article data you have and how you currently produce quotes. We will show you what the configuration, the check and the bill of materials look like.