A metaheuristic approach based hybrid data routing algorithm is proposed in this paper for energy-efficient wireless sensor network (WSN) applications in Internet of Things (IoT). High speed generation of network demands of more IoT enabled services and platforms. Swarm optimization in route finding is integrated with energy-efficient heuristic method to obtain improved data routing algorithm for heterogeneous WSN. Particle swarm optimized Residual Energy based Stable Election Protocol (PRESEP) simulation yields multi objective solutions for use of residual node energy, prolonged network lifetime and stable cluster formation. Protocol minimizes the cluster head (CH) selection cycle as an outcome of reactive protocol benefits of easy global search of swarm optimization for sustainable data routing in energy-efficient cluster based heterogeneous WSN. Scaling of network is supported by the algorithm with varied heterogeneity factor. Support for heterogeneous WSN with various network sizes are evaluated and found it outperformed previous heterogeneous algorithm in terms of network lifetime, alive nodes, reduced energy consumption with minimum number of repeated CH selection process.