Home Automation

We are often asked if we do home automation. The simple answer of course is that we do however if you were to ask what people think home automation actually is, you get everything from electric curtains to a Thunderbirds house!

So what exactly is home automation? The first thing to note is that home automation is not simply a product. In its simplest form it is any form of technology which gives you less to think about when running your home. Most of us would be lost without our heating and hot water time-clocks ensuring we have heating and hot water first thing in the morning. This is perhaps the simplest form of home automation.

One of the common mistakes when looking at home automation is to consider the technology before the requirements. The possibilities are really endless but unless your budget is also, you could be setting yourself up for disappointment. When thinking about home automation, make a list of priorities. Every situation is different and needs for the elderly or infirm may be very different to someone with a large estate to manage.

When you have an integrated solution there are areas which are often low-cost to implement like having the intruder alarm turn off all the lights in the house when you set the alarm. This is often a very simple interraction with a very useful benefit. Of course, it wouldn't be possible unless you had an intelligent lighting system in the first place.

Similarly with heating, having the alarm set back the heating to a standby temperature when you leave is also often a low cost option. There are of course many other scenarios, here are a few to get you thinking:

• Electric windows, particularly in conservatories which automatically open when you are in the house and the temperature is over a certain point
• Occupancy simulation - a feature which can record or time a lighting usage pattern to replay (sometimes with some random variation) when you are out. Curtains, blinds and other elements can also be added to more sophisticated installations
• Having many elements in a room respond to a command like a home cinema for example. The lights dim, the screen comes down, the projector turns on along with the amplifier, blu-ray player and other elements. At the end of a film the lights can even be programmed to come up
• In a large house or estate multiple modes can be used to shut down rooms which are not in use for part of the year or unless there are visitors.
• Light levels in a room can be maintained at a set level with artificial light automatically compensating for reducing natural light
• Automated blinds controlling the amount of sunlight coming through large glazed areas to manage solar gain

There is no one product or solution which makes any or all of the above happen. It all starts with careful consideration of needs, possible needs and nice to have's and then a good system design. Various products and solutions on the market offer varying levels of adaptability for different automation needs - there is no one right answer.

As we are not tied to any one system or manufacturer we work with you from real requirements before matching them to a solution or set of solutions.