This tech puts the power at your fingertips – but the real benefits lie in automating tasks so the system integrates into your lifestyle

Look up the term ‘smart homes’ online and you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s all about phones and voice activation. The top search results will list kit like the Amazon Echo and Google Home as the basis for a connected setup. But these are simply another form of interface, like your wall switches, touchscreens or the apps on your phone. They just do the job in a different way.

If you’ve gone for a fullyintegrated smart home, the brains behind it will be the rack in your plant room – connected back via the core cabling. “Bus wiring can be daisy chained, but everything else comes off a central brain that quantifies and populates all the commands, such as the Niko system,” says Andy Moss from Moss Technical. “There may be some kind of sensor to detect your presence in the house, for instance, but it’s the Niko that realises you’re in and turns the lights on.”