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.”
This is where compatibility and good design come in. It’s all very well being wowed by different manufacturers’ products and apps, but you need to work with your technology installer to ensure it will fit seamlessly with the overall setup. “Most thermostats work with most control systems, but it’s about whether the level of integration is right,” says James. “The temperature change function on the version your heating engineer has specified might be great, but does it suit your goals for smart scheduling? Or perhaps it will integrate with underfloor heating, but not with the hot water supply.”
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October 2018
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