Most smart home gear is sold as something you add afterwards. A plug here, a bulb there, four apps on your phone and nothing talking to anything else.
We do it the other way around. Automation gets planned in with the wiring, by the same people doing the rest of the electrical work, so it behaves like part of the house rather than something stuck on top.
What that means in practice
When we are wiring a new build or a substantial renovation, the automation decisions get made at the same time as the lighting and power layout. Where the switches go, which circuits are worth controlling, whether a room needs a sensor, where the panel lives and how it all gets powered. Done at that stage it costs very little extra. Done afterwards it means lifting linings.
The result is that the light switch on the wall still works exactly as a light switch, for guests and for anyone who does not want to use an app. The automation sits behind it.
What we install
- Lighting control, from simple scene switching through to full circuit-level control
- Heating and ventilation control, including heat pumps and ducted systems responding to schedules rather than someone remembering
- Security and access, including alarm panels, cameras, intercoms and keypad entry
- Gate and garage automation
- Appliance and hot water control, including load shifting to run on cheaper power or off your own solar
- Energy monitoring, so you can see what is actually costing you money. See our energy monitoring page.
We mainly work with Shelly devices for control and monitoring, and Econx panels where a job needs security and automation handled together. Both are well supported, both keep working if the internet drops, and neither locks you into a subscription to use your own house.
The questions worth asking first
Automation goes wrong when it is bought as a product rather than designed for how a household actually runs. The questions we work through:
- What do you want to happen without anyone touching anything
- What must keep working when the internet is down, and what can wait
- Who else lives here, and will it still make sense to them
- What do you want to be able to change yourself later
A system nobody but you can operate is not a good system.
Retrofitting an existing home
You do not need a new build. Plenty can be done in an existing house without opening walls, particularly around lighting circuits, hot water, heat pumps and monitoring. We will tell you what is straightforward and what would mean serious work.
Contact us to talk through what you are trying to achieve.