Smart Home Automation London

In theory, yes. That said, there may be some updating required to the wiring in order to ensure the system works as intended. How much work will depend in large part on the age of the home and how well it has been maintained. But since the average age of a house in the UK is a spry 37 years most homes will not need upgrades to the electrical system prior to a smart home installation.

You can but it is not recommended. Installing a single smart component in a house is typically well within the abilities of any experienced DIYer. However, once you get into the more complex aspects of a smart home installation where dozens of components need to be installed and properly synced to the various control platforms it is imperative that you have an experienced smart home installation professional handling the project.

A faulty installation could result in a critical failure at an important time that could leave your home vulnerable to intruders, or cause temperature control to go haywire or your entertainment centre to experience glitches when you have friends over to watch the big match. In addition, installing some components yourself may invalidate the warranty.

In a world of sky high energy prices and widespread concern over the effects of wasteful energy policies and outdated technologies enhancing your home’s energy profile and reducing its carbon footprint will no doubt enhance its market value. In fact, real estate studies indicate that an energy efficient home sells faster and commands anywhere from 2% to 8% more on the market than a home that wastes energy. Considering the average house price in England is more than £300,000 that’s a considerable bump in value.

In other words, does a smart home installation need to encompass everything in the house or can it be targeted to just a few components? The answer is you can install as many or as few smart home components as you wish. Some people opt for a smart home security system only. Others are more interested in smart thermostats and perhaps smart control of their blinds and curtains. If you have questions about what level of automation is right for your home and your budget talk to the pros at Connect Automation.

Any device that connects to the internet is susceptible to being hacked. That goes for your smartphone, tablet, laptop, even most automobiles manufactured in the past 5 years. Unfortunately, smart home devices are not completely immune from the scourge of nefarious players intent on doing harm to others.

The good news is that the ability to hack into a smart home system is well beyond the capabilities of most intruders who just want to get in quick, grab something of value and get out.

Yes, in the vast majority of cases, a smart home installation will result in a more energy-efficient home. During a typical installation, a number of devices will be installed that are specifically designed to reduce energy consumption, including smart thermostats, LED lights with smart lighting controls, things like smart power strips and smart switches as well as any number of smart appliances. Even if you only have half of these devices installed your home should be noticeably more energy efficient after the smart home installation.

Ideally, you would want to install smart home devices when the home is being built. But that is not always possible. In fact, the overwhelming majority of smart home installations occur on existing homes. The second best option would be to schedule the installation during a home renovation when there is already quite a bit of work being done on the house. In truth though, the pros at Connect Automation are so good at their job that any disruption to your lifestyle will be minimal no matter when you schedule the installation.

In most cases, yes. However, many things affect home values so there is no way to absolutely guarantee an increase. But let’s say for a moment that nothing happens to negatively affect the value of your home or property between the time you order a smart home installation and the time that installation is complete. If that is the case your home should experience a bump in value upon completion of the installation simply because it is now safer and now more energy efficient than it used to be.

Not at all. Your new smart home system can be controlled via a central control panel or buy a smartphone app that provides control over all aspects of the system from anywhere in the world. Forget to close the blinds before you went to Thailand? Not to worry! You can close them using your smartphone from Kata Beach in Phuket and your holiday won’t miss a beat. That said, the installation pro from Connect Automation will make sure you understand all aspects of how to control your new system before they close the book on the installation.

The cost of your smart home installation will depend on a variety of factors. For instance, installing a smart home system in a 2-storey, 4-bedroom house with an entertainment centre in the basement will cost considerably more in most cases than a smart home installation in a single-storey, 1-bedroom home. Another big factor that will affect the final cost - besides the sheer physical size of your home - is the number and type of devices you choose to install. Some people want whole-home audio. Others don't. Some want CCTV, others are content with motion sensors. So it depends.