There is nothing more exciting than discussing an individual's self build or renovation project with them at the home shows Customised annually exhibit at. The enthusiasm they have for their very own "Grand Design" is infectious and this week at ExCel London we are enjoying discussing new and exciting home building plans with people from across the UK.
It's our fourth consecutive year participating at Grand Designs Live with our supply partners HDL UK, a global leader in home automation. Year on year we see the demand for smart home living increasing and this year we are seeing the first signs of home technology being specified or expected as a standard fixture.
Isn't it about time our homes became equipped with central locking, intelligent heating controls and one button press actions to turn all our lights off as we leave the home? It seems this current crop of self builders agree and without any prompting we are being told that they are going to pre-wire the project to make it future ready. They want to have much more control of their home in comparison to their previous house.
Customised encourage this approach, but recommend a wiring scheme is designed by a home technology professional to ensure the building is prepared for technology. The key services homeowners want to control are their heating and lighting; they also want to be able to check on their home via internet connected cameras and have whole house wi-fi to service the plethora of tablets and smartphones found in the modern family home.
When you break those must haves into which trade will take care of them you might be faced with the electrician doing the lighting controls, the plumber managing the heating control, your alarm company setting up the cameras and a computer/IT firm deploying your wireless network. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Each is highly competent in their individual roles but how can you guarantee that all your devices will integrate with each other to give you the seamless user experience you desired at the beginning of the project.
This is where professional Home Technology installers like Customised become a valuable addition to your construction team. We're experts at integrating multiple services and technologies on to one platform or system for ease of use. You always run the risk of having a fractured setup by choosing multiple brands to control the home as opposed to a single brand setup and this is why we choose HDL to take care of the essentials in every home. HDL handles lighting and heating control with ease and combines a light switch and thermostat into one UK switch sized keypad. The HDL system also has a range of sensors for energy saving, motorised blinds and curtain tracks for window treatments and a powerful multi-room audio amplifier for whole house music. The HDL range has dozens of other devices enabling integration with alarm, air conditioning, ventilation, security and energy monitoring systems.
You can find HDL at Grand Designs Live on Stand L289 until 8th May at ExCel London.