New Smart Heating Controls from Drayton
Many people will be familiar with the Drayton name in heating controls, the British manufacturer has been in the market for over 60 years. Over…
2017
Useful Gadget of the Week: These £20 Bluetooth Headphones are Amazing
I know, headphones again, I can’t stop myself, it’s a disease. And wait till you see next months post 😉 In the meantime, here’s a…
Z-Wave Controller Compatibility Frustrations Grow as Dealer Vents
Back in January 2016 our post Say Hello, Z-Wave Goodbye seemed to strike a chord with readers. We wrote… …even though Z-Wave is a ‘standard’ there’s…
Loxone Continues to Innovate with V9 Software Release
Austrian Smart Home specialist Loxone continue to grow and innovate. Today sees the latest v9.0 of their app and configuration software. Once again developed in-house at…
New EnOcean TCM 515 Transceiver Module for Batteryless Internet of Things
Earlier this year, EnOcean demo’d their latest generation of continuously powered transceiver modules at ISH, which open up new applications for the wireless standard thanks to increased…
Barclays Study Provides Insights on Attitudes to UK Smart Home Tech
Back in 2015 Barclays Mortgages commissioned a study on the top technology that attracts homebuyers. Earlier this year they partnered with YouGov for a follow-up survey…
Going Solar Part 5 – Our PV Systems Actual Generation Figures After First Full Year
Our Solar Array was installed on the 12th September 2016 so last week saw it reach its first anniversary. In Part 2 of our Going Solar…
iPhone X, iPhone 8, Apple Watch Series 3 and Apple TV 4K – Your Cheat Sheet
Here are the highlights from todays iPhone announcement, the first to be held in the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park… iPhone iPhone X (ten)…
Review: Foobot is Your Smart Home Air Quality Monitor
There’s a lot of talk in the media these days about air quality. But who really has a clue how polluted the air is in…
AutoHome Rewards: 5 Pairs of Mpow Bluetooth Headphones to Give Away
We’ve tried the new Mpow Bluetooth Headphones and they’re hands down some of the best value wireless cans we’ve tried. The Mpow over ear headphones…
Podcast: Smart Home Monitoring on Steroids with Smappee
Here’s an interesting podcast I stumbled across. Host Nico Johnson interviews Stefan Grosjean about the new Smappee Plus device which uses Non-Intrusive Load Monitoring (NILM)…
Bargains: Muson 1080P Action Camera – £37 with Our Discount Code
The guys from Muson sent me one of their £50 1080p action cameras along with a discount code to bring it down to an incredible £37.49…
Video: Microsoft Tease GLAS Smart Thermostat from Johnson Controls
Microsoft just revealed GLAS, a new smart home thermostat in a partnership with manufacturer Johnson Controls. In addition to the Nest-like intelligent (and potentially energy saving)…
Stamp Story: How My Flickr Photo Was Used By Royal Mail for New 1st Class Stamp
I hope you’ll forgive my indulgence this one time while I tell a story that’s not smart home related. Contact This tale began with a message I…
Zigbee Alliance Introduces First Multi-Band IoT Mesh Network Technology
The Zigbee Alliance have announced the availability of Zigbee PRO 2017, the latest offering in the Alliance’s flagship mesh networking technology designed to connect and facilitate interoperability between smart…
WD My Passport Wireless Pro is 4TB Traveling Plex Server + Camera Backup
A couple of months ago I started to look around for a better portable hard drive to bring our media with us on holiday as well…
On This Day 10 Years Ago…
I still remember Saturday the 30th June 2007 clearly. On this day 10 years ago I landed in Florida on a family holiday. It was the…
New Vemmio Z-Wave Plus System Enters UK Smart Home Market
There’s a new Z-Wave game in town. Vemmio is a smart home manufacture from Poland and their new range of Z-Wave modules have just gone…
Video: Sonoff WiFi Smart Switch for Alexa, MQTT & Nest Control for Under £10
Here’s another great video from BRUH Automation on an interesting little in-line module that’s available for under £10 (or a little over £10 from sources closer to…
Tesla Powerwall 2 Domestic Solar Battery Installation – Photos & Details
Energy storage is becoming more and more interesting to smart home owners and we recently spotted this write up of a Tesla Powerwall 2 installation…