smart home surgery

Your connected-home queries answered by T3’ s experts

Connected home starter kits and machines that do the laundry for you

I’m helping my elderly parents choose a smart home starter kit. Which ones do you recommend? They need to be easy to install and straightforward to use.

Alex Cox replies: Thankfully, the vast majority of big-name companies in the smart home starter kit field have made reducing complexity a high priority. Hive by British Gas is a favourite platform for many in terms of how simple it is to use. While setting up the thermostat part of the Hive Active Heating starter kit isn’t the easiest task, your parents could opt to buy the starter kit and have it professionally installed (£ 249, hivehome. com), so that they can enjoy a toasty

Ahome right away and whatever the weather outside.

It’s also easy to expand; adding new devices to Hive’s smart hub is done through a straightforward interface, and there’s a vast selection of products, from connected lights and plugs to smart window and door sensors (available to buy in multi-packs) and so much more.

There are even a number of extras that could really help your parents, such as security cameras (£129 for the Hive Camera, or £189 for the sleek new Hive View) and a water leak sensor (on a £3.99 per month subscription) which can spot unusual rates of flow and reveal leaks before they get out of control.

If you’re leaning more towards self-installation, setting your parents up with an Echo Plus (£140, amazon.co.uk) as a central hub opens up a world of Zigbee- compatible devices, and means they don’t even need to set things up through an app – just say “Alexa, discover discover my devices”. Plus, what’s more space-age than talking to your lights?