CLOSER LOOK: INTELLIGENT CONTROL

Accessing the best lifestyle-enhancing features of a smart home is all about building a little extra brainpower into the fabric of your setup. Some systems can gradually learn your usage patterns based on the information they get from sensors – for instance, if you leave for work and return home at a similar time every day, they start to optimise your heating setup for energy efficiency.

One of the most intelligent advances in smart living has been geofencing. “Imagine your house on Google Maps, and then draw a circle around it. That’s basically your geofence,” says Iain Shaw from Brilliant Lighting (www.brilliantlighting.co.uk). “Lutron’s version works by communication with the cloud. If you get too far away and you’ve left your lights or home cinema on, it notifies you and asks whether you want to turn it off.” The technology is most useful when you’re on your way home. The system actively knows you’re approaching, and can make decisions such as switching on porch and hallway lighting or boosting the heating to give you the perfect welcome.