Smart living

The latest in clever home technology

‘The latest ideas are as stylish as they are clever because you can control them from a device such as your smartphone or tablet,’ says interior designer Anna Burles. Here are some key innovations…

1 PORT OF CALL

Smart in the sense that it features a USB port to charge your smartphone, the Goldman by Ron Gilad lamp from Flos has classic good looks. It costs £355.

2 BRILLIANT BULB

British Gas’s Hive Active Light is a great value bulb that’s operated via a smartphone app. It costs £19 and comes with both screw-in and bayonet fittings.

3 SENSOR STYLE

Yet to launch in the UK, this multifunctional light by Sony is activated by sensors when you enter a room, while turning on the TV and sound system.

4 AMBIENT MOOD

Replace your current bulb with the energy efficient Avea LED Bulb, £39.95, Elgato, to enjoy colourful mood effects controlled via your smartphone, iPad or Apple Watch.

5 SAFE AS HOUSES

The Awox 7W LED Wi-Fi CCTV lightbulb doubles as a security camera controllable from your smartphone or tablet. It costs £119.99 from Lighting Direct.

6 EASY WAKENING

You can set the bedside lights of the LightwaveRF system to come on slowly over an hour, projecting a very natural light effect. Prices start at £25, and go up to £1,000 for a system that will control your power, lighting, heating and more.

7 TOTALLY AUTOMATIC

Many car headlamps when set to auto mode will turn on and

off in response to light levels – and some hi-tech home lights such as the Wemo Smart LED Bulb, £24.99, belkin.com, do something similar. Using your smart device, you can programme the bulb to respond to sunset and sunrise.

8 IN THE MOOD

Precision Lighting provides warm LED lights emitting a candlelight glow that’s dimmable. The art-gallery-style system has adjustable beams to pick out key features that you want to highlight. This top-ofthe-range option costs from £2,500 for a track with 10 changeable beam and angle lights.

9 REMOTE CONTROL

Samsung’s Smart Things system allows you to control and monitor the lights in your home along with the temperature and any small appliances connected to a Smart Plug. One nifty feature sets the lights to turn on when you come home and off as you leave. It costs £199 for a starter kit at smartthings.com/uk.

10 MADE TO MEASURE

Designers at John Cullen

Lighting offer bespoke solutions for a single room or a whole house as part of one integrated system including iPad or tablet control. Prices start from £1,500.