The rise of smart homes and implications for contractors

  Posted by: electime      11th November 2019

‘Smart home’ technology is on the rise in the UK – with more and more of us adopting some form of automation. Whilst still in relative infancy, 43% of Brits now own at least one smart product according to ‘Smart Home Week’. As you can see from the Google Trend graph below, interest since 2004 has skyrocketed.

However, the majority of ‘smart home’ devices are instead single units such as Google Home or Amazon Alexa, which function wirelessly and only require charging through USB or a mains unit. But, as the idea of a fully ‘smart’ home grows in popularity, more and more houses are integrating lighting, heating and entertainment to become fully automated and controllable from a single point.

In 2018, the UK’s first new build smart home debuted in Milton Keynes, built with a fully integrated Apple Home system.

But as more and more homes adopt integrated ‘smart’ technology such as intelligent lighting control, what challenges does it pose to electrical contractors?

First and foremost, the wiring in smart technology can be difficult to work with. Many electricians are used to twin and earth mains cabling – whereas the majority of smart homes use serial bus systems. In lighting control, for example, most products use 4c or 5c serial buses – which may pose problems for contractors used to dealing with 1.5mm/2.5mm CSA wires. Instead, you must learn how to safely work with data transfer cat5 cables.

Because smart home systems rely on data transfer cables and lines of communication, wiring can also cause connection issues through ‘cross talk.’ Running low voltage cable parallel with mains in a home can create problems for a comms line – so electricians must opt for a screened (STP) cable to avoid the issue.

Most smart home systems need a PSU, which must be sized correctly prior to installation. However, some smart home providers offer distributed power supply, where you can add incremental, scalable power supplies through ‘packs.’ Whatever option your project has opted for, make sure you know beforehand so you can plan the PSU correctly.

Benefits of smart homes for contractors

Fortunately, it’s not all bad news. The fact that most smart homes run from a serial bus means that updating products is often easy. You no longer need to utilise point to point wiring and can instead simply connect the serial bus devices to the network and map/address to the desired function.

With Wandsworth Electrical’s networked smart lighting system, for example, you can program in a ‘last man out’ switch through a PC to turn off all smart devices in a home at any stage – whereas in the past this feature must be included at the system’s inception.

Serial bus systems also allow you to replace various types of unit as a customer’s tastes change. For example, you can switch a traditional dimmer to a toggle switch or thermostat – and simply program the change in to set it live.

Smart home technology is also making the role of an electrician safer – as almost all serial bus devices operate on low voltage, making them safer than traditional devices. You are no longer risking removing a switch and facing 230V, instead most networked devices pose SELV.

Ultimately then, smart home technology is here to stay. As a contractor, you must learn more about data transfer wiring such as cat5 in order to keep up with the changing times. As a result, your future work should be safer and more efficient as more homes incorporate serial bus functionality and safer networked SELV cables.

This article was created by Wandsworth Smart Controls to help electricians understand the new considerations that must be taken into account when planning or working on smart home projects. We provide training courses for anyone using our systems.