All of our clients are looking to complete a home renovation in some way – be that through refurbishment works, a ground floor extension, first floor extension or loft conversion. If you are modernising your home, it’s a great time to consider incorporating some modern technology within. Most of the properties we work with at Home Tales our Victorian and Edwardian homes, which were built over one hundred years ago. Many of these have been modernised since they were built, and they are functional family homes which simply require more space. In some cases, they haven’t been touched since they were built, and they require central heating systems and electrics installed. Regardless of the current state of your home, there are always updates you can make when it comes to technology. 

Whether it’s a surround sound built in sound system, a smart thermostat that promises to save you money on your heating bills, or an oven that can be controlled from your smartphone; we have seen it all when it comes to technology in homes. These handy gadgets can come in useful and they are generally designed to make your practical day to day life easier. We thought we would run you through some of the most popular gadgets we see in our projects. 

Nest thermostats

The Nest thermostat was released in 2011 and it’s been gaining popularity since. It was designed around making homes more energy efficient. It has a learning algorithm, which monitors the homeowner’s usage over a period of time and adjusts accordingly. It can also shift into an energy saving mode when it realises no one is home. You control everything through your smart phone. You can schedule your heating by the day and time, and you can turn it on and off remotely too. This means you can heat the house on your journey home, so you’re returning to a toasty house on those cold winter nights.   

We recently completed a project in South London where we installed 4 separate Nest thermostats within the property. They had one for each floor, so they could select and heat the floors that were in use. This is particularly useful if you don’t use each floor day to day. They had a loft which they didn’t frequently use, so it stopped them heating a space they wouldn’t benefit from heating. 

Smart ovens 

Ovens have got very technical and come with a variety of high spec features nowadays. We recently installed a Siemens oven that has a self-cleaning mode. You can also connect wi-fi enabled ovens to your phone, so you can switch it on or off remotely. You can also get microwave ovens, which are able to act both an oven and a microwave. This is a fantastic option if you are short on space, as you don’t need to make room for both appliances. Alternatively, if you have lots of room, why not opt for both? The extra oven will come in handy for Christmas lunch and large gatherings. 

Smart ovens also come with a variety of pre-defined settings. Instead of heating your oven to a particular temperature, you can simply tell it you’re cooking pizza, a roast chicken, or a cake. It will then adjust the fan and heat settings to give you the perfect bake each time. 

Smart Home Security Cameras 

Security cameras are gaining popularity, particularly in London. It’s pretty easy to set them up, and you can often connect them to your phone or tablet. They generally live stream footage and continuously record the data, storing it in the cloud for a week or a specified amount of time. You can get push notifications for when movement is detected. Some cameras are even so advanced, they can notify you if they recognise an unfamiliar face if your property. How cool is that? 

Dishwashers and appliances 

Beko has recently released a smartphone connected dishwasher which allows you to switch it on remotely. It even sends you notifications if you need to clean the filter or add more detergent.  

Boiling Water Tap

Quooker has dominated the market with their stunning boiling water selection. There are a lot of other brands out their too, but we are most familiar with Quooker, having installed a few on our more recently completed projects. This tap gives you boiling water at the push of a button. It has a separate tank which is kept under your sink. 

Smart doorbell

If you get a lot of deliveries from companies like ASOS or Amazon, look no further than a smart doorbell. If you’re out you can speak directly to the person, giving them instructions for where you want them to put the parcel or what to do. Nest offer a smart doorbell which has an in-built security camera, so you have an additional benefit there too. 

Got questions? Give our friendly team a call today on 0207 043 2378 or email us at hello@hometales.co.uk.