OK, so you’re a wrinkled Rolling Stone on tour, and instead of throwing your hotel TV out of the window, you’re insisting on an instruction manual. Or, more likely, you’ve just moved into a swanky pad and your nearest and dearest have come round to admire all the mod cons — the wireless audio system, automatic window blinds, app-controlled heating, lighting and security system — that are standard features on many new homes. Then it all goes wrong.
The TV and the stereo refuse to work, and you’ve pressed the wrong button on the iPad, leaving the lights stuck on the “dazzle” setting and the underfloor heating set at a toe-toasting temperature. Your shopping has melted, the curtains keep opening and closing of their own accord, and the washing machine will only clean at 90 degrees.
Despite what the developers want us to believe, not everybody wants to move into a robo-home. When things go wrong, repair bills can be eye-wateringly high; and is it really easier to hunt for the iPad when you want to turn the lights on, rather than using a good old switch?
According to Luke Newland, owner of the custom installation firm New Land Solutions, this is the time of year when the calls start coming in from customers who need reminding of how to make the heating work. Most smart-home problems are caused when his clients don’t spend enough time learning how to use their kit — he has even returned to a house to see Post-it notes on the control buttons, telling the owners what they all do. “It takes at least half a day to get to grips with a new system,” he says. Newland has just launched a spin-off business — Digital Butler — to deal with the volume of calls he receives from confused customers.
It isn’t only the owners who create the problems. Trevor Abrahmsohn, founder of Glentree estate agency, knows of one house where a visiting relative caused a huge amount of damage after she became frustrated by the system, then went to the control room and started turning things on and off manually. As a result, he says, the canniest smart-home installers often now include a parallel “dumb” system that can be operated by guests.
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Saul Empson, director of the buying agency Haringtons UK, recalls an incident when removal men fused a central lighting control box while removing a chandelier, necessitating a £25,000 repair.
“Smart technology isn’t really necessary — it’s just a selling point, and a lot of buyers prefer not to have it,” says Alex Bourne, co-founder of the top-end estate agency Hanover West End. He sold a £15.95m home kitted out with £350,000 worth of smart tools, only for the 23-year-old buyer (from the Middle East) to decide that he wanted switches for the lights and a remote for his TV.
“There’s a fine line between innovation and gimmickry,” says Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at uSwitch.com. “Voice-activated ovens and a wardrobe that steam-cleans suits sound great, but in reality they take up too much space and hardly get used.”
Viki Lander, creative director of Ensoul, a design company that specialises in hi-tech interiors, admits that some suppliers get so excited by the technology, they don’t always take enough notice of the needs of their consumers.
She recently did up her own house, installing a lot of the latest technology, but admits that not everybody needs every single gadget. “We have digital taps in the bathroom, which get the shower to the right temperature before you get in. That’s brilliant. You can also control it from your phone, which is quite clever. But do I ever use it? Never.”
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Routine maintenance can be costly, too. Systems often include an optional 24-hour help desk at the end of a phone. “I know of one owner who pays £65,000 a year for one of her properties,” says Jo Eccles, managing director of the search agency Sourcing Property.
Smart-home DIYers should also proceed with caution. “Beware of ready-made sets,” advises Phil Cotton, design director at Finite Solutions, a specialist installer. “These systems often combine high-end components with low-cost equipment. If the parts don’t operate well together, this can lead to poor performance and complications.
“We recently came to the rescue of a client who had a system installed through a big London department store. This combined a £30,000 Kaleidescape video server with an aerial distribution system worth £50 — it just couldn’t cope.
“You can bet your bottom dollar that these systems will, after a couple of years, become just as cranky and buggy as the PC that sits under your desk.”
Empson also warns of a potential smart-home time bomb. “You need four times as much wiring as for a standard installation,” he says, “and the likelihood that you’ll be able to buy spare parts or arrange maintenance for the system seven years down the line is slim. When the winter comes and you want some central heating and hot water, the syndrome commonly known as ‘computer says no’ will become a depressingly familiar feature.”
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According to Abrahmsohn, the smart-home boom is having one unexpected effect. “The most valuable man in the house used to be the plumber, then it was the electrician,” he says. “These days, it’s the IT man.”
For more information on smart homes, visit cedia.co.uk