Domestic bliss?

And while research establishments, product manufacturers and housebuilders all offer their vision of a more advanced future for the home, when will such technology actually burst onto the scene? According to Steve Zatchij Electrical, a contracting company from the West Country, the answer is now. Zatchij believes that by cherry picking the most appropriate technology from different manufacturers, it is possible for the contractor to seamlessly apply it and match the homeowner's needs.

Targeting the higher-end housing market, Steve Zatchij has put his own money where his mouth is, and is using his family's house to showcase the options available.

Converting the family home into a technology showroom is no easy matter. On a practical level, Zatchij and his wife did not want to create Big Brother, but to make the technology fit with their lifestyle. This, states Zatchij, is the whole crux of the argument. How can technology blend and change to suit the homeowner's life? It should not be prescriptive.

From the outside the house is a typical four-bedroomed detached property (although there are plans to add an extension above the garage). It is first and foremost a home. The technology is used to meet the family's needs, but it can also be easily adapted as these needs change, or even just on a whim. This latter point is important, since users may wish to fine-tune or even completely alter the initial specifications after living with the results.

With such flexibility in mind, the most appropriate backbone for a home system is clearly a bus. Zatchij opted for Hager's Tebis TS system, which is easy to programme after half a day's training. Also, via an input relay device, the Tebis TS can incorporate other manufacturers' control systems to attain a modular mix and match approach.

Once inside the house there are no unusual looking switches or remote controls. Typically twin gang or grid switches control the lighting, with the intelligence hidden behind the face-plate. MK's edge range was opted for, with retentive rockers in several rooms and white, moulded accessories where aesthetics were less important.

The switches allow dimming control or scene setting via the bus. Interestingly, because the switches require no hard-wiring at 230 V, but simply tap into the 29 V central bus cable, the bathroom has a wall-mounted light switch and still conforms to the Wiring Regulations. This is due to its location outside Zones 0 and 1. For such applications, the wall switch must be IP-coded for the relevant zone.

But Zatchij believes the main reason for using such controls in the home lies with the heating. Using a bus system means the family can save money and be environmentally-friendly by effective zonal heating control. For this, a combination of intelligent room thermostats and timed control is used.

After all, there is no point in having the bedroom's temperature set at the same level as the lounge during the evening, and vice versa at bedtime. And with a young daughter who might go to bed several hours before her parents, the timing in her bedroom needs to be different again. Also, the living areas will have different requirements depending on whether it is a weekday or the weekend as the couple both work full-time.

Clearly Zatchij decided on a number of different heating combinations and, as such, decided on a sophisticated programmer from Schauer, which is connected to the bus via a Tebis input relay device.

This central control is easily overridden by the intelligent thermostat switches in each room that control motorised valves on the radiators. Heating can be set at the normal comfort setting, say 20°C, a single press of the switch then sets this four degrees below this figure and, if held down, turns on frost protection.

Using the input relay device, which interprets orders received at 230 Vac and transmits them via the bus to the output devices to control electrical loads, Zatchij connected several other services.

Combining control in this way adds to the functionality far more than having several disparate systems. If, for example, the burglar alarm is set off, certain lights in the house will come on. Similarly, both the smoke and CO alarms will turn on lights to aid escape.

Using the flexible programming combinations of the bus system, Zatchij has added to his wish list. Passive infrared (pir) detectors by the front gate turn on outside lighting and dim up the house lights after a timed interval for a 'welcome home' scenario, or to deter intruders. Similarly, a pir detector is fitted in the back garden.

For those who remember Thunderbird's Lady Penelope, there will also be a transponder fitted to the bottom of the family's car, so that on driving up to the garage the roller doors automatically open.

In fact, even before coming home, Zatchij can telephone the house to turn on the heating, lighting, air conditioning or any other service connected to the bus.

And with building work ongoing, Zatchij's "intelligent" house has not yet stopped developing. Already the foundations for a conservatory are laid, and work is due to commence shortly.

With a south-facing back garden, this glazed area could potentially become unbearably hot in the summer, but again technology is used for the comfort and convenience of the family. Linked to a thermostat, both heating and air conditioning can be controlled in this area. The latter is controlled by the bus and switched by a contactor. Favouring natural ventilation when possible, the conservatory will have motorised vents which will open when hot and close when cold or if rain is detected.

The planned attic extension above the garage will also feature heating, lighting and air conditioning control via the bus.

It is clear that Zatchij is enthusiastic and driven; his business is customer-focussed he argues, which is why he believes that his venture into "intelligent" home technology will work. Technology for technology's sake is not the answer, but when it is applied properly it is invisible and matches the needs of the building owners.

The key is to talk to the homeowners, and listen. Having a working knowledge of what is available means the contractor can really work in partnership.

Hager estimates that installing bus technology into a home typically costs less than 1% of the building's value, although the add-ons that Zatchij has incorporated might push this up a bit.

On the up side, the home-owners will have a house that matches their lifestyle, is adaptable to changing needs, is environmentally-friendly and will save ongoing running costs – can't be bad.