A recent survey during Smart Home Week 2019 recorded that 45% of existing home owners with a smart home device are planning to upgrade their home with new smart technology in the near future. It found that whilst the UK’s smart home market is still relatively small, consumers across the country are adopting the smart home concept at an accelerating rate.
More and more homeowners are coming to realise the role smart technology can play in reducing their energy usage and saving them money, whilst offering unmatched levels of convenience for their day-to-day life.
The smart home market is expected to grow further too. As energy efficiency and sustainability becomes more and more of a priority for home owners, utilising smart technology to reduce energy usage will become more of a focus for homeowners, landlords and property developers in the coming decade. In fact, 78% of UK home owners in 2018 said that they would consider the environmental performance and sustainability of a property before they bought it.
What do consumers think about smart home technology?
The growing smart home market means that as more homeowners begin to understand the benefits of smart home technology, the requirement for skilled electricians capable of doing the job is undoubtedly going to increase.
Smart lighting is set to play a leading role in the transformation of UK homes since, on average, lighting accounts for 15% of a household’s electricity usage. It offers a more efficient and convenient way to light a property and can be scheduled, controlled, managed and monitored from a remote device, which in most cases is a smartphone app.
In a 2018 survey by the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, ‘helping me save money’ and ‘helping me be energy-efficient’ were the most appealing benefits of smart home technology for UK citizens. On the other hand, cost of purchase, safety and security, and reliability were top consumer concerns.
*Citizen Advice: The Future of Smart Home
These consumer attitudes suggest that homeowners who are open to more smart technology in their home may not be comfortable with more complex systems – given security, pricing and usability concerns. It may be more likely they’ll be open to cost-effective alternatives like retrofit technology that can upgrade existing home furnishings with smart features.
Make a Home a Smart Home – Retrofit Smart Lighting
Like in any market, offering choice and being able to suggest a range of smart solutions as an electrician will be important. This will allow a business to cater for customer budgets and provide a range of solutions to consumer concerns, what ever they may be.
The benefit of smart lighting is that it doesn’t have to be expensive nor complicated and time-consuming to install. This is why it will be appealing to any homeowner looking to upgrade their home with more smart technology in the future.
For the electrician, retrofit smart-lighting could make it easier to take advantage of smart home installs. Forward thinking electricians are in a position to be able to approach their customers and introduce them to the benefits of retrofitting smart lighting in their home. This can in turn offer valuable upselling opportunities that can bring additional revenue for their business. Plus, it shouldn’t take considerable time away from their routine workload.
For the homeowner, retrofit lighting is simple to use and, whilst more expensive than other (non-smart) lighting solutions, won’t burn a hole in their pocket either. It upgrades existing electrics with smart features, meaning less hassle, less change to home comforts and more convenience. This can then lead to cheaper energy bills and potentially improving the appeal of their property to future buyers.
KSR Lighting Retroconnector
KSR Lighting’s retroconnector is a retrofit smart lighting solution that can easily convert existing installations into smart lighting. The connector can be installed between an existing lighting fixture (maximum 500W load) and a switch, meaning limited change to the furnishings of a property and more convenience for the homeowner.
The retroconnector can be programmed by the electrician upon install to perform on one of these set ‘smart functions’:
- Relay Function – for non-dimmable products
- Triac – for phase dimmable products
- 0/10V – for products behind a 0/10v LED driver. Providing a 0/10V output to control LED driver dimming.
- 1/10V – for products behind a 1/10V LED driver. Providing 1/10V output to control LED driver dimming, as well as mains driver output relay for control over the mains to turn of the driver completely.
Together with the rest of KSR Lighting’s WiZ Connected range, the retroconnector is compatible with leading smart applications like Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri and Google Assistant. This allows the user to control their WiZ lighting using a voice controlled speaker, their mobile voice assistant, and a smart phone app.
WiZ Connected can also integrate in IFTT automated tasks that connect third party devices with each other to perform personalised functions. For example, if your home security system detects movement after 9:00pm in your garden, you can set your lighting turn on to a dim in your bedroom and on full in your living room. You could even then programme your Amazon Alexa to play a set soutine.
Compatible smart lighting from KSR includes a range of fixtures which means the homeowner can retrofit lighting in their bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms and living rooms with smart features. The WiZ Connected app allows the user to control, schedule and manage their lighting. They can set colour temperature invariably and schedule their lighting for certain times of the day.
As a leading independent stockist of KSR Lighting, we supply KSR 10th Edition Lighting including their WiZ Smart Lighting range. If you have an upcoming lighting project that you’d like to work with us on, you can contact us through our website or find your local LEW branch.
