Real Estate Lifestyle �
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Raising the IQ of
Smart Homes
Smart homes are getting smarter
For Jay Anand , a currency trader in London and owner of two multimillion-pound homes here , remote access has made his hectic life more convenient .
" I am able to access the home cinema or switch the lights of another room without having to be there ," he says . " We also make sure we are using the energy in the best way we can without wasting natural resources ."
Mr . Anand just upgraded to an Apple operating system . " I used to have one panel in the kitchen to control the lighting and heating , then we moved to having access through the 13 TVs in the house ," he recalls . " But with this latest technology , I am able to access my audio , lighting , heating , alarm — even the CCTV — through my iPad or laptops ."
Nicholas Creswell ' s high-tech home cinema entertainment system in his London apartment .
Tech-savvy home owners are using now ubiquitous handheld devices , from Google ' s Android phone to Apple ' s iPad , to control virtually every corner of the house , from the lighting and heating systems to the über-trendy media rooms .
" Consumers now have the power in their hands to control and monitor their homes from anywhere in the world ," says Nicholas Ayre , director of London-based buying agent Home Fusion .
Mr . Ayre says the advent of web-enabled gadgets has given home technology an increasing mass-market appeal . " Using a smartphone or any Internet-enabled device , consumers can manage energy consumption and even home security , whether it ' s switching your boiler off remotely or watching your CCTV ," he explains , adding that applications " have moved on considerably from multimedia rooms or plasma screens that come out of your bed to exciting new applications such as intelligent energy management ."
Here is a guide to some of the top trends in home technology .
Taking control
Just as the remote control changed the way we watch television , new technology in the home that allows owners to customize control of their property , often through a single click , is changing the way we live .
A Teletask energy-monitoring and control display on a touch screen .
As technology has advanced , so have demands for what it can do . Home Fusion ' s Mr . Ayre says people increasingly want systems that enable them to control their
People have moved from analog to much more intelligent devices
property with the precision of a Swiss watch , from the curtains down to the underfloor heating .
" People have moved from analog to much more intelligent devices ," Mr . Ayre says .
" Many of my clients are concerned about keeping the climate of certain rooms at the right temperature to preserve their expensive art and fabrics on the walls ," he says . " The current technology allows you to monitor and control the humidity constantly from your own phone if you wanted to ," including
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