FIRST TIME BUYERS AND #SMARTHOME LIVING.
December 24, 2015
The excitement of owning your first home is hard to compete with. You’re finally on the property ladder, free from renting, landlords and house sharing. As you look round your new purchase thinking about new wallpaper, kitchens and flooring you should also be considering how do I make this home smarter.
Follow our helpful tips below to boost the IQ of your new home.
- If the property is being renovated or extended you need to install Smart Home wiring. Demand that your electrician runs Cat6 cabling for services like On Demand TV, Wi-Fi and multi-room music and TV.
- Upgrade your existing heating controls to Smart controls. Internet connected thermostats provide more accurate control, remote control and learn your heating preferences. Check out Nest for smart heating.
- Improve your Wi-Fi. Leave the days of poor wi-fi reception behind in your new home. The simple and inexpensive installation of long range, secure wireless access points mean that no matter where you are in the property you’ll have a strong signal.
- LED lighting. To keep your electrical bills down look at replacing old halogen lighting with energy saving LED bulbs. It may be a pricey outlay initially but the long term savings will make it worthwhile. To add some wow factor to rooms like the kitchen, lounge and garden look at installing colour changing LED lighting controllable by your mobile device.
- Safety first. Smoke detectors are unloved but vital devices in your home. An upgrade to internet connected detectors like Nest Protectwill provide you with smoke and carbon monoxide detection in one device, notifications to your mobile device and tell you exactly where smoke is detected in the property.
These are just some of the simple upgrades to your new home to make it smarter. Customised are home technology specialists based in Norfolk. Connect with Customised to learn more about home technology.
You May Also Enjoy
War over bin blunders as legal expert reveals what you can actually do
Rows over rubbish are bubbling up, with fed-up homeowners losing patience over neighbours who refuse to bring their bins back in. Now, a legal expert has revealed the simple steps you can take before things spiral into a full-blown neighbourhood feud. Natalie Peacock of Rogers and Norton explained that while it might be tempting to…
Read More 
The UK’s best place to be a buy-to-let landlord in 2026 – and it isn’t London
Manchester tops the list with an average property price below the UK average and an annual rental return of 6.4%, beating all 32 London boroughs. Newcastle upon Tyne ranks second and is the only area in the study to deliver an annual return of more than 7%, while Blackpool places third. New research ranks 310…
Read More 
Don’t Let Dirty Windows Cost You a Sale
You’ve spent months preparing your home for sale. You’ve decluttered, repainted the hallway, replaced the kitchen handles, and had the carpets professionally cleaned. But have you looked at your windows lately, really looked at them? Dirty windows are one of the most overlooked deal-breakers in property sales. They’re also one of the easiest to fix.…
Read More 
Home longevity spas tipped to become the next must-have in prime property
Longevity expert has noticed a huge influx in home spas from investors Country and Townhouse reported that wellness is expected in luxury homes Ralph Montague discusses core shifts he’s seen over the past two years Once, cinema rooms, wine cellars and home gyms were considered luxury home features. Now, the next major trend in prime…
Read More 
Nationwide House Price Index for April 2026 – Thoughts from the Industry
House prices increased by 0.4% between March 2026 and April 2026. This was a weaker rate of monthly growth compared to the previous month (0.9%). Annual growth sat at 3% in April 2026, with this annual rate of growth increasing from 2.2% versus March 2026. The average UK house price now stands at £278,889. …
Read More 
House price growth remained resilient in April
UK annual house price growth picked up to 3.0% in April, from 2.2% in March House prices were up 0.4% month on month Headlines Apr-26 Mar-26 Monthly Index* 554.8 552.7 Monthly Change* 0.4% 0.9% Annual Change 3.0% 2.2% Average Price (not seasonally adjusted) £278,880 £277,186 * Seasonally adjusted figure (note that monthly % changes are…
Read More