Start from the routine, not the product list
A four bedroom new build in Buckinghamshire, 1,722 sq ft (160 m²), and owners who had just moved in. They wanted the house to run intelligently rather than simply look modern.
The first session was about how the household actually works: who comes and goes, what happens on arrival, what should happen without anyone deciding it. Device selection came after that, because a system designed from a shopping list produces 200 connected products rather than a home that runs itself.
The result is 200+ devices and over 100 automations behind one interface, with every third-party product they already owned brought in as it stood.
| System | Specified and installed |
|---|---|
| Control platform | SH-Pro with a 3D Spatial Digital Twin of the property, on mobile and tablet |
| Lighting | 37 smart switches replacing the existing plates, addressable LED strips, indoor and outdoor circuits |
| Security | 9 Hikvision cameras with full-colour night capture, object, sound and number plate recognition |
| Access | Smart door lock and video doorbell, with recognised-vehicle entry |
| Climate | Heating, hot water and air conditioning under zoned control |
| Energy | Tariff-aware scheduling on a fully electric property, occupancy shutdown, holiday mode |
| Sensors and power | 60 sensors and 12 smart sockets across the property |
| Existing devices | Robot vacuum, washer and dryer, televisions, soundbar, two electric blinds, water filter and cat flap |
| Network | Wifi and network sized to carry 200+ devices reliably |
Thirty-seven switches, no walls opened
Smart lighting in a finished house turns on one question: is there a neutral wire at the switch? Without it most smart switches cannot be fitted, and the honest answer is often a rewire.
We checked the installation before proposing anything. Every position had a neutral, so the client could choose from the full market rather than a narrow compatible list, and the job stayed a plate swap.
- 37 switch positions checked before any product was specified
- Manual control retained at every plate: the lights work if the phone is upstairs
- Addressable LED strips for feature lighting, indoors and out
Colour at night, and alerts worth reading
Nine Hikvision cameras cover the interior and the approaches. They capture full colour after dark rather than switching to infrared, which is the difference between identifying a vehicle and recording a grey shape.
Object and sound recognition filter the alerts down. Audio detection is the one the client rates: if the fire alarm sounds while the house is empty, they know immediately rather than on the drive home.
- Full-colour night capture across interior and exterior coverage
- Fire alarm audio detection with alerts to mobile
- Number plate recognition on the driveway approach
Two hundred devices, one screen
Lighting, cameras, climate, blinds, locks, appliances and the client's own third-party products all answer to SH-Pro. Nothing they already owned was replaced to make integration easier.
The 3D Spatial Digital Twin shows the property in three dimensions. Tap a room to see what is running and open the camera for that space, at home or anywhere else.
- Over 200 devices from multiple manufacturers on one interface
- Camera feeds on the room they cover, not in a separate app
- Same view on mobile and tablet, in the house or away from it
A 41% lower electricity bill
Everything in the house runs on electricity, so every load is measurable and every load is schedulable. Hot water and heating run when the unit rate is low rather than on a fixed timer that ignores price.
Occupancy handles the rest. Lighting and devices cut out in empty rooms, and holiday mode shuts the property down when the family is away.
- Tariff-aware scheduling for hot water, heating and appliances
- Occupancy-driven shutdown across lighting and devices
- Holiday mode powering the house down as one action
Figure reported by the client several months after handover.
