How to turn your house into the smarthome

It has been envisaged everywhere from science fiction to satire to housekeeping magazines.

The idea of a house that is aided by artificial intelligence has been at the forefront of our national psyche for decades.

The concept of a smarthome has been aided by recent strides in innovation and the realisation by tech entertainment giants that their products could serve more of a purpose than just during our down time.

Amazon has already stolen a march with it’s Alexa technology, but fellow internet behemoths are thought to be closely behind with products of their own.

We take a look at just a few of the ways that technology can make your home interconnected and smarter – some are already widespread, and others haven’t made the mass market yet.

Heat control

Many experts are now looking on connectivity in the home as the ‘fourth utility.

How fitting that other utilities are now able to be controlled from phones, tablets and other devices to ensure that homes are kept as energy efficient as possible.

Interactive, interconnected thermostats are just the latest way that technology is being used to try and control fast-rising household builds.

Hive and Nest, the two market leaders, are becoming more and more popular, with the set-up allowing users to change their temperature before they come home on a cold day, or to enjoy a more accurate timing system than on traditional thermostats.

These thermostats are designed to make your home smarter and cheaper to run by working out and adapting to your heating patterns.

While glitches are still reported by testers, most give glowing reviews to the user-friendly new way of changing their heating.

Voice Activation