I thought I'd finally join up because I regularly find myself reading through threads having come across them doing google searches when researching things for the house.  I'm no uber-geek but I love gadgets and technology.  I've just started using Alexa to control my Sonos system and I'm about to get new heat pumps installed in 3 rooms of the house (for a total of 5).  My next project is 'smart-home phase-1' (retrofit) including IR sensors so everything with a remote can be controlled centrally.

So thanks for all the info and tips so far.  I'll continue to visit when I get stuck or need some advice :)