We just installed our first bit of genuine automation in the home!

Our new house only had one heat pump in the living room and a wood burner. I am off the view that wood burning is a polluting activity that belongs in the 19th century so short of a massive, prolonged power outage, the wood burner is never getting used.

There was no heating at all at the bedroom/office end of the house, nor any cooling for summer use or for the rooms containing IT gear.

Yesterday, the installers finished putting in a ducted Fujitsu system controlled by an Australian system called Airtouch 4. This has a tablet interface on the wall that shows current temperature in each serviced room, individual set temperature and fan speed for each room and showed you to set complex schedules for each room regarding on, off, temperature each time etc. It will also send messages to a connected phone of temperature go above or below set limits, inviting you to turn the system on to correct that.

Eventually, we plan to install Control 4. This will tie in multiple systems such as the climate control, gate opening, cctv, door locks, alarm system, lights etc so each individual job at the moment is being specified with trust in mind.

I can recommend the ducted Fujitsu system. It’s a very subtle form of heating and cooling, without the sometimes intrusive fans of wall mounted systems. The ceiling vents have a temperature controlled mechanism that adjusts the air flow pattern depending on whether you’re heating or cooling as well.