One interface, learned in ten minutes
Wall keypads, one app and voice control all drive the same logic. Guests operate the lights without instructions.
Derby · Official Loxone Partner
Smart Home AutomationIn Derby, Wired AndProgrammed By One Team
One system for lighting, heating, shading, audio, security and energy. We design it, first-fix it and programme it ourselves as a NAPIT Full Scope contractor, so the cabling matches the control strategy from the start.
16+ years in domestic, commercial and industrial control · 6-year NAPIT-backed workmanship guarantee on qualifying installations
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16+ years
Domestic, commercial and industrial experience
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Full Scope
NAPIT registered for all aspects of electrical work
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6-year
NAPIT-backed workmanship guarantee on qualifying installs
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£10m
Public and employers' liability cover
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Free
Initial consultation, no obligation
The service
One control system instead of five apps
Smart home automation puts every service in the building, lighting circuits, heating zones, blinds, audio, cameras, door entry, EV charging and energy monitoring, onto a single controller. As an official Loxone Partner we lead with Loxone where it fits, and design on Lutron, Rako, KNX, ClickSmart, HD Anywhere and Sonos where it doesn't.
The work starts at the consumer unit, not the app. A properly automated house needs lighting circuits split by function, dedicated data runs to a central rack, low-voltage cabling for sensors and keypads, and a control cabinet with room to grow. Get that wiring wrong on site and no amount of programming afterwards puts it right, so we run the electrical side ourselves.
You don't have to do it all at once. Plenty of clients start with heating control or one floor of lighting, sized so the system extends later without lifting floors twice. Others automate a whole new build from the drawings. Both are designed around how you live in the building.
Who this is for
- New builds and full renovations where first fix hasn't started
- Existing homes with an accessible loft, basement or plant area for retrofit cabling
- Owners tired of a separate app for lighting, heating, audio and cameras
- Developers and architects needing a control spec issued before the electrician arrives
- Clients who want to start with one room and expand later without a second rewire
- Landlords and holiday-let owners needing heating, lighting and access controlled remotely
What it costs to leave it
The wiring decisions you make this month decide what the house can do for twenty years
Most costly mistakes in home automation aren't a faulty product. Usually it's a house plastered and decorated before anyone asked how it should behave. Once the walls are closed, adding a keypad, a sensor or a data run to the plant room stops being a morning's work. It becomes a chase, a re-skim and a repaint.
The second failure is fragmentation: a heating app from one supplier, cameras from another, cloud-tied speakers from a third, lighting from a fourth. Each works alone. Nothing triggers anything else, every firmware update risks a new incompatibility, and if a manufacturer pulls a cloud service the hardware in your wall stops doing anything.
Then there's relying on the internet for things that shouldn't need it. A house that can't switch a light on because a remote server is down is worse than one with ordinary switches. Our systems run locally on the controller in the property, so lighting, heating and shading keep working whether the broadband is up or not.
Mistakes we get called out to fix
- Signing off first fix before any control strategy exists, then paying twice to retrofit cabling
- Splitting lighting circuits room by room when scene control needs them split by function
- No dedicated data run or space for a control cabinet and its ventilation
- Buying cloud-only devices that stop working the day a manufacturer changes their service
- Letting three trades install their own hub with no plan for how they talk to each other
- Choosing a platform on price alone, then finding nobody local can programme it
How the job runs
A fixed sequence, so nothing
gets decided on the fly
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01
Free consultation
We walk the property or read the drawings, listen to how you want it to behave, and give you a straight answer on what's worth automating.
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02
Design
System schematics, circuit splits, cable schedules, cabinet layout and control strategy, so nothing gets guessed on site.
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03
First fix
Containment, mains and data cabling, back boxes, sensor positions and the control cabinet installed before plaster, tested and labelled.
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04
Second fix and programming
Keypads, drivers, dimmers and touch interfaces fitted, then the system programmed around your scenes and schedules.
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05
Test, certify and hand over
Full electrical testing and certification, every scene checked, a walkthrough with the household, and maintenance available afterwards.
What you actually get
Measurable outcomes, not adjectives
Runs without the internet
Automation logic lives on the controller in your property. Lighting, heating, shading and door entry keep working during an outage.
Lower running costs by default
Heating follows presence and room temperature, shading limits summer solar gain, lighting switches off in empty rooms, every day.
Expands without a second rewire
Spare capacity in the cabinet and cabling means adding cinema, cameras, EV load management or solar monitoring later is a configuration job.
Safer while you're away
Presence simulation, leak and smoke inputs, camera events and door entry sit in one system, so a detected problem can shut a valve, raise the lights and alert your phone at once.
Guaranteed and supported
Qualifying installation work carries a 6-year NAPIT-backed workmanship guarantee. Other work carries a minimum of one year, with maintenance packages available.
In detail
Platforms, cabling and what changes between a retrofit and a new build
Get the wiring right first and the programming looks after itself. Below is what we specify, install and programme most often across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands.
Platforms we design and programme
We're an official Loxone Partner and lead with Loxone where the project suits it, because the logic runs locally and one controller covers lighting, heating, shading, audio and security. Where a client or architect has specified something else, we design on the appropriate alternative.
- Loxone Miniserver and extensions for whole-property control and local logic
- Lutron and Rako for lighting-led projects with specific keypad and dimming needs
- KNX where an open, multi-vendor bus is specified by the architect or M&E consultant
- ClickSmart for cost-sensitive lighting and blind control retrofits
- HD Anywhere and Sonos for video distribution and multiroom audio
- Hikvision and Ajax security hardware tied into the same automation events
Cabling, containment and the control cabinet
Nearly every long-term problem we get called to fix traces back to cable that was never installed. Our designs run structured cabling to a central position, keep mains and data separated correctly, and leave documented spare capacity.
- Cat6 or Cat6a home runs to every TV point, access point, camera and touch interface
- Lighting circuits split by function and load so scenes can be built properly
- Low-voltage tree or bus cabling to keypads, sensors, thermostats and blind motors
- A ventilated control cabinet sized with spare DIN capacity for future extensions
- Every core labelled and recorded on an as-installed schedule handed over at completion
New build versus retrofit
You end up with the same functioning system either way, but the route there differs. On a new build we specify from the drawings and everything hides in the structure. In an occupied home we plan routes through lofts, floor voids and risers, and use wireless or hybrid devices where a cable can't go without damaging finishes.
- New build: control strategy issued before first fix, all cabling concealed
- Renovation: automation designed alongside the rewire so both happen once
- Occupied retrofit: staged room by room, working around the family and finishes
- Hybrid wired and wireless devices where a chase means re-plastering a finished room
- Listed and period properties: surface containment and fittings agreed before work begins
What we automate most often
Clients rarely ask for automation in the abstract. They ask for a specific irritation to stop. These come up most, whether as a starting point or part of a whole-house scheme.
- Scene lighting in kitchens, living spaces and bathrooms with evening dimming
- Room-by-room heating and underfloor zoning tied to actual occupancy
- Automated blinds and shading to cut solar gain and glare
- Garden and façade lighting on astronomical timing, correct to the minute all year
- Cinema and multiroom audio integrated with lighting scenes on one press
- Camera, alarm, door entry, leak detection and EV charging feeding the same logic
Before you enquire
Smart home automation questions,
answered straight
How much does smart home automation cost in Derby?
We don't publish prices. A single heating zone and a whole-house Loxone install are different jobs entirely. The initial consultation is free, the design work is included, and you get a written quotation before committing.
How long does an installation take?
A single-room or single-service project is typically a few days. A whole-house system on a new build runs alongside the build programme, first fix before plaster, second fix and programming near completion. We give you the sequence in writing at quotation stage.
Do I have to automate the entire house at once?
No. Many clients start with heating or one floor of lighting and expand later. The cabling and control cabinet just need designing for where you want to end up, so expansion just means configuration.
Are you tied to Loxone?
We're an official Loxone Partner and recommend it where it fits, because the logic runs locally and covers every service. We also design, install and programme Lutron, Rako, KNX, ClickSmart, HD Anywhere and Sonos when the job calls for it.
What happens if the internet goes down?
Nothing that matters. Automation logic runs on the controller inside the property, so lighting, heating, shading, door entry and scenes keep working. Only remote access from your phone pauses.
How long will the system last, and can it be updated?
The cabling and containment are a twenty-year asset if specified properly. Controllers and interfaces update in software, and we design cabinets with spare capacity so hardware can be added later.
What guarantee comes with the work?
Qualifying installation work carries a 6-year workmanship guarantee backed by NAPIT. Other work carries a minimum one-year guarantee. We hold £10m public liability, £10m employers' liability and £1m professional indemnity, and can issue RAMS on request.
Do you offer support after handover?
Yes. Remote and in-person maintenance packages are available. Most changes, a new scene, a revised schedule, an added device, are handled remotely without a site visit.
Do you cover emergencies or out-of-hours faults?
Emergency and out-of-hours support is available on request for automation and commercial clients. It's not sold as a standard guaranteed service, but ask us and we'll tell you what we can do.
Which areas do you cover for smart home work?
Derby and the surrounding towns including Duffield, Belper, Ilkeston, Long Eaton, Ripley, Ashbourne, Matlock, Burton upon Trent, Nottingham, Chesterfield and Sheffield. Larger projects often travel further, ask if you're outside that list.
Related services
Where we work
Derby · Nottingham · Duffield · Belper · Burton upon Trent · Sheffield · Ilkeston · Long Eaton and the wider East Midlands. See areas covered, read more about the company or return to the homepage.
Tell us how you want
the house to behave
The initial consultation is free with no obligation. You'll get a straight view on what's worth automating, and a good place to start.
NAPIT Full Scope · Official Loxone Partner · 6-year workmanship guarantee on qualifying installations · £10m public liability