Welcome to the iHouse
Modern technology means self-confessed ‘geek’ is never far from his smart home
IT’S a home for the digital generation – a Birmingham house which can be controlled by iPhone.
Mark Neale, an IT partner at law firm Freeths’ Birmingham office, can control everything in his home from lighting to heating and security alarms wherever he is.
The self-confessed geek has transformed his Edgbaston house into a state-of-the-art smart pad.
It is an insight into how we might live in the future, controlling individual rooms from thousands of miles away if need be and, according to Mr Neale, it just makes life easier and cuts energy costs.
Hi-tech LED bulbs have been fitted to create ambient lighting, the gates of his house can be opened and closed and Mr Neale can even listen in to rooms in his house via microphones if his security alarm is activated.
Mr Neale said: “I am a geek, it’s fair to say, but from what I see on TV I think it is now trendy to be a geek.
“My aim with the house is to make everything accessible with the touch of a button from a smart phone.
“One aim is to be able to turn up to the house and the lights go on in a clever way.
“At the moment I am develop-
My aim with the house is to make everything accessible with the touch of a button from a smart phone
Mark Neale
ing outdoor lighting so as you walk up the drive the telephone will start to turn the lights on.
“Then, as you reach the house, the interior lights will come on and, depending on time of day, the lights will differ.
“There’s some really clever additional stuff that the lighting systems can do, ie, you can set the lighting to be purple to let you know it is raining outside or if a text message comes in the lights go to red.”
Mr Neale said the “Internet of Things” offered huge potential for connected technology.
He said only about 20 per cent of items that could currently be connected to the internet were, so there was massive scope.
He added: “Currently there are cows in New Zealand that are connected to the internet to enable a farmer to know whether they are healthy and where they are moving about.”
But Mr Neale has not finished with his home yet. Soon, a TV will drop down from the ceiling when someone walks into a room and automatic blinds and curtains will be drawing themselves.
He admitted he would struggle to know how much he has spent transforming his 1930s house – but the technology does not come cheap.
The special LED light bulbs he uses, which are wi-fi connected and can create any colour imaginable, cost £50 a piece.
Mr Neale added: “I have now reached the stage where the lighting is pretty much all over the house but it is a massive investment to do just that.
“I am also a heavy DIY-er, so when it comes to the clever recessed lights I have the skills – I can take out plaster work and put cabling in.
“If I was getting in an electrician to do it, it would be very expensive but fortunately I can do a lot of these things myself.”