Hertfordshire Smart Home - The client had previously undergone a major refurbishment when he purchased the property 6 years ago, resulting in an impressive and extensive family home. As part of the refurbishment, an AV contractor was appointed to install an extensive prewire throughout the property, along with the addition of Lutron Lighting Control. Over time, the system began to fail and lose reliability, with the previous company failing to maintain and service the smart home to a satisfactory level. The client subsequently discovered Art of Smart on Instagram after being recommended by one of our local AOS Partners. 

During our initial survey, we focused on stabilising the Control4 system until we could execute the full overhaul. Given that our clients have already invested significant amounts of money into the refurbishment, we only recommended the replacement of components that where absolutely necessary to guarantee system performance after our work. We also informed the client of components that are likely to fail over the coming months/years to ensure they are prepared for any future costs that may arise. This stops any surprises down the lines and allows budgeting for any further expansion if it is required

In phase 1 of the overhaul on this Hertfordshire Smart Home, we completely rebuilt and overhauled the rack, added a termination box for all cable infrastructure, upgraded the network and wifi, power management, and UPS. We also added EA1 controllers throughout the house for remote control reliability and on-screen display. Finally we integrated the heating, and upgraded the intercom and touch screens. 

Unfortunately, shortly after the upgrade, the Blustream video matrix at our hertfordshire smart home began to fail. However, Daniel Adams from the manufacturer demonstrated exceptional service by replacing the matrix free of charge, despite it being 8 years out of warranty. We subsequently replaced the matrix and integrated the Lutron lighting system into Control4 on our most recent visit. This is one of the reasons we pride ourselves on our relationships with equipment suppliers and having a strong line of communication at all times.

Once the system was stable again, the client decided to undertake further upgrades, including making changes to the layout of the basement by removing the swimming pool and expanding the cinema room for their older children. We replaced the basic AVR and speakers with a better solution from Triad, enabling the family to enjoy movies with friends and family. During this phase of works, we also upgraded their main processor to a Control4 CA10, which is four times more powerful than its predecessor, resulting in lighting-fast system performance and app load times. 

When designing smart homes we always make sure these grow with the family and their needs overtime. Being one step ahead of a Smart Home is essential to future proofing, cost saving and functionality. When dealing with system rescues we also make sure to find out the main issues a client faces so we can address these with the most urgency.

We are extremely proud of the Hertfordshire Smart Home project and glad we could fix the previous installers work.