Family houses and villas

Protection starting in the garden – not at the broken window

The problem A traditional alarm goes off when the burglar is already inside. But they reach the garden, the driveway or the terrace first – and there they can still be scared off.

How do we solve it? We install pet- and weather-resistant outdoor motion detectors on the approach routes, linked to the garden lighting and the cameras: anyone walking up to the terrace at night is met by light and recording, and you get a notification before anything happens. On a larger plot, the fence line, the back entrance, the pool area and the outbuildings are separate zones, each with its own sensitivity – so the gardener doesn’t set off the system, but someone climbing over the back fence does. The alarm – built from MABISZ-recommended devices (MABISZ is the Association of Hungarian Insurance Companies) and matched to your insurance terms – forms the backbone; the garden is the early-warning layer.

What you get An alert before the break-in, not after; and a system that counts with your insurer too – in home insurance, the maximum payout for burglary is typically tied to the level of protection that was actually in operation at the moment of the loss.

Night-time and partial protection: the family sleeps, the house keeps watch

The problem At night the family moves around the house, so the alarm can’t be armed – yet this is exactly when the ground-floor doors and windows are most vulnerable.

How do we solve it? We divide the alarm into zones: in night mode the doors and windows (the perimeter protection) are armed, while the indoor detectors – or at least the kitchen–stairs route – are not. The kids can go down for a glass of water, the dog can wander around, and the front door, the patio door and the garage are still guarded. You arm it with one button by the bed or from your phone.

What you get A peaceful night with the bedroom door open, and no false alarms.

Cameras that see people and cars – not cats

The problem A boxed camera alerts you to every movement, gives an unusable image at night, and stores the footage in a cloud abroad.

How do we solve it? At the entrances and the critical points of the garden we install cameras that recognise people, vehicles and entry into restricted areas, give a detailed image at night too, and store the footage at home on your own recorder. We mask the neighbour’s plot and the street out of the image. The cameras work together with the alarm: when you arm it, area monitoring starts in the garden.

What you get You only get a notification when a person is in the garden; the footage is searchable and it belongs to you.

A gate and garage that open conveniently

The problem You’re hunting for the right remote among all the others in the rain, the kids have left their key at home, the courier is standing at the gate and you’re at the office.

How do we solve it? We make your existing gate motor and garage door smart: the gate recognises you by your number plate or your phone, opens when you arrive home (with two-step confirmation if you wish) and closes when you leave. With several cars, each number plate has its own permission, and the main gate, the pedestrian gate and the garage can be controlled separately. The video intercom rings on your phone, so you can let the courier in from anywhere. You see the gate’s status – open or closed – in the app, which also warns you if the gate has been left open.

What you get Fewer remotes, fewer keys, and a gate that is never left open without you knowing.

Staff, service providers, guests – no keys, and a clear record

The problem The cleaner, the gardener, the pool technician and the tradespeople after construction all need to get in somehow. Copying keys can’t be undone, and a code you’ve told everyone becomes common knowledge within a few months. Afterwards nobody can say who was in the house and when.

How do we solve it? Everyone gets their own time-limited access: the cleaner’s is valid on Tuesdays between 9 and 12, the gardener can only open the gate and the tool shed, and the tradesperson’s code expires automatically when the job is done. The system logs who came and went and when; if someone opens a door at an unusual time, it sends you a notification. The alarm adapts to this: each permission only disarms the zones that are needed, and the bedroom and study floors can stay armed. You don’t need to give anyone a key, and revoking access takes a single tap.

What you get A complete entry log, access that expires – and no more wondering “how many keys are out there?”

Heating, cooling and shading that follow your family’s day

The problem The heating and air conditioning run on a fixed schedule, regardless of who’s at home; the shutters stay open in a heatwave, and in the evening you have to lower everything by hand.

How do we solve it? Room-by-room heating and cooling control that follows presence and the weather: when everyone has left, it switches to economy; before you get home, to comfort; if a window is open, it stops. With several floors and underfloor heating we control it zone by zone, with the slow warm-up scheduled in advance; rarely used rooms – guest room, study, sauna anteroom – are kept at a background temperature and only warm up before they’re used.

We don’t put a single thermostat on the wall: every room gets its own zone control. We also make use of what the boiler can do: instead of switching it on and off, we regulate it according to actual demand and the outdoor temperature. This mainly gives more even comfort, but it also improves consumption somewhat – in many houses, nobody has ever used the existing boiler’s capabilities.

The shading follows the path of the sun: it keeps the house cool in summer and lets the sun in during winter. With large glazed areas this can bring significant savings – and the daily round of the shutters comes to an end. If you have a pool, the pump, the heating and the cover can be included too, matched to your solar generation. Existing roller shutter and blind motors, and the boiler, can be kept.

What you get Less energy, more comfort – and a house you don’t have to “operate” every day, even if it has three floors and twenty doors and windows.

EV charger: a proper wall charger instead of a socket – smart, if you need it

The problem A great many electric cars still charge at home from an ordinary socket, using the cable they came with: it’s slow, the extension lead and the socket get warm – and this is one of the typical fire risks of home EV charging. Anyone who wants a wall charger often hears that with a 3×16 A or 3×20 A main fuse they need “a bigger grid connection” – even though the house uses hardly anything at night; it’s just that the heat pump, the oven and the car don’t know about each other.

How do we solve it? The first step is a proper wall charger: its own correctly sized circuit from the main distribution board, standard protection and an electrical safety test report. A 7.4 or 11 kW charger is more than enough for everyday use – and you avoid long, heavy-load charging from a household socket. For most houses that’s all you need, and it doesn’t require anything “smart”: a reliable charger, with card or phone activation if the driveway is open. If you’d like more, we fit the smart version of the charger: a current sensor at the electricity meter measures the house’s consumption and the charger gets the spare capacity – when the heat pump switches on, it slows down; when it switches off, it speeds up. So the main fuse doesn’t trip because of charging, typically without a bigger grid connection. With solar panels, the car gets the daytime surplus, with automatic 1/3-phase switching on chargers that support it; where available, charging starts in line with a dynamic tariff; away mode locks it and arriving home enables it. If there may be a second car one day, we can build the preparation into the wall in advance or install a double charger straight away.

What you get A fully charged car in the morning without the socket and extension lead – in most houses without a bigger grid connection. If you want it, a charger smart enough to think together with your solar panels and the rest of the house. See our EV charger installation page for details.

Solar panels and a battery that work together with the house’s consumption

The problem The solar panels generate, but the house doesn’t consume at the same time: the water heater heats in the evening, the car charges at night, and the heat pump does its own thing. The surplus goes to the grid, and – under the newer billing scheme – you buy it back at a much higher price. A battery helps, but it only gets the most out of itself if the large consumers also know when there’s “free electricity”.

How do we solve it? If you already have solar panels, we add the smart home side: we measure generation and consumption at the main meter and the inverter, and match the house’s large consumers – EV charger, water heater, heat pump or air conditioning, pool pump – to the daytime surplus or the battery’s charge level. The car charges while the roof is generating; the water heater heats at midday; the heat pump gets a “cheap electricity” signal based on the battery’s state of charge. The control runs locally, without the cloud, if the inverter offers a local interface – we check this during the site survey. If needed, our solar partner builds or modernises the solar system and the battery – a new system, replacing the inverter with a battery-ready one, or expanding an existing system. Where replacing the inverter isn’t an option, a battery can be retrofitted to the house without touching the inverter.

What you get You use more of your own electricity and buy less – and one screen shows you how much the house generates, stores and consumes.

Water and frost damage protection from the basement to the loft

The problem A dripping water heater, a frozen pipe or a washing machine hose can cause serious damage within hours – and in a family house there’s no neighbour downstairs to let you know.

How do we solve it? We put water sensors at every risky point and a motorised shut-off valve on the main stopcock that closes automatically if there’s a leak; temperature monitoring in the plant room and in rarely used rooms notifies you if there’s a risk of frost. In a larger house, the basement, the plant room, the pool equipment, the guest wing and a separate laundry room all get their own sensors – these are the places nobody may visit for weeks. In away mode, the house’s water supply can be shut off from the start.

What you get Damage is typically stopped while the amount of water is still small – even while you’re on holiday.

Leaving and arriving routines – with one button

The problem When you leave, you have to go round the whole house: windows, lights, heating, alarm, gate. Something always gets missed.

How do we solve it? A button press, or the last family member leaving, starts the routine: the system checks the windows and alerts you if one is open, switches off the lights and selected appliances, sets the heating to economy, arms the alarm and switches the cameras to area monitoring. When you arrive, it works in reverse: gate, hallway light, comfort mode – but only an identified person can disarm the alarm.

What you get One action instead of ten – and the certainty that nothing has been left open or switched on.

What keeps working during a power cut and without internet

The problem Cloud-based smart devices go silent without internet; after a storm you don’t know what’s working and what isn’t.

How do we solve it? The alarm runs on its own battery, and signal transmission also works over the mobile network; the automations run on a local hub, not on manufacturers’ servers; critical network components can get an uninterruptible power supply. Whatever is needed for security does its job without internet – and the system tells you when the network has dropped out.

What you get A house that won’t leave you on your own, even in a storm.