Useful automation in a finished home – without chasing the walls
You don’t need a full renovation to make your heating, blinds, lighting or security alerts easier to manage. What matters is knowing in advance which functions can be solved with minimal intervention – a module fitted behind an existing switch, a replaceable valve head, connecting your existing motor, or wireless sensors – and where the compromise would outweigh the benefit. The system runs on a local hub, also without the internet, and your old switches work exactly as they did before.
Sound familiar?
- You renovated two years ago and only now thought of a smart home – but nobody wants to chase the walls again.
- You’ve got Shelly here, Hue there, a smart thermostat and three apps – and none of them talk to each other.
- Your blinds are motorised, but they only work from the wall button.
- The heating runs the same way all day, even when nobody is home.
- Your old alarm system works well – you just can’t control it from your phone.
- When the house was built, smart home planning didn’t fit the budget. Now there’s money for it, but nothing was pre-wired.
Solutions
Lighting and sockets: the old switch stays, the module goes behind it
The problem You bought “smart bulbs” for smart lighting, but once the wall switch is off they’re dead – and every type of bulb comes with its own app.
How do we solve it? We fit a radio module about the size of a small biscuit into the wall box behind your existing switch: the switch works just as before, but the light can also be controlled from your phone, by scenes and by automations. During the site survey we check the size of the box and whether there is a neutral wire – that determines which module fits. The same works for sockets, outdoor lighting and selected appliances.
What you get Smart lighting that still responds to the switch – and turns itself off when you’ve left home.
Blinds and shading: your existing motor, made smart
The problem The blinds are motorised, but they only work from the wall button or a remote – in summer they stay open during a heatwave, and in the evening you have to lower them one by one.
How do we solve it? We connect your existing blind motor to the system with a blind module behind the switch, or through the motor’s radio channel. The blinds then follow the sun and react to temperature and to you being away; a single button press lowers the blinds in the whole house. The wall switch stays.
What you get A cooler house in summer, more sunshine let in during winter – and evenings when you don’t have to walk round every room.
Heating and cooling: valve head swap, boiler and air-conditioning control
The problem The heating runs on a fixed programme and can’t be controlled room by room; the air conditioning only works from its remote and keeps cooling even with the window open.
How do we solve it? The thermostatic head on each radiator can be swapped for a smart valve head in minutes – giving room-by-room control based on occupancy and open windows. We connect the boiler or heat pump through a controller that replaces the existing thermostat, and the air conditioning through infrared or the manufacturer’s own integration. With underfloor heating, we control the actuators on the manifold.
What you get Lower energy bills and the temperature you want in every room – with no building work.
Mixed devices under one hub – one interface instead of many apps
The problem You’ve already made a start: Shelly, Hue, a smart thermostat, a Chinese camera, three apps – and if one manufacturer’s server goes down, your home stops working too.
How do we solve it? A local hub that accepts most Zigbee, Z-Wave, Matter and Wi-Fi devices as well as manufacturer systems; the automations run locally, on the hub. During the site survey we go through item by item what can and can’t be integrated; the system then works from a single interface with shared scenes.
What you get One app instead of many – and a home that keeps doing its job on the basic functions even without the internet.
Smart lock and intercom for your existing door and gate
The problem Keys have to be passed from hand to hand, the gate only opens with a remote, and you can only hear the doorbell at the wall unit.
How do we solve it? We fit a smart lock to the inside of the door, and the key still works. We add a retrofit smart opener to the gate motor that opens from your phone or when you arrive home, and – where the system allows it – we forward the intercom call to your phone. In a rented flat, all of this can be reversed.
What you get Coming home without keys or a remote, and guest access without copying keys.
Leak detection, smoke, carbon monoxide – the risky situations
The problem More important than impressive lighting scenes is knowing in time about a water leak, smoke or a home that has gone cold.
How do we solve it? Wireless water, smoke, carbon monoxide and temperature sensors at the risky points, with notifications to your phone; and, where the water meter cabinet is suitable, a motorised shut-off valve. We recommend these as the first phase: they’re not impressive day to day, but on the one day they’re needed, they’re worth everything.
What you get A leak is typically stopped while it’s still small, and you know about smoke even when you’re away from home.
Your existing alarm: from your phone and as part of the smart home
The problem You have a ten- to fifteen-year-old wired alarm system that works well – but it can’t be controlled from your phone and the smart home can’t see its detectors.
How do we solve it? With a communication module connected to the control panel’s bus, you can operate the alarm from an app and it becomes capable of IP signalling; its motion and door/window detectors also serve as inputs for the smart home: arming switches the house to away mode, disarming to comfort mode. The control panel and the detectors stay. Details: Alarm upgrade (retrofit).
What you get The alarm you’ve already paid for, with modern controls – and sensors that serve two purposes at once.
Why MindzenSmart?
- We use what you already have first. Switches, motors, valves, the old alarm – we only suggest bigger interventions where they are justified.
- Local operation. The hub is in your home, the automations run without the internet, and there’s no compulsory subscription.
- Also a police-registered security systems company. MindzenSmart (Mindzen Direct Kft.) is a security systems company registered with the Hungarian police. Upgrading alarms, cameras and access control as a service may only be carried out by a registered security company – with us, this authorisation and smart home know-how are in one pair of hands.
Frequently asked questions
Do the conventional switches stay?
Yes, that’s the starting point: the module goes behind the switch and the switch keeps working exactly as before. The exact solution depends on the size of the wall box, whether there is a neutral wire and the type of load – we check this during the site survey.
Can my existing smart devices be integrated?
In the vast majority of cases, yes – Zigbee, Z-Wave, Matter, Wi-Fi and the common manufacturer systems can be brought under one hub. During the site survey we tell you item by item what can be integrated and what can’t.
Is it worth making an old, “dumb” heating system smart?
Yes – often this is what makes the biggest difference, because this is where most of the untapped potential lies.
It’s worth separating two things. The first is comfort. In most older systems a single thermostat controls the whole apartment or house, usually from whichever room it happened to be installed in. So that one room is comfortable while the others are too warm or too cold. With zoning – a smart valve head on each radiator, or on the manifold for underfloor heating – every room gets its own temperature, and you no longer have to carry the thermostat from room to room. That alone is a noticeable improvement, even before you save a single cubic metre of gas.
The second is savings – and here’s the good news: you don’t need a modulating boiler for this. Even with a simple on/off boiler you can save, not by controlling the boiler itself but by controlling when and where heat is requested:
- the heating schedule follows your actual daily routine, not a factory template;
- when everyone has left, the house switches to economy mode, and it warms itself back up before you get home;
- the system learns how long each room takes to warm up, and times the start accordingly – so it doesn’t heat needlessly hours in advance;
- it adjusts based on the outside temperature and the forecast: it heats less on a sunny morning and starts earlier before a cold front;
- when a window is open, heating in that room stops;
- rarely used rooms – a guest room, a study – are kept at a background temperature, and the system only warms them up before use.
What we have to add, in all honesty: this won’t turn an on/off boiler into a modulating one, nor does it improve its efficiency. The savings come from heating less and heating smarter, not from the boiler burning better. With an old single-pipe system or a radiator network that has never been hydraulically balanced, zoning has its limits too. We look at this during the site survey – and if it turns out that the boiler itself or the pipework is the bottleneck, we’ll tell you before we sell you any controls for it.
Does it need the internet?
Not for basic operation: the hub runs in your home, and the switches, blinds and heating work without the internet. Remote access and some manufacturer services do need a network connection.
Can it be done in a rented flat?
Yes, with reversible devices. The modules behind the switches can be removed; with the stick-on sensors, a smart lock fitted on the inside of the door and replaceable valve heads, the original state can be restored too.
Does every room need a device?
No. First we pick the points where the everyday benefit or the risk reduction is greatest – typically the heating, the blinds, the front door and leak detection – and the rest can follow later on the same foundation.
How often do batteries need replacing?
The modules behind the switches are mains-powered; the sensors and valve heads run on batteries, which typically last 1–3 years. The system tells you in good time when a replacement is due, and under a maintenance contract we keep track of this for you.
