New homes harvest latest technology

Harvest Country Homes’ latest development of 35 showpiece houses in rural Monikie, near Dundee, ooze quality and craftsmanship, but while the exteriors boast solid traditional quality materials and the interiors display carpentry and design at their peak, these homes also have high technology coursing through their walls. The houses are equipped with the latest smart home technology from Square D, a brand of Schneider Electric.

Every detail of this latest Harvest Country Homes is a manifestation of the pride, enthusiasm and care for quality expressed by the company’s founders George and Beverley Harrow. The evidence extends from the hidden columns of 13 Amp sockets that slowly rise from the granite worktops in the kitchens to the subtle blue lighting that glows from the base units; and from the multiroom audio to the home cinema room, designed to give a cosy intimacy for those viewing. Yet, priced between £350,000 and £500,000, these four bedroom houses are affordable luxury.

The idea of incorporating smart home technology into the Monikie development came from George Harrow’s liking for American homes that come equipped with all sorts of technology geared to delivering affordable luxury living and the maximum convenience for the occupiers. The Harvest Country Homes designs therefore not only put all the main “plant” such as boilers and meters into the easily accessible garage space, but also include a complete home entertainment infrastructure.

At the heart of the smart home technology are two systems from Schneider Electric: the latest Delta 8 hub unit that enables easy distribution of TV, telephone and Internet connection throughout the home; and the LexCom Home Audio system that allows music to be piped to any rooms required and floated out from high quality recessed ceiling mounted speakers.

Delta 8 is the latest and simplest way to install multiroom access to TV, telephony and the Internet. The unit is an integrated voice-data-image (VDI) solution, bringing signals through a single cable to outlets anywhere in the home.

Once the central unit has been connected to the incoming telephone, TV and data cables, all signals are continuously transmitted to all outlets, in all rooms.

Since every core unit has eight links, and the cable carries three services, the system provides the equivalent of 24 telephone, TV and data outlet functions.

The system brings great flexibility to developers and the people that buy their homes by providing a cost effective and easily installed solution, giving properties affordable differentiation and a real competitive edge.

The attractive and discrete design enabled the core unit to be easily integrated into the Harvest Country Homes houses. Tool free connectors at the outlet and insulation displacement connectors (IDCs) at the core unit; made cable termination quick and easy.

LexCom Home Audio is a cost-effective multi-room audio system as once again it is based on a single cable solution making installation quick and straightforward.

Users can listen to multiple audio sources in different rooms with each user able to choose and control their individual environment via simple yet stylish keypads or remote controls. In the Harvest Country Homes development, music is distributed via LexCom Home Audio to six zones in each house as standard. The Delta 8 network gives TV, telephone and Internet access in all the rooms, with certain rooms, such as the main sitting room, coming equipped with a generous supply of multiple outlets.

The electrical contractor in charge of the installations at the Monikie development is SS Electrical Scotland Limited, a Registered Systems Integrator for Schneider Electric. Scott Sanderman explained that installing the LexCom Home and the new Delta 8 systems is very simple. “Cabling is minimal and was completed very easily during the first fix at Monikie”, Sanderman commented. He added, “One of the benefits is the flexibility of the systems. Once the cabling is in, we can decide what we want to pipe to where”.

For more information, visit Schneider.co.uk.