Chris Fletcher has turned his traditional period property into a futuristic smart home. Emma Sheppard finds out how he did it – and how you can too
When Chris Fletcher and his wife, Angela, moved into their home in Hornsea on the Yorkshire coast he only had one concern – and it wasn’t the decor or making the most of the stunning period features. “All I was interested in was whether I could add some low-voltage wiring in for my smart devices,” he says. And so began his 10-year mission to bring their 100-year-old mid-terrace property “to life”.
According to a 2019 survey, there are now 15m smart homes in the UK, with 57% of households using a smart device to control appliances such as the lights, security systems, kettles or vacuum cleaners. What’s more, 45% of adults polled said they intend to make their homes smarter in the future, believing it will save them time and money. And there’s some truth in that – another study found homeowners can save almost £318 a year on average by swapping to smart devices.
