Choosing LED Lights, Bulbs & Strips
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Education
Learn all about smart home automation
Choosing Heat Controls
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Choosing Lock & Access Controls
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Choosing Sirens & Doorbells
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7 Things you MUST decide before starting your Smart Home project
There's never been a better time than NOW to start your Smart Home journey as the industry has matured an incredible amount during the last few years! With thousands of Smart Home devices available from hundreds of different manufacturers there's n
Choosing Remote Controls & Wall Controllers
One benefit of implementing Smart Home control of your lighting and appliances is that those devices can then be operated from an App on your smartphone or tablet, or from a web UI on your PC or laptop. Of course, it's not always convenient to go
Choosing Wall Switches & Dimmers
While Z-Wave & ZigBee Wall Switches & Dimmers aren't quite as flexible as Z-Wave & ZigBee Modules, they can still be used to control pretty much anything you can think of - lights, power, pumps, blinds, awnings, heating, cooling, gates... the list
Why You Need A Smart Home Controller
Voice Assistants are all the rage, with many manufacturers now offering various different models of "Smart Speaker" or "Smart Screen" with their Voice Assistant built in. Many people get taken in by all the hype surrounding these and think that f
Choosing Sockets
Z-Wave Sockets are one of the easiest to install "plug-and-play" devices available for your Smart Home. In most cases you literally just have to plug them in! And they can be used to control and monitor pretty much anything you can think of - lamps
Choosing Modules
Z-Wave Modules are probably the most flexible devices available for your Smart Home as they can be used to control pretty much anything you can think of - lights, power, pumps, blinds, awnings, heating, cooling, gates... the list is endless. Combine
Choosing Sensors
Z-Wave & ZigBee Sensors are the "eyes and ears" of your Smart Home and can be used to detect motion, door openings, changes in temperature, humidity or even UV levels. This enables you to trigger all manner of things in your Smart Home Controller -
Choosing a Controller
This guide will first covers some of the basics (for example Controller types) and will then explain the various features and points to consider when choosing a Smart Home Controller - this is important as it means that you can carry out your own r
Wiring Diagrams
Here we’ll show some of the most common lighting systems in order to help you identify which one you have and how some modules can be installed in each scenario... Read Guide
Technical Guides
Huge range of guides to help you with complex scenarios on smart home installation, including insider tips & tricks. Read Guide
Case Studies
See how real Vesternet customers have built their own smart home: View Case Studies
What is Zigbee
ZigBee is an open standard for a low-cost, low-power, wireless mesh network targeted at the wide development of devices for wireless control and monitoring applications. It's backed by some of the worlds biggest companies, including Philips, Nest,
What is Z-Wave
Z-Wave is a wireless communication technology that uses reliable, low-power radio waves that easily travel through walls, floors and furniture, meaning you don't have to rip-up carpets and floors to add new wiring. Read Guide
Glossary
Home Automation has lots of new words and terms that can be confusing, especially if you're new to the technology. This glossary includes all the words and terms that you'll find in the world of Home Automation and Smart Home technology. Read Guide
Emergency
One of the easiest and most effective ways to protect your home and family is to install automated alerts in case of emergency. This guide will help you understand what's available, the important features to consider and how to best protect your h
Comfort
Adding home automation to your blinds brings comfort and convenience to your smart home, but also helps reduce your energy usage and increases your home's security. And, it's not just blinds - any awning, sun shade, shutter or even garage door can
Energy
Your home's energy bill is probably one of the most costly you get, and it's only going to get worse as energy prices continue to rise. Unless you take control and use your energy more intelligently. In this article we're going to look at using home
Lighting
Adding wireless home automation to your lighting brings comfort and convenience to your smart home, and reduces your energy usage and increases your home's security. Read Guide
Security
Home security and alarm systems have been available for a long time. However, traditional solutions usually focus on a simple alarm system that sounds an alarm when a motion detector or other sensor is triggered. Unfortunately these alarms are most
Heating
Your heating system is probably already controlled from a timer, so what more can home automation bring? Well in just a few words, more comfort, lots more convenience and reducing your energy bills by intelligent control of your home's heating and
Getting Started
What is a Smart Home? The simple answer is - anything you want it to be! A Smart Home is one that uses "Home Automation" to enable you to use your home's lighting, heating and appliances more conveniently and efficiently. And, at the same time givin
Understanding Compatibility
One of the most confusing tasks when setting up a Smart Home can be determining which devices work together. Depending on which products are being compared, this question can be answered in several different ways. It may be that the devices are Co