Trade Talk: Who is Eating the Pie – Electrician or Custom Installer?

By Simon Buddle, Future Ready Homes. The summer is just about done and dusted for another year. The Tour de France yellow jersey is safely back in British hands, football is on the TV, Andy Murray successfully avoided victory at Wimbledon and the sun came out for several hours one day. Things are, it seems, […]

Trade Talk: The Third Amendment – A Change to UK Wiring Regulations

By Simon Buddle, Future Ready Homes. Summer is here; schools are winding down, the exams are over, the holiday beckons. It has been a busy year for most systems integration companies in the UK from what I gather. Business was good pre-election, but post, it seems to be positively booming. So it is quite likely […]

ABB Offers Power Adapter Module iBUS KNX for Busch-ComfortTouch Touch Panels

ABB offers power adapter for the power supply of Busch-ComfortTouch® 8136/09 and 8136/12, with integrated KNX bus coupler for the establishment of the local bus connection to the ABB i-bus® KNX. With integrated audio outputs (LineOut). Connections: KNX-line: DP screw/clamp terminals Rated voltage: 110 V~ – 230 V~, +10 % / -10 % Rated frequency: […]

Trade Talk: KNX and Smart Metering

By Simon Buddle, Future Ready Homes. The scrap metal business in the UK is about to get another significant and sizeable quantity of metalwork heading its way. It will, this time, come through a slightly more orthodox route than some of the lead that they have received from the top of church roofs. There won’t […]

Case Study: ABB’s New HQ in France Saves 25% in Energy Costs

By Edouard Vidoudez, ABB France. The new ABB headquarters in France is located outside Paris in Cergy Pontoise. It was converted from a factory into an office building, and is now fully equipped with advanced building automation systems including centralised monitoring. To bring the site into line with safety standards, ABB took the opportunity to […]

Best Practice: KNX RF – a Wireless Solution for Retrofit

By Simon Buddle, Future Ready Homes. In the world of technology there is a persistent and rising noise – a noise that tech-heads have heard for many years. Just as American Indians pressed their ears to the cold steel of the track to glean knowledge about the imminent arrival of a train, so tech-heads listen […]

Trade Talk: Wired Versus Wireless

By Sophie Thomas, Ivory Egg. 2014 saw a tremendous surge in innovation and interest in smart homes, mainly thanks to simple, easy-to-use wireless solutions. This has raised eyebrows within our industry as the burgeoning DIY sector starts to flex its muscles. The conflict stems from the perceived ease of installation of some of these wireless […]

Best Practice: Panel Power

By Simon Buddle, Future Ready Homes. It is pretty dull when you get called out over the weekend and travel to site only to find out that a breaker has tripped in the electrical consumer unit. But it is not nearly as dull as when it hasn’t tripped and something in the panel has been […]

FS Cables Offers Range of Certified KNX Cable

Certified KNX cable approved by the KNX association KNX cables are increasingly used in both commercial and high-end residential applications for total building control. KNX systems allow installers to choose devices from a number of KNX manufacturers. Using a certified cable guarantees the interoperability of devices across the network. Only certified products can carry the […]