A couple of years ago, if you said that you were really into the smart home, people would think that you were super techy, and had a house full of funny sensors, and spent a lot of time fiddling with automations to make everything work nicely. And, you know what, that opinion was completely true.
What I’ve seen more recently changes that, and the smart home isn’t about having a house full of Z-Wave sensors and complicated routines; it’s changing to the point where smart is built into everything and, increasingly, devices work automatically, operate with existing technology and fit into how we expect them to work.
As Deborah Honig, chief customer officer, Samsung UK & Ireland told Trusted Reviews at IFA 2025, “The AI Home isn’t about building a sci-fi house of the future, it’s about those simple wins that make life easier: lights that switch off when you forget, heating that’s warm the minute you walk through the door, or appliances that quietly save you money in the background. And when our customers give it a go, they usually say the same thing: it was much easier to set up than they expected, and just works.”
Honig is specifically talking about Samsung products, but the principle equally applies to the industry as a whole and expands into areas that perhaps weren’t as important before.
Energy costs
Energy costs are still at an all-time high. Before the prices skyrocketed, how much energy a washing machine used probably wasn’t on most people’s minds. Devices just sat there working, and you paid the bill at the end.
Today, how much things cost to run is incredibly important, and it’s often not just about energy usage, but, with split tariffs where energy is cheaper at certain times of day, when an appliance is used.
It’s this kind of problem that smart technology is well poised to solve.
“Smart Things can automatically reduce energy usage consumption based on real-time usage patterns and can even offer estimates of monthly energy usage and costs. Through our partnership with British Gas, customers can even receive notifications to use their appliances when energy is cheaper and greener,” said Honig.
“And the savings can be meaningful. Our washing machines with Al Energy Mode can cut energy use by up to 70% compared with a standard cycle.”
It’s a pattern that I’ve seen across the industry. Buy any smart appliance from Haier (including Haier, Hoover and Candy), and you get access to the company’s smart scheduling. Tell the app when you get the cheapest electricity, and it will automatically programme a wash cycle, load of tumble drying or dishwasher to run when your electricity is cheaper. If you have solar, some smart inverters can even communicate with the app, allowing appliances to run when you have an abundance of generated power.
Cut heating costs
Smart thermostats and systems have been around for a long time, and they do help save money through better control of your heating and advanced features, such as learning when to turn the heating off early, but still hit your target temperature.
As heat pumps become more popular, heating systems become a bit more complicated. With a heat pump, proper installation and configuration is needed to get the best cost savings, and to improve operating life. Again, smart technology has its part to play.
Tado X already has a special Heat Pump Optimizer X, but the system will be able to go further. Thanks to a partnership with Panasonic, anyone with a Panasonic AQUAREA heat pump can do more thanks to AQUAREA Sync.
Deep integration between Tado X and Panasonic lets the system do more, including further reducing flow temperatures to increase efficiency by 10%; avoid short cycling by entering true standby, reducing energy waste and extending the heat pump’s lifespan; and dynamically boost power to underperforming rooms to maintain comfort.
In addition, the Heat Pump Optimizer X will be able to perform certified hydraulic balancing on AQUAREA heat pumps. Hydraulic balancing ensures even distribution of hot water through a heating system to avoid radiators that either don’t warm up or that are too hot.
With Tado Smart Radiator Valves fitted, the system can automatically balance the system. If you have a Panasonic AQUAREA heat pump, you get automatic certification (required for subsidies in some countries); any other system can be balanced but may require third-party certification.
Smart lighting
Philips Hue has always been my preferred smart lighting system as it has the widest range of lights and the widest range of physical controls. The latter is important to me: it’s quicker and easier to turn lights on by tapping a button or having a motion sensor trigger automatically than it is to use a voice command or the app.
The Hue announcement at IFA promised to go further, with the new Hue Bridge Pro able to turn your existing lights into motion sensors. I haven’t had a chance to test the system, but if it works as well as advertised, that means the lights could turn on when needed and shut down, saving money when there’s no motion detected, all with very little input.
Ultimately, we’re moving away from an era where smart really meant ‘has an app’, to an era where smart devices do clever things in the background, make life easier and keep costs down.
