Truly Intelligent Energy Management. Done right at eHome2 with Loxone.
There is arguably no other system on the market as powerful as Loxone for intelligent energy management! We know it’s a bold claim and we’re proudly being put to the test in projects around the world, proving an almost unbelievable return on investment.
From the eHome2 research project with Saint-Gobain and Barratt Developments through to major grocery store and fast food franchises, more and more decision makers are turning to Loxone as the solution to manage and save energy.
Loxone in eHome2
Proud to be the smart home and building automation system running eHome2.
The Facts:
Location:
Salford, UK
Launch Event:
January 2023
Length of research:
9 months (Results end of this year)
Spec of house:
New 3-bed detached family house
Smart Home features:
💡 Smart Lighting
🌡️ Zoned Heating
🔉 Multiroom Audio
🪟 Automated Blinds and Curtains
🚪 Intercom and Access Keypad with NFC
🚨 Smart Burglar Alarm
Water Leak Detection
Main collaboration Partners:
Saint-Gobain UK & Ireland, Barratt Developments and University of Salford
Loxone Installer:
What is eHome2:
eHome2 is one of the houses located within Energy House 2.0. It is a collaborative project between Saint-Gobain UK & Ireland and Barratt Developments. The primary aim of eHome2 is to accelerate progress towards low-carbon and net-zero housing, providing valuable insights to guide the industry in meeting the 2025 Future Homes and Building Standards. Over a period of nine months, the house undergoes comprehensive testing by the university to assess how its technology responds to the simulated climatic conditions we are likely to experience in the near future. By investigating and optimising energy-efficient practices and technologies, eHome2 aims to pave the way for the future of sustainable living and inform the development of energy-efficient homes without compromising on the comfort of the occupants.
Loxone install at eHome2:
Loxone plays a pivotal role in the eHome2 project, serving as the central hub for the home’s technology. The central hub of the Loxone system in eHome2 is, as in any Loxone system, the Miniserver. Located in the cabinet, the Miniserver acts as the brain of the system – controlling the smart colour changing lighting, zoned heating, multiroom audio, automatic blinds and curtains, intercom and access control keypad, smart burglar alarm, leak detection and more. Also, due to the system’s openness, many third-party systems that are part of the research collaboration can be integrated in as well. Through this integration, Loxone enables complete home automation, ensuring effective communication between all of the integrated components so that they work together. Ultimately, Loxone plays a pivotal role in the home’s advanced technology being harmonious. Plus, Loxone provides the researchers with data straight to their email and into a dashboard – using the API – about the climatic conditions inside and outside eHome2 and what devices are active. Separate from the research team extracting data via the Loxone API, other stakeholders can use the Loxone App to view data based on their permissions from anywhere in the world.
The eHome2 project represents a leap forward in sustainable housing. It has provided a platform for smart technologies and enabled us to learn how to optimise and connect the utilities.
With Loxone’s smart control system, we’re not just building homes, we’re designing future-ready living spaces that prioritise comfort, efficiency and environmental responsibility. Given the abundance of technology in the home, we needed a solution that seamlessly merged the various components of smart technology as well as the complicated heating, hot water and ventilation systems into a user-friendly and intuitive system.
Loxone’s system is making it easier for the occupant and connects the home functionality for future proofing the home. The future of home automation is here, and it’s incredibly exciting.
As the UK’s leading national sustainable housebuilder, we’re passionate about making homes even more efficient to help protect the planet, use fewer resources, and create sustainable communities. The ground-breaking partnerships we’ve built to create eHome2 within Energy House 2.0 – including with Loxone – are key to our roadmap to net zero.
Building eHome2 within the world’s largest climate-controlled chamber provided an opportunity test the most innovative products in an environment that speeds-up research by replicating 95% of the world’s future climates.
As extreme temperatures become more common, the revolutionary Loxone system can passively heat rooms using solar gain by lifting the blinds before bringing on the heat source. Or in a heatwave, it can also cool rooms automatically by detecting the temperature in the home and using shading and ventilation to make the home comfortable for our customers.
With the average consumer fitting a lot of technology into the modern home, there is a potential for conflict between technologies, with multiple apps or interfaces on the wall. The Loxone control system automates the eHome2 to maximise the efficiency of all technologies installed, without any input required from the homeowner – this is the brain of the home.
The smart system controls everything from heating to TVs, lighting, audio and window blinds. Loxone can use excess PV generation to heat hot water or charge an electric vehicle for free. It can even detect when lights or the heating have been left on, when you are out of your home.
Together with Loxone, we’re working hard to see how we can save our customers money on their energy bills and enable them to live more comfortably
Loxone as an Energy Management Solution
Apart from being the smart home solution for eHome2, the versatility of Loxone is also demonstrated in its energy management responsibilities. Discover why Loxone is probably the best energy management system for your next project. Whether it’s family homes, student accommodation, apartment buildings, or office blocks, shopping centres, schools, restaurants, hospitals, hotels – you need look no further for a reliable ecosystem that offers an impressive return on investment.
Loxone saves businesses £10,000’s a year on energy.
With one well-known franchise restaurant chain seeing a return on investment of less than a month.
Great energy management is: More than just efficient heating; More than just the solar PV system on the roof; More than just the ventilation used in heat recovery! Truly great energy management is only seen when all of these components work together in an automated manner. This is when true energy efficiency is achieved and you make the most of the energy-saving potential.
In order to coordinate and optimise all of the energy flows, your building needs a central control hub: the Loxone Miniserver. The Loxone Miniserver connects together all of the energy components within the building, to ensure that they work as efficiently as possible, both on their own and together as the wider system. Creating a fully complete and lean system, for all areas of building control – which is a massive positive selling point.
Learn more
Developments featuring Loxone
Here are a couple of examples where Loxone is used for an array of smart home functionality and energy management.
The
Ridings
United Kingdom
Trio of Sustainable
Homes
United Kingdom
The Ridings
United Kingdom
Is a housing development just outside of Reading in the United Kingdom. The housing development is made up of 35 new build properties, including 3, 4 and 5 bed homes. Loxone could be optioned with the home when a person brought the plots. Loxone’s main usage here that lots of people optioned was for lighting, heating, security and centralised control.
Trio of Sustainable Homes
United Kingdom
The developer (a market leader in sustainable homes), turned to Loxone due to the extensive and holistic nature of the system. The three contemporary homes, overlook Poole Harbour and the Purbeck Hills being commissioned to celebrate sustainable living without compromising on ease of use, exceptional design and most importantly comfort of living. Loxone here automates and controls smart lighting, energy management, climate, audio, access and security.
Smart Home Energy Management
In these examples, we look at how Loxone has been used for both smart home features and varying degrees of energy management in detached family homes.
Scarthingmoor
Lodge
United Kingdom
Automated
Home 2.0
United Kingdom
Ashbrook
United Kingdom
Deer View
United Kingdom
Scarthingmoor Lodge
United Kingdom
Scarthingmoor lodge is a barn conversion in the beautiful countryside of north Nottinghamshire. Who had previously a very complex and convuluted energy system, that often left the owners having cold showers. Loxone was installed here, and its power and flexibility allowed the owners to see great energy savings whilst also gaining comfort back.
Deer View
United Kingdom
The aim of the install in this new build was to install the latest technology and control and for it to perform in an energy efficient way. All of the technology in the house, including the likes of Loxone and third-party devices, energy consumption is recorded and can be easily viewed in real time from anywhere in the world through the Loxone App. The solar PV’s harvested energy is automatically used in the most efficient way. Saving the owners large amounts of money.
Automated Home 2.0
United Kingdom
The client was no stranger to home automation having run a website on the subject since 1996. In 2018, after years of having island DIY solutions, they wanted to get a professionally installed system. Loxone was their favourite choice. With all this technology energy monitoring is key which was done with clamp meters for key circuits. Feeding all this data into the Miniserver and being available to see in the app.
Ashbrook
United Kingdom
The home is situated on a nice estate in the countryside so being inkeeping with the landscape and being energy efficient was key, in order to maintain the stunning environment it is surrounded by. This was successfully achieved by automated shading allowing for passive heating and cooling. Also the zoned underfloor heating cleverly responds to how the family uses their home, to save energy. And finally solar panels and smart lighting also led to greater energy savings in the home.
Contact us about your house build or development
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