While the Automated Home is all about technology, we’re not interested in gimmicks. Instead we are always on the look out for tech that works to make our lives easier, not more complicated.
So when the time came to choose our ovens, dishwasher, hob, fridge, freezer, washer and dryer we knew we wanted something really clever.
Smart Home Appliances
With Siemens smart appliances, that can be as simple as a helpful notification on our watch that the dryer has finished or that we are running out of dishwasher tablets.
Siemens smart appliances can help with our energy efficiency too. For example you can set the washing machine to come on when you are on your night time electricity tariff.
Home Connect dishwashers, washing machines and tumble dryers with the Flex Start function can also be setup to use energy from a Solar PV system or time-of-use tariff using the SMA Sunny Home Manager.
Home Connect
It’s only a few short years ago that all this sounded like science fiction, but connected appliances are a reality.
All these smart features use Home Connect. The Home Connect smartphone app is used for the initial setup of each appliance, connecting them to your network. It uses 2.4 GHz 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and with a few clicks you are online (we’ll look at Home Connect in more detail in a future post).
Once connected you’ve got all the advantages of remote operation from anywhere with an Internet connection as well as firmware upgrades too. Some appliances even allow for remote diagnostics in the event of a fault, meaning the engineer can arrive on site with any parts that are required.
We’ve come from using an oil fired stove in our last house to these sleek new ovens. Switching to an all electric house means they will shortly be running on renewable electricity too.
The transition has been extraordinarily easy and rewarding. The ovens are perfect for an expert baker like my better half, or a novice like me. For example here I am cooking a baked potato.
In reality that involves just popping it in the oven, entering its weight, selecting the time I want to eat it at and walking away. Brilliant.
Laundry appliances can sometimes be hard to work out and here the advantages of the tech shine through again.
The smartphone app exposes all the features of the machine, making it easy to set the perfect wash cycle. Here’s an example of stepping through the options with our bedclothes to get the perfect cycle.
Further convenience comes from the i-DOS system that automatically uses the correct amount of detergent and water for each load.
Pre-Sales Service
One of the best experiences we’ve had during the research for the house was our visits to the BSH Home of Innovation Showroom in Dublin. This is a fantastic resource for anyone on the island of Ireland and completely free.
Here you can look, touch and try out the appliances you are considering for your home. The staff are experts and provide great advice. We also returned here to attended some cookery demonstrations which gave a real insight into the ovens capabilities and now we know how to use the temperature probe that came with them.
Design
The studioLine appliances have the sleek modern aesthetic that we craved and the latest blackSteel design is a perfect minimal match for our kitchen with its dark glass facia accented with stainless steel.
There are quality touches throughout too, like the large rotary encoder that is milled from a solid block of stainless steel and the colour TFT touchscreens used to control the ovens.
The Proof is in the Pudding
These appliances have the smart tech, the convenience features, the sleek styling and the service to go with it all.
So after a couple of months of living with these machines what’s the verdict? Well if the proof of the pudding is in the eating, then all I can say is Yum. Our Siemens appliances are amazing!
Next Time
Next time I’ll look at each of the 11 Siemens appliances we’ve chosen in detail. In the meantime remember to check out our Instagram to follow the project, read the rest of the Automated Home 2.0 blog posts and find the links to all the products we’ve used in our self-build.
All Siemens studioLine home appliances are covered by a five year manufacturer’s warranty. For more information check out the Siemens studioLine and search for your nearest premium partner here.