We talk to Stephen Boarder of S. Boarder Electrical to find out why his company has benefitted from some ‘smart’ decisions.
Tell us about your history of working with smart electrical products. How has your business evolved?
Smart technology is something I’ve always been interested in, especially since starting my apprenticeship back in 2002 at the age of 16. I’ve been in the game for 17 years now and I can see it’s the future, being able to control everything from your phone while having it automated for you. I’ve seen smart systems move forward through the years, working on them in businesses, offices, colleges etc. and now it’s becoming a lot more affordable for homes as well.
Why would you recommend other electricians get involved in smart lighting?
It’s a bit of a no brainer really – everybody we speak to is interested in having smart home features in some way, shape or form in their house. There’s such a massive market for it now, especially nowadays given that there are so many big brands involved. With the right training, electricians can offer a lot more to their customers.
How did you get involved in the Lightwave PRO scheme?
By absolute fluke! I had heard about Lightwave before and seen a few of the Connect Series products around, however it was a friend of mine – Mathew Hawkridge from Infinity Lighting – who recommended that check out Lightwave’s newer Smart Series devices when I required some smart home solutions on a job.
I rang Lightwave and, luck would have it, the company was about to launch its professional installer offering. I ended up taking a trip down to Lightwave’s head office and was the first person to receive the pro training. There are certified NICEIC staff members at Lightwave who helped perfect the Lightwave PRO training course through a few workshops and trial sessions with other qualified electricians like myself.
What has been the main advantage for your business since becoming a Lightwave PRO?
After completing the training and learning about the Lightwave system, it just gives me so much more to offer my clients; to go into someone’s house, office, or industrial space and give them so many more ways to control anything electrical. Even simple things like having a socket that you’ll know is going to turn your hair straighteners off when you leave the house, or lights that turn on and off in different rooms around your house when you’re not home. Those are the type of benefits that people are willing to buy into, they just need to be offered these options as a possibility.
Have you got a favourite Lightwave installation project?
I’ve got Lightwave stuff all around my own house, but apart from that I’ve actually got two pretty interesting recent jobs I used Lightwave for. The first was the job I’ve mentioned previously where I initially heard about Lightwave PRO. The customer had built quite a large luxury house on a plot of land and wanted smart switches and sockets throughout the entire house. Using the Lightwave system, I was able to automate the entire property, from flood lights coming on when the customer arrived home to door sensors that trigger different scenes around the house before and after dusk.
The second interesting Lightwave installation was for a commercial client who found my contact details through the installer map on Lightwave’s website. They had big industrial sized pumps that used a massive amount of electricity. I set up a system where the pumps were connected to Lightwave relays that could be controlled by a smart dimmer or by the Lightwave App. The clients ended up saving a lot of electricity and hundreds of pounds per month with the added control, mainly being able to switch the pumps off with a custom schedule when they weren’t being used.
What do you think the future holds for this industry?
Well the future is here already. Everything out there now is all geared up for smart technology – TVs, mobile phones, voice speakers, doorbells. Apart from my own personal interest in smart technology, my business offers smarter installations to stay ahead of the game, and I feel that I’m at the beginning of the curve really.
It’s only a matter of time before smart home becomes the centre of the electrical installation market. The most important thing now is for the workforce to catch up and for tradespeople to make sure they’re trained and capable to offer the right solutions to their customers.
Learn more about becoming a Lightwave Pro Installer at: lightwaverf.com/PRO
