Our Setup
A comprehensive guide to the equipment, devices, and services that power the SwitchedOnHome operation (our house!). Whether you're researching solar systems, heat pumps, or smart home integrations, you'll find our real-world setup documented here.
Solar and Storage
16 × 475W Aiko Solar Panels (7.6kW System)
We installed a 7.6kW solar array in early 2026 through Contact Solar. With 16 panels at 475W each (8 each facing East / West), so far we're generating pretty good daytime power - and we're interested to see how it evolves through the year. If you're sizing your own system, panel count and wattage matter far more than brand hype — the real win is matching capacity to your roof space and local sun patterns.
Tesla Powerwall 3
Paired with the solar system, our Powerwall stores excess daytime generation for evening use and provides backup during grid outages (not that we've had any of these yet). It seems reliable so far, but did add a significant upfront cost — so definitely weigh this carefully against your actual outage risk and energy independence goals.
Heating and Climate Control
Mitsubishi Ecodan R32 Air Source Heat Pump
Our primary heating and hot water system. As we moved into the new build property a year ago now (Mar 2025) it was pre-installed. We've had it across all seasons, and been pretty happy overall with its performance. From our experience it's performed really well even in cold months and is efficient at part-load operation (which is most of the time in the UK). Obviously ours was a new build, and pretty well insulated, and radiators were sized accordingly.
We're not entirely convinced it's setup in the most efficient way at the moment (it's controlled via Nest). It doesn't appear to dynamically control flow temperature, and we can't (currently) force hot water if we have excess solar.
We're actively researching better control options via Home Assistant most likely, rather than relying solely on the Nest integration.
Nest Thermostat (Under Review)
Currently managing the heat pump, but we're evaluating alternatives that integrate more seamlessly with Home Assistant for advanced scheduling and energy optimisation. If you're building a smart home, consider whether your thermostat will play well with your chosen hub from day one.
Electric Vehicles and Charging
Peugeot e-308 & Peugeot e-208
Two Peugeot EVs handling our household transport, averaging 5,000–10,000 miles each annually. The e-308 is our primary family car, but I'm working from home at the moment so don't travel so much; the e-208 handles a daily commute into Cambridge for my partner. Both have proven reliable and efficient for UK driving patterns, with the only issue being their (what we feel to be) awful iOS software.
Hypervolt Pro 3 Charger
Our wall-mounted EV charger of choice. We upgraded from a PodPoint 3 after running into WiFi stability and app issues (the system would lose connection to the PodPoint servers) — the Hypervolt Pro 3 has been far more dependable so far for daily charging and integrates nicely with Home Assistant for load shifting and monitoring. More about this later (this was our first automation in Home Assistant)
Smart Home System
Home Assistant
What will likely become the backbone of our smart home setup. It's running integrations for Tesla (solar/Powerwall), Octopus Energy, and Hypervolt charging currently. We'd like it to grow to also control a roster of local devices, and integrate with Apple Home. We're hoping that Home Assistant will give us the visibility and control we want and need without relying on cloud-dependent apps for every device.
Philips Hue Lights
Fairly reliable, with some being colour-capable lighting throughout the house and also our second home in France. Currently we're not utilising any occupancy simulation or scene automations, but want that to change. They're not the cheapest option (and will likely try alternatives if we need more), but when we bought these, they were from a known name so believed the reliability and integration support made them worth the investment.
Meross Smart Plugs
Energy monitoring and remote control for a couple of appliances. They're compact and integrate well with HomeKit and Home Assistant, giving us real-time power consumption data and also the ability to automate high-load devices around cheap energy windows.
Aqara Temperature Sensors
Zigbee-based environmental sensors scattered across rooms. They feed into Home Assistant for granular climate insights but only use these in 'geek mode' at the moment - likely to change moving forward.
Aqara Doorbell
Smart video doorbell with local processing and cloud fallback (and no monthly charges which we liked). Integrates well with the rest of our Aqara ecosystem, and easily links into Apple HomeKit.
Eufy Cameras
Deployed at both our UK home and our French house in Normandy for security. Local storage and no subscription requirement made them appeal to us.
Future Additions
We're planning to add door and window sensors in the near future (probably Aqara) and expand our Home Assistant integrations to cover more automation scenarios.
Networking
Vodafone 1Gb FTTP (WiFi 7 Ultra Hub)
Our home network runs on Vodafone's 1Gb full fibre connection with the Ultra Hub — their WiFi 7 router. We tried the Vodafone WiFi expanders but they didn't work well for us, so we're running the hub alone for now.
With a house full of smart devices, cameras, and two people working/streaming, a solid connection is essential. Reliable networking doesn't get talked about enough in smart home setups, but it underpins everything.
We have our various hubs (Philips Hue, Aqara etc) and the Home Assistant Green hard wired too.
Energy Provider and Tariffs
Octopus Energy — Intelligent Octopus Go
Our current electricity supplier, chosen for the Intelligent Octopus Go tariff which offers dynamic pricing aligned with grid demand. This pairs really well with our solar, battery, and EV setup for cost optimisation - although there are definitely more automations we can do with this.
Financial Tools and Rewards
BA American Express & Virgin Atlantic Credit Cards
These are simply who we use. We were heavily collecting Avios points, so signed up for the BA Premium Amex. However reward availability has been hard to come by, so also signed up for the Virgin Credit Card - this also helps as Amex still isn't accepted everywhere. Combined with cashback platforms, they add up meaningfully over the year.
If you want to help us out:
British Airways American Express Premium Plus - Reward link
Currently offering 31,000 bonus points when signing up through this link (I get 9,000 bonus). You need to spend £6,000 on your Card within the first 3 months of Card membership though.
Virgin Atlantic - Reward Link and enter Referral code: 92SPGIjRKBYaZORRmepx0Q==
Currently offering 7,000 reward points for the Reward+ Card, or 4,000 reward points for the Reward Card. Awarded if spending £3,000 on your Card within the first 3 months (I'll get 5,000 points)
Quidco
A cashback aggregator we use to stack rewards on online shopping, energy switches, insurance quotes and service subscriptions. Particularly effective during bonus periods.
Referral Link Currently you'll get £20 and I'll get £25
This page is a living document. As we test new devices and services, we'll update our setup here with real-world impressions. If you have questions about any of these items or have any recommendations for alternatives we should consider, please do get in touch as we'd really like to hear about them!