Smart Home Installation in Cheltenham

Hidden Home Technology is an international award-winning smart home company, and in Cheltenham we design and install complete home automation. A smart home done properly is one system, not a drawer full of apps. Lighting, audio, video, heating, blinds and security work together, and you can run them from keypads, from one app or simply by walking into a room.

If you’re starting from scratch on the subject, our plain-English guide “What is home automation, really?” is a good first read. The short version: the technology only feels like magic when someone has planned it as one coherent system — which is exactly what we do, and have done since 2004, with our founder Dan designing home technology since 2001. We’re a CEDIA member (A-356536).

Retrofit or new build — Cheltenham has both

Cheltenham splits neatly into two kinds of project. The town’s Regency terraces and Victorian villas — Montpellier, The Suffolks, Pittville, Tivoli — are retrofit territory: solid walls, original features, and often conservation considerations, where wireless-first systems and careful, minimal cabling do the work invisibly. Newer homes in Charlton Kings, Bishop’s Cleeve and the developments around the town’s edges are wiring opportunities: get the infrastructure in at build stage and everything afterwards is easier and cheaper.

We design for both, and we’ve written honestly about the trade-offs in retrofit vs new-build smart home. If your project is still on the drawing board, involve us early — our design consultancy exists for exactly that moment.

Control that the whole household uses

We build systems on established, professionally installed control platforms such as URC and Control4 — chosen for reliability and long-term support, not novelty. The test we design to is simple: can a guest turn the lights and music on without a tutorial? Keypads are engraved with what they do, scenes match how you live, and the complicated part stays hidden in the rack.

For a sense of the whole-home approach, see our multi-room audio and smart home project in Englefield Green — music through the house, control unified, and nothing on show that doesn’t need to be.

A Cheltenham home we are working on

In Cheltenham we have been working through one house in stages since 2022, with lighting control at the centre of the work. A lot of the Rako lighting is in already. The blinds and the rest of the automation are planned with it, so one Rako system will set the lights and the blinds together. Wi-Fi through the house and a DoorBird video intercom are part of the same plan.

It is not a finished job yet. When it is, the whole house will run on URC control. URC is the platform behind the installations that have won us four of its Unsurpassed awards since 2021.

The house is a smart home with a world-class hi-fi listening room, and the room is modelled on the listening room at the headquarters of Magico, the Californian speaker maker. Our page on lighting control in Cheltenham explains how we design lighting like this.

The unglamorous part: networking and Wi-Fi

Every smart home stands on its network, and most “smart home problems” are actually network problems. We design and install proper wired backbones and whole-home Wi-Fi with enterprise-grade access points — placed where the building needs them, not where the broadband router happened to land. Thick Regency walls eat Wi-Fi; we plan around them so streaming, video calls and the control system itself are simply dependable, in every room and the garden office too.

Frequently asked questions

Can you automate a period property without ruining it?

Yes — it’s a large part of what we do. Wireless lighting control, discreet speakers and carefully routed cabling mean the technology serves the house without scarring it, and interventions are kept reversible wherever possible.

Do we have to do everything at once?

No. A well-designed system is staged: many clients start with lighting or multi-room audio and expand later. What matters is that the first phase is designed with the destination in mind, so nothing is wasted.

What happens when something goes wrong?

You call us — the same company that designed, supplied and installed the system. Because we’re both retailer and installer there’s one point of responsibility, and remote diagnostics let us resolve many issues without a visit.

Do you cover Cheltenham?

Yes — from our Bath base we work across Gloucestershire, including Gloucester and the Cotswolds. Everything we offer locally is on our Cheltenham overview page.

Make your home work as one

Get in touch to talk through your home and what you’d like it to do, or read more about our control and automation service. Lighting is where most people start — see lighting control in Cheltenham.