Welcome to the May issue of Professional Electricians Wholesaler.
By the time you’re reading this I can only hope the first signs of summer have finally arrived as winter seemed to do its very best to cling on for as long as possible well into April. Perhaps the inclusion of a special feature on outdoor lighting is a precurser to long warm evenings outside, enjoying barbecues, drinking fine wine and dancing until long after the sunset and our gardens are lit up like a fairy’s home …… sorry, mind drifted there.
It’s probably fair to say that while smart technology and building controls are the ‘brains’ in the world of electrical products, lighting offers the ‘glamour’. It’s the bit that we can see, and we therefore not only want it to work well, we want it to look good too, whether it’s in our living rooms, on the front of a shop or in a public park. There are of course a number of uses for outdoor lighting, from creating a welcoming atmosphere in pub gardens, to important safety and security measures in both domestic and commercial markets. The burgeoning smart technology market has increased the scope of opportunity for outdoor lighting, resulting in a wide choice of products that wholesalers and installers can take advantage of. Customers are likely to give a fair degree of thought to their choice of lighting, taking into consideration its aesthetic appeal as well as the effectiveness, cost and energy efficiency of the product.
Outdoor lighting also offers opportunities in the world of renewables and green technology, as another of our special features this month focuses on the potential of permanent solar lighting solutions.
Last but not least, our third special feature focuses on home automation – a particularly popular subject largely due to how your everyday customer can relate to the kind of products now flooding the market. It’s not so long ago that home automation was the kind of thing only available to the rich and famous. In my earlier days as an editor in this sector I was lucky enough to be shown around what would then have been considered a ‘house of the future’. It was a brand new mansion with multiple bedrooms and a home cinema room listed among its big selling points. However, the kind of technology it featured is now finding its way into affordable housing because of the advantages it offers in terms of user- friendly convenience and improved energy management.
This month I will be in attendance at the Building Controls Industry Association (BCIA) Awards, which will offer a glimpse of some of the innovative technology going into our buildings today. This really is an exciting industry to be involved in.
See you in June.
Tracey Rushton – Thorpe
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