O2 Home is a new smart home solution from UK provider O2, to help you monitor and control your energy usage using just your smartphone, as well as beef up your home security and much more besides. Here’s everything you need to know about O2 Home, including the packages available, what you get for your money, signup requirements, how it all works and the total cost.
If you’re spending too much on your energy bills or want to add some security measures to your house, then O2 Home could be a decent solution for you. It’s a no-hassle service which turns your humble abode into a smart home. In other words, O2 will add smart thermostats, security cameras and other connected devices to your home, which can be controlled via your iPhone or Android mobile wherever you roam.
Subscribers to O2 Home will have their chosen devices fitted professionally for free by O2’s own Home installers, so you won’t need to bust out the drill. Up to ten family members can have complete access to the new thermostats, cameras and other devices at any time, so even big families are well catered for.
As an added bonus, O2 will conduct an annual health check on all of the O2 Home equipment that they send you too. And if something goes wrong in the meantime, there’s a special O2 Home helpline for remote support and a call-out support team if the problem still can’t be resolved.
We nominated the O2 Home service for our best smart home service or product of 2016 award, and here’s everything you need to know about this high-tech connected solution.
What are the different O2 Home packages?
There are three different O2 Home packages to choose between. These are:
O2 Home Comfort. This is for anyone who wants to smartly control the temperature in their house. You get the O2 Smart Hub, a tado smart thermostat, two smart plugs and one presence sensor, all for £30 per month for 24 months.
O2 Home View. This is more for anyone who wants to beef up home security. You get the O2 Smart Hub, a Samsung camera, wide view camera, one open and close sensor and one presence sensor. O2 Home View costs £30 per month.
O2 Home Connect. This is the cheapest option and includes the O2 Smart Hub, two presence sensors, two open and close sensors and two smart plugs, all for £20 per month.
Check out O2’s selection of packages for more info.
What do I get for that monthly O2 Home fee?
Those O2 Home fees aren’t cheap, but if you want peace of mind, they do include full support from O2 in case of breakdown. For the monthly fee, you get:
Professional installation of your new devices from an O2 Home Installer.
An annual health check of the equipment from an O2 Home expert.
Free house visits for anything that O2 can’t resolve remotely over the phone.
30 days’ worth of video storage for all of your O2 Home cameras. In total this is 250MB of free, secure cloud storage, which gives you enough space to capture ten 15-second video clips as well as 250 snapshots each day.
24-month device warranty.
What else can I add on to my O2 Home package?
It’s also possible to pick and mix your O2 Home devices, by adding the following bits on for the given one-off fees.
- Standard view camera: £90
- Samsung SmartCam wide view camera: £130
- Panoramic camera: £160
- Outdoor camera: £160
- Tado° thermostat: £199
- Presence sensor: £30
- Open and close sensor: £30
- Smart smoke detector: £35
- Fibaro flood sensor: £35
- Powerline adaptor: £55
- Smart delivery box (medium) plus open and close sensor: £100
- Smart delivery box (large) plus open and close sensor: £160
- Fake TV burglar deterrent: £25
- Keypad: £38
- Indoor siren: £45
- Key fob: £10
- Yale keyfree connected smartlock: £444
Take a look at O2’s Home accessories page for a full list of all available add-ons and more details.
Do I need to perform any installation myself?
A professional O2 Home Installer does all of the heavy lifting, so no need to worry about reading complex instructions or having the tech know-how. Well, except for learning how to control O2 Home itself, which is pleasingly simple via O2’s own apps.
Is O2 Home available to just O2 customers, or can anyone sign up?
Your phone provider is irrelevant, so yes, anyone can get O2 Home. You don’t need to be an O2 mobile subscriber, or already involved with the company to enjoy O2 Home.
What will I need to do before signing up for O2 Home?
Although you don’t have to be an O2 customer to get started, you will need to check if you are within the installation area before signing up. This can be done over on the O2 website. Just select a package and you’ll be asked to enter your postcode, which then confirms if the O2 Home service is available in your area.
Assuming you are in a supported area, you will then need to ensure you have a respectable broadband internet connection, complete with unlimited data and a minimum speed of 1MB per second.
At least one spare Ethernet connection at the back of your router is also needed, as is a phone number and email address for contact purposes. And of course you’ll need a working central heating system, a spare plug socket near your boiler and a tablet or smartphone capable of running the software.
Is O2 Home worth it?
Getting each smart home component separately may be cheaper, but the installation costs would add a lot extra on top. And this way you’re assured a professional fitting and long-term support, to ensure that your smart home is properly installed and maintained.
Eco-minded types will appreciate the fact they can use the heating only when needed, so resources aren’t wasted unnecessarily. Others may find the potential energy bill savings a turn on. Then there is the security element, which could provide a lot of peace of mind for parents or anyone who spends a lot of time away from their humble abode.
Head on over to the O2 Home website for more info and to sign up now.
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