Wood-burning stoves emit six times as much pollution as a diesel truck. | Room Heaters Water Radiator

Just asking that question is step forward to achieving carbon-neutral energy, Sheman believes. “What’s interesting about wood heating is that it actually creates an opportunity for people to ask that question,” he explains. “Nobody calls their oil dealer and says, ‘You know that 500 gallons you delivered to my house yesterday, was that Venezuelan or Saudi oil, or Alberta tar sands? Where did that come from and who made it?’ But when we buy pellets, we do ask that question. It gets people thinking about their energy consumption and where it comes from and how it was produced.”

An ‘add-on’ advantage of having a single fall that drains well in simple directions, is the floor cleaning process said Misho Vasiljevich, principal architect at Hobart practice Misho + Associates. Vasiljevich has specified linear drains both in residential bathrooms (using the Veitch shower channel, sold by Reece), and in commercial projects such as the Hobart Airport Terminal Redevelopment’s new toilets (Stormtech), forecourt expansion and airside drainage (Aco Drains).

It’s unclear which accessories will be available in the new homes, but KB Home has a model home set up with all the included goodies! It’s already open for tours, so if you’re anywhere near 307 Adeline Street in San Jose, you should definitely check it out.

After a ton of delays and a couple of false starts, IKEA announced today on its TRÅDFRI smart lighting app that it is finally rolling out HomeKit support for the TRÅDFRI smart lighting system. According to German Apple-focused news site Macerkopf, users who already own the TRÅDFRI lighting system will need to generate an eight-digit code in the IKEA app in order to manually add their bulbs to the Apple Home app. However, if you get a newer version of the system, there will be a code on the underside of the gateway that you can input. After that, you can use the Home app, Siri, and the TRÅDFRI app to control your lights. You’ll also be able to add them to scenes.

Volunteers from all over North Carolina help rescue residents and their pets from their flooded homes during Hurricane Florence September 14, 2018 in New Bern, North Carolina. Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 1 storm and was later downgraded to a tropical storm(Photo: Getty Images)

First spotted by MacRumors, French tech company Invoxia’s new Triby IO smart speaker offers full HomeKit integration and can be used as a HomeKit switch, meaning you can add pre-programmed scenes to the five buttons on the device.

WeberHaus, a European home manufacturer, is the latest home builder to offer HomeKit control. The company has been making pre-fabricated homes with connected home technology for some time, but later this year it’ll offer pre-fab homes with built-in HomeKit control.

“Over the last couple of years we’ve been working with Apple doing proof-of-demo installations on houses, just to see how workable it all is – obviously it’s an emerging platform to work on,” says Paul Armstrong, Technical Director, Trivselhus UK.

Zipato is billed as the smart home in a single device, supporting the functionality of a smart thermostat, smart home controller, and a security system. The company recently added Alexa control to its repertoire, although it’s now working on Google Home support. It should be available by the end of the year.

And there’s the great injustice. The smoke from a small numbers of homes that are burning wood – often as a lifestyle choice – can pollute a whole neighbourhood or even an entire city.

Warranty information: Five-year parts, five-year unit replacement (if any part in the refrigerant circuit fails).

The systems that exist all look to make it simpler and easier to control your home heating whether you’re out and about or on the sofa, while also aiming to help you save money.