Rich Heppell, owner and founder of home automation specialists, Art of Smart (AOS), joined The Electrical Show to talk about why he chose this career path with Thomas Nagy and show regular Paul Meenan.

He got into the electrical field right out of school and predominantly worked in the commercial and industrial sectors of the trade. His career path led him to smart homes when he purchased his first house at the age of 20.

"Twelve years ago, I was drawn into the world of smart homes after seeing a post on Twitter that said #liveinstall. I got obsessed with it," he discloses. In 2017, he launched his business Art of Smart in York.

He adds that Google Nest and Amazon's Alexa have pushed smart homes into the mainstream, giving rise to an increase in smart device installations.

For electricians looking to get into the smart home installation sector, Rich says networking is "absolutely essential".

"It is important to do networking foundation courses such as TCP/ IP. If you find this difficult, the rest of it is quite hard," he warns.

He also argues that electricians have a deeper understanding of the concepts and core skills required for installing smart homes compared to other installers.

While there is a lot of money that one can make in smart home installations, ensure your contracts are watertight and in order, Rich advises.

Paul concludes: "You want to make money, go into smart homes. There is a of work coming up in this specialised career path."

You can listen to the whole show here.