Modern air conditioning systems offer sophisticated smart control — smartphone apps, voice control and home automation integration. Here is a practical guide to what is available and what actually works well in 2026.
Smartphone App Control
All major brand air conditioning systems now offer smartphone app control as standard or as a relatively inexpensive add-on (typically a wifi adapter module costing £50-100).
Mitsubishi Electric: MELCloud app. Comprehensive control including temperature, mode, fan speed, schedules and energy monitoring. Works reliably in our installation experience. Multi-unit control from a single app.
Daikin: Daikin Residential Controller and Daikin Residential app. Good functionality, intuitive interface. Energy monitoring available on compatible models. The Daikin ONECTA platform provides cloud-based control with good reliability.
Samsung: SmartThings app integration. Samsung’s approach integrates the air conditioning into the broader SmartThings ecosystem alongside other Samsung devices. Works well if you use other Samsung smart home products. Can be slightly more complex to set up for non-Samsung users.
LG: LG ThinQ app. Mature and well-regarded smart home platform. Good integration with other LG devices.
Voice Control — Alexa, Google and Siri
Most major brand systems now integrate with Amazon Alexa and Google Home for voice control. “Alexa, set the bedroom to 20 degrees” works reliably with properly configured Mitsubishi Electric, Daikin, Samsung and LG systems. The integration typically requires connecting the brand’s own app/cloud platform to the Alexa or Google Home skill — a one-time setup process that takes 10-15 minutes.
Apple HomeKit integration is available for some brands (Daikin and others through third-party adapters) but is less universally supported than Alexa and Google Home.
Home Automation Integration
For more sophisticated home automation — where air conditioning integrates with occupancy detection, time-of-use electricity tariffs or solar panel output — platforms like Home Assistant, KNX and Control4 can be used. This requires additional integration hardware and setup expertise beyond the standard wifi adapter.
The most useful automation scenario for air conditioning: pre-cooling bedrooms before arrival based on weather forecast data; integrating with solar generation data to run at higher capacity when solar is generating surplus electricity; and linking to smart thermostats to prevent air conditioning and central heating from working simultaneously.
Practical Recommendation
For most homeowners, the wifi adapter and brand app gives all the useful control you need — remote on/off, temperature adjustment and schedules. Voice control adds convenience rather than functionality. Full home automation integration is worth pursuing if you have a broader home automation system already, but not worth building a home automation system around air conditioning alone.
We install and configure smart control as part of all our installations. Call 07833 053749 or contact us.