How is it living in a new apartment for Olympian Zuzana Hejnová?<BR>Does she live in a rush at home too?

At the beginning, we can't resist a special question. Do you live at home in a rush?
Indeed, it was the case, and we wanted to change that. We wanted not only to live but mainly to rest after training, concentrating, and flying around the world. So we focused on making our new home very comfortable and practical.

You have a beautifully furnished apartment. The work of an architect?
Thank you for the compliment. We consulted many things with the architect, but in the end, my partner and I chose and fine-tuned everything ourselves.

The interior design is usually discussed in terms of its furnishings, but I was intrigued by the design lighting and special switches. Did you also handle the electrical installation yourself?
We weren't quite decided from the beginning how the installation should look. Only when it came time to think about what switches and sockets to choose did we start searching on the internet.

And did you find ABB switches?
At first, we weren't specifically looking for ABB. We liked the look of the Time® sockets and switches, and only later did we find out that this design is produced by ABB.

But these are not ordinary switches, are they?
No, this is intelligent electrical installation. We discovered it by browsing through the entire ABB catalog on their website and found out what all is possible, and we liked it. Moreover, we had heard from the designer earlier about all the things our apartment could do thanks to the electrical installation.

So from ordinary switches and sockets to intelligent electrical installation. What convinced you to go for it?
In this, I trusted my partner. To be honest, I'm not that well-versed in it, he studied the details to control the lighting, heating, blinds, and wellness, to have it all as an ideal solution where everything cooperates with everything. The ABB i-bus® KNX seemed perfect for us.

You say that this panel with a screen is actually a central controller that replaced the standard switch?
Yes, and it’s very simple to use; one gets oriented in it immediately. I see no problem; one can set it up to basically whatever they want and in a way that suits them. Lights, blinds, heating…

Would you recommend the ABB i-bus® system to any of your colleagues? I'm mainly interested in your personal experience using it.
I would definitely recommend it; I really like it. Just the fact that I don't have to run around the apartment checking how to lower individual blinds. I can set it to descend automatically at the time I want, and it does the same on the way up. I come home, and I have the light scenes set, so I don’t have to turn everything on individually; I just press a button, and everything lights up at once.

So no running around, because now the system saves you time and energy when you come home, right?
It’s very pleasant, just to press one button, and it works. I can function without having to go separately turn on the living room, kitchen, hallway, etc. I have a limited amount of time and energy, so this helps me a lot.

We are curious if, as an athlete, you enjoy speed. Speed in the things that accompany you in everyday life, like in a car?
I wouldn’t say it’s speed that I enjoy, but rather efficiency and the resulting time and energy savings. Surprisingly, this electrical installation aligns well with that. :-) I wouldn't have imagined before that something like this exists and how it works.

You mentioned that you were very intrigued by the design of individual elements?
The design was my thing. I think it’s a modern feature that fits into a modern apartment. However, we didn’t want complete design high-tech; it wouldn't quite suit the interior, so we chose the timeless design of Triton. We also chose a smaller touch display – we wanted it only as a central control point when exiting the main part of the apartment. I certainly don’t think it disrupts or clashes with the interior. It’s important not to set it up as if it were a second TV. :-)

Does anyone among your acquaintances also have intelligent electrical system solutions, or are you and your partner the first pioneers?
No one does. I think we are the first. I know it’s used in large spaces, like hotels, administrative buildings, pools, wellness centers, but we are young and curious. :-)

Are you used to acquiring the latest technology?
We are not the type that always needs to have the best of everything, but we thought that since we're making a new apartment and want it to look nice in some way, we should include intelligence so it saves us a lot of time, and besides, it will be trendy now and in the future. We don’t mind technology; it can help a lot when we spend a lot of time away from home.

After you "came across" the intelligent system at ABB, did you explore others as well?
As I mentioned, we found it through the switches, where ABB has a huge offer. Similarly, we easily chose from intelligent systems. And because we wanted something we could rely on for a long time, ABB suited us. A multinational manufacturer with a long tradition and professional background in the Czech Republic.

We are glad to hear that and wish you many more sports successes.
We are also happy with ABB, and thank you.