From DIY project to smart home — turn B&Q spend into smart gear
A weekend kitchen refresh at B&Q or Wickes, paying for the Echo and the smart plugs.
DIY spend has a specific rhythm. Months of small top-ups — a new drill bit, a roll of masking tape, a bag of screws — punctuated by one big weekend project that blows through £400 of paint, timber and fixings in a single B&Q trip.
Both patterns work well with gift cards, for different reasons. The big-project trips are perfect because the spend is predictable the moment you start planning — buy the cards the week before, earn the cashback, walk into B&Q with the cards in your wallet. The weekly top-ups are better as Screwfix or B&Q credit bought in bigger chunks and spent down over a few months.
Either way, the payoff is neat: the DIY budget quietly funds the smart-home upgrades the house actually needs next. Smart plugs, the Echo for the kitchen, the Ring doorbell, the TV for the newly-decorated living room.
Buy the gift card
Pick any brand and pay as you would for tech. The code is sent straight to your email.
We reward you
A1 Tech Deals credits your account with store credit — funded by us, not the brand.
Spend it on tech
Use the credit at checkout on anything at a1techdeals.com — phones, laptops, accessories.
The numbers on a typical DIY year
That's £143 a year of store credit — more than enough for a smart home starter kit.
Smart-home gear the project pays for
Trackers & TagsApple AirTag Silver
Security CamerasGoogle Nest Cam Battery Security Camera Snow
Trackers & TagsApple AirTag 4-Pack Silver
Trackers & TagsSamsung Galaxy SmartTag2 4-Pack White and Black
Trackers & TagsSamsung Galaxy SmartTag2 Tracker White
Trackers & TagsSamsung Galaxy SmartTag2 Tracker Black
The rate varies more in this category than most — hobby-craft and garden shops sit higher (8–10%), the big DIY chains lower (3–5%). A mix of cards through the year averages out around 5–6%.
Cards for the projects and the top-ups
The Royal Horticultural Society
The White Company
Hobbycraft
The National Garden Centre
Homesense
Tapi Carpets & Floors LTD UK
B&M
Wickes UK
Amara
Halfords
Halfords Autocentre
Screwfix
Two DIY setups
The kitchen refresh weekend
Mo spends £480 at B&Q on paint, fittings and a new kitchen tap, plus £140 at Wickes for flooring offcuts.
Pays for a pair of smart plugs and a Hue bulb — the smart-kitchen starter pack, on the refresh you were doing anyway.
The monthly top-up
Sarah buys a £50 Screwfix card once a month for the ongoing garden project, plus a £100 Hobbycraft card in the spring.
Enough for an Echo Dot or a Ring video doorbell — a small but real smart-home step each year.
What people always want to check.
The refresh funds the smart home
B&Q, Wickes, Screwfix, Hobbycraft, The White Company — store credit toward tech, automatically.
More from the issue.
Save on everyday shopping and stay connected with new tech
A simple loop for the weekly shop, the garden centre and the occasional new cardigan.
How to fund your next iPhone without spending a penny extra
The highest-earning gift cards in the catalogue, ranked — and exactly how much you'd need.
The cost-of-living savings loop — how smart UK shoppers stretch every £
A straightforward way to turn the weekly essentials into real store credit by year's end.
