Home Automation
Creating Smarter Homes for Smart Consumers
The rise of the Internet of Things promises a brave new world of connected devices, smart cities and homes – and ultimately better living. According to technology research firm TechNavio, the number of connected devices is expected to pass 17 billion in the next five years. Asad Zaidi, Channel Marketing Engineer, Schneider Electric looks at what it all means for wholesalers and end users.
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he ability of devices to connect to each other and feed important information back to us should lay
the path for a smarter, more holistic way of managing and interacting with our environments, where continual improvements and efficiencies can be gained. For the consumer market, smart thermostats
like Nest and Hive have already made waves in this regard and hit the headlines. Drayton by Schneider Electric is also set to launch its smart thermostat with an attractive mobile app. These products enable users to control temperature and boiler activity in their homes remotely, and promote better energy management and efficiency. They are among the first products to demonstrate true potential value of connected buildings and remote access to home infrastructure, giving us the knowledge and power to optimise our home environment to best suit our individual preferences, reduce energy bills, and even alter our behavior
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towards energy saving and sustainability of the planet as a society. Intelligent building systems are not just
available for offices and commercial buildings; the decrease in the price of technology has made the home automation a reality for consumers. This is also coupled with a dramatic change in customers’ expectations. People expect to be in control of their energy use, by managing the lighting, heating and all other electrical devices in their home from a single hand held device. This marks the new era of smart, connected homes. An automated home brings together many
control aspects including security, lighting, temperature, audio and video entertainment systems, blinds and curtains, sprinklers etc. You can enter your home and find the temperature perfectly set for your arrival, or have the lights go up as the sun goes down, or even unlock your front door with a smartphone; the possibilities are endless. There are different types of systems in the market capable of automating a single product
like cameras or heating etc., but a fully integrated system can incorporate all of these disparate systems and combine them into one single point of control or an application. All of these connected elements work together to make the home more energy efficient, more convenient and safer for the homeowner. However, these devices ultimately should be
able to talk the same language for the connected home to run as smoothly as possible. In a similar way to commercial building management systems, smart devices can run on a variety of different protocols. Zigbee is a wireless communication system built by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). It consumes a small amount of power and is built on a mesh network, to offer excellent range and communication interoperability between devices, with no need for a complicated web of wires. It saves both energy and raw materials, while dramatically cutting installation and maintenance costs.
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