Home automation | IoT Products for Home Automation
Home automation is building automation for a home, called a smart home or smart house. A home automation system will control lighting, climate, entertainment systems, and appliances. It may also include home security such as access control and alarm systems. Home automation is part of “The Internet of Things,” also known as IoT. The way devices and appliances can be networked together to provide us with seamless control over all aspects of your home and more. Home automation has been around for many decades in terms of lighting and simple appliance control. Recently technology caught up with the idea of the interconnected world at the touch of your fingertips or a simple voice command to Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, and Cortana. The dream of making your home smart is now a reality.
A home automation system typically connects controlled devices to a central hub or “gateway”. The user interface for control of the system uses either wall-mounted terminals, tablet or desktop computers, a mobile phone application, or a Web interface, that may also be accessible off-site through the Internet.
With home automation, you can dictate how a device should react, when it should react, and why it should react. Set a schedule to determine when you want devices to turn on and off. Based on your personal preference you can control time, money, and convenience.
How Does Home Automation Work?
Saving time and money, smart home products give you the ability to control your home, lighting, appliances, and some decor from a smartphone, an Apple watch, and even voice control.
Remember those lights you can turn on with the sound of a clap?
If you’re like me, I have a very tough time waking up in the mornings. My lights are set to turn on at 4:58 AM as a two-minute warning. At 5:00 AM, the Alexa alarm sets off and tells me to wake up. At 5:05 AM my bathroom light turns on, then I start my morning routine. Smart home devices are customizable to your schedule or morning routine.
Some people even set up Alexa in their kitchen to make them a cup of coffee in the morning.
Applications and technologies
Smart Lighting: Smart lighting solutions are instant mood setters. Want to turn your living room into a discotheque, or want to create a romantic setup in your bedroom? Setting mood and changing color is now as easy as pressing a button on your smartphone. What’s more? These smart lighting solutions also allow you to create personalized schedules, which means you can have them turned on by evening and turned off automatically when you’re off to bed. They can even be automated to simulate an ‘occupied home’ appearance and can be triggered remotely from anywhere in the world.
Intelligent Security: Protect your home from intruders with our intelligent security solutions. Once configured, door/window and motion sensors notify you when someone tries to break in your home, when you’re away. As an expansion to the range, we also have wireless doorbells and intelligent locks that provide an additional level of security and mental peace.
Interactive Home: You no longer have to reach out to switchboards or operate a dozen remotes to get things done. You can now control everything in your home through your smartphone or by just using your voice.
Multimedia: Smart multimedia control gives you the flexibility to control your TV, Xbox or music player wirelessly from your smartphone. Smart home multimedia solutions also provided advanced features like multi-room playback, specialized scenes, wireless streaming and more.
Energy Efficiency: Use the power of technology to save money. Our intelligent sensors automatically turn off your air-conditioner, lights and fans when you’re not home. If that’s not enough, we also give you insights into how much energy you’re consuming and how you can save by creating personalized schedules.
Protection: Get instant alerts on your smartphone when your home is hit by fire, flood or any other disaster. You can also configure the central automation system to take corrective action instantly. For eg. Trigger an alarm, turn on the lights to capture attention or automatically disable all locks in the home for quick evacuation.
Climate Control: Home automation takes comfort to the next level. You can now keep track of ambient temperature across corners and automatically send commands to your central cooling unit to facilitate optimum cooling. You can also intelligently save energy by automatically turning off AC/cooling system if a window/door is left open for too long.
Surveillance: Keep a tab on your home, even while you’re away in the office or a vacation. With intelligent CCTV cameras that provide round-the-clock monitoring, staying connected with what matters is easy. The surveillance cameras can be installed standalone (wireless cameras) or can be configured to secure a covered area (NVR systems).
How Does Smart Home Technology Work?
Smart home technology is based on the idea that communication signals can be sent between devices to make something happen – like pressing a button on a remote control lights or on your smartphone to have a light turn on or off or dim.. There are various technologies used to make this happen, some use existing you home power lines, somme using radio frequency, (RF), some using Wi-Fi, and some using a combination of these. Technology Explained:
Wi-Fi Only
Wi-Fi technology can be really fast and super simple to set up. Typically, home automation devices using Wi-Fi for communication can be quickly setup using an app, and will not require a hub or other interface for remote control from a smartphone or voice control – as the communication comes straight from your Wi-FI Router to the devices. There are limitations to the numbers of devices on Wi-Fi network, so if you don’t plan on having a significant amount of home automation products, this is a good fit for you.
Z-Wave & Zigbee
Z-Wave and Zigbee are the two most popular wireless technologies, using RF to communicate between devices. These technologies are licensed out, meaning any number of companies can create their own products using Z-Wave and Zigbee technology. As a result (for the most part) all Z-Wave devices can work with each and all Zigbee devices can work together – regardless of brand. A Hub, or other Z-Wave interfaces will be required for smartphone control or voice control of Z-Wave products.
Insteon
Insteon technology uses power line and radio frequency to communicate and transmit signals. The Insteon Hub is required if you’d like to control Insteon devices from a smartphone, voice control, or to set schedules. Insteon products run of their own special frequency allowing older generations of the product to work with new ones through the Insteon Hub and home automation app.
Benefits of a Home Automation Solution
CONVENIENCE
Control and automate just about every device and appliance within your home makes life easy. We’ve all gotten used to controlling our TV from the couch; just wait until you are able to dim the lights or turn on the a/c without getting up. Imagine adjusting the temperature from your bed or controlling the volume of your whole-house audio system from any room. Or imagine having a the heater in your bathroom turning on automatically 5 minutes before the alarm goes off. It makes the chilly mornings much more bearable.
SAFETY
Always on guard and ready, a home automation solution can also provide security and safeguarding for your home. From a wireless security camera keeping an eye on things to a water sensor that will alert you of a possible costly leak, an automated home keeps your property under surveillance so you can react at a moment’s notice.
We’re all used to opening the garage door from the car, but you’ll be surprised how much safer you’ll feel coming home to a lit home and even turning on more lights before you enter. With a couple of basic products, you can have your whole house light up like Fort Knox when there is motion detected at any corner of your house.
ENERGY SAVINGS
Home automation works efficiently for you, saving money on your utilities. Automating your home grants the ability to perform tasks simultaneously, without thinking. Smart thermostats and smart light bulbs save energy but only operating when you want them to.
FUN
Home automation gets you involved. Set your personal preferences and actions, then sit back and enjoy using the latest in home automation technology. Though such technology might seem complex, it remains completely flexible and user-friendly making for a fun experience. Whether viewing visitors at your front door on your TV or tuning your stereo by using voice recognition, you’ll find home automation surprisingly enjoyable. When it comes to impressing the friends, you’ll be happy to show off your newfound applications.
Customization
The many conveniences of a smart home rely on the freedom to do what you please. Set schedules when you would like air conditioner to turn off or on, when you want the lights to turn on and to what brightness. Label lights using a home automation app for your devices, and use your voice to tell them when you want them on or off.
IoT Products for Home Automation
Amazon Echo FamilyThe Echo is a Bluetooth speaker powered by Alexa, Amazon’s handy voice assistant. Alexa works with a number of smart home devices directly, as well as with If This Then That (IFTTT) to control plenty of others via “recipes” you can create yourself. It’ll take some work, but you can use Alexa to control most of the gadgets in your house by the sound of your voice. If you already have a favorite speaker, the inexpensive Echo Dot can connect to it and add Alexa functionality.
Lock and unlock your door from anywhere, grant secure access to friends and family, and track who is coming and going, all from the August app. Automatically unlocks when you arrive and locks when you leave. August Smart Lock Pro works with all three voice assistants – Siri, Amazon Alexa, and the Google Assistant.
ecobee Switch+
The ecobee Switch+ is a smart wall switch that connects to your WiFi, and can be controlled using a mobile app. ecobee is the first company to embed Amazon Alexa in a light switch. This means it’s capable of telling you current news, playing music, controlling other smart home devices and more.
GE Kitchen Hub
Home chefs will absolutely love this fully integrated kitchen smart hub. With a centrally located dashboard, this home automation device features a WiFi- and Bluetooth-enabled 27-inch touchscreen that’s situated right above your stove. Features include stovetop-facing cameras for your social media presence or cooking class videos, video calling, music streaming and the ability to watch Netflix while you cook. It can also be controlled with the voice-enabled assistant named Geneva.
Securfi Almond 3
Almond 3, A latest innovation that easily and quickly establishes a single, secure Home Wi-Fi System in minutes. To create a Home Wi-Fi Network, simply setup two or more Almond 3 units. It’s easy with our innovative easy touchscreen access and Wizard.
This device is both a router and a smart home automation hub, capable of handling speeds up to 867 Mbps on the 5GHz band and up to 300 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band. It can even reach up to 1,300 square feet of space. The app can also be used to quickly utilize Zigbee, Z-Wave and access WiFi connectivity options.
Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller
The Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler Controller raises the smart watering bar with foolproof installation, dual-band Wi-Fi and an expressive light bar. Rachio 3 is the only controller equipped with hyperlocal Weather Intelligence™ Plus and Rachio Wireless Flow Meter compatibility.
Hestan Cue Smart Cooking System
Hestan Cue’s cooking system is a sight for smart eyes. It includes an 11-inch smart fry pan, 1600-watt smart induction burner and a video-based recipe app. The system is great for beginners in need of some extra cooking tips to keep from burning their food, while also serving as a helpful hand for seasoned chefs who want to try out the 100-plus recipes. Users can prepare their dishes from the available recipes, with the pan, burner and app using constant Bluetooth-based communication to automatically adjust the temperature. The app’s video guide even provides tips for proper precision cooking.
QardioBase 2
- Track more than weight – QardioBase measures more than weight. It automatically calculates BMI and tracks changes in your body composition (muscle, body fat, water, bone).
- Less stress, more results – QardioBase makes it easier to reach your goal with Smart Feedback by replacing numbers with emojis that reward your progress.
- Pregnancy Mode – Select your due date and let QardioBase track your progress through each trimester, with charts and a photo diary in the Qardio app.
- Auto user detection – just step on, QardioBase recognizes up to 8 users. Easy, automatic process for guests, too.
Kuri
Ever wanted a robot? Now’s your chance! This IoT device is a small mobile robot that features a microphone, hands-free command features, camera, speakers and mapping sensors. Kuri can help you access the web, audio books, music subscriptions and even take pictures, whether that’s for a family photo or of an intruder.
Wink Hub 2
Wink Hub 2 is the first smart home hub designed for the mainstream consumer, sporting industry-leading protocol support, a sleek design, enhanced connectivity, and security features that create a best-in-class experience. It is compatible with the Z-Wave, Zigbee, Lutron Clear Connect, Kidde, Bluetooth and WiFi. It allows your smart products from different brands to seamlessly be controlled through the Wink app. You can do such things as see who’s at the door and unlock it from anywhere, trigger your lights to automatically turn on, receive alerts to keep you informed about what’s going on in your home, and more.
SimpliSafe
Provides lot products related to home security.
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