What is Smart Home Technology?

LONDON - Sept. 23, 2015 - PRLog -- What is Smart Home Technology?

Home automation (smart home) is the residential extension of building automation. It is automation of the home, house work or household activity. Furthermore, smart home technology is a collective term for information and communication technology (ICT) as used in houses, where the various components are communicating via a local network. The technology can be used tomonitor, warn and carry out functions according to selected criteria. Smart home technology also makes the automatic communication with the surroundings possible, via the Internet, ordinary fixed telephones or mobile phones.

Smart home technology gives a totally different flexibility and functionality than does conventional installations and environmental control systems, because of the programming, the integration and the units reacting on messages submitted through the network. The illumination may for example be controlled automatically, or lamps can be lit as other things happen in the house.

Home automation may include centralized control of lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), appliances, security locks of gates and doors and other systems, to provide improved convenience, comfort, energy efficiency and security. Home automation for the elderly and disabled can provide increased quality of life for persons who might otherwise require care givers or institutional care. A home automation system integrates electrical devices in a house with each other.

The popularity of smart home has been increasing greatly in recent years due to much higher affordability and simplicity through Smartphone and tablet connectivity. The concept of the "Internet of Things" has tied inclosely with the popularization of home automation.

Environmental Control Systems
Here, we make a division between smart home technology, conventional installations and environmental control systems, even if environmental control systems strictly speaking are conventional installation.

With conventional installations every action must be actively triggered. To turn the light on, a switch must be pushed. Every action on the television set requires the handle of the remote control. Conventional installationsare still the most usual.

Environmental control systems are most often operated by a remote control, often through one command from the user resulting in one response from the system. Environmental control systems can be used without attaching to smart home technology. If anetwork or a data bus is installed, the integration of the two systems should be considered.

Applications
Smart home technology is primarily used in residential homes and nursing homes where the technology was installed during the building process. The most common applications of home automation are lighting control, HVAC, temperature monitoring, outdoor lawn irrigation, kitchen appliances, home health care, fire detection, leak detection, energy efficiency, access control and security systems.

Smart Home Advantages
Smart homes obviously have the ability to make life easier and more convenient. Home networking can also provide peace of mind. Whether you're at work or on vacation, the smarthome will alert you to what's going on, and security systems can be built to provide an immense amount of help in an emergency. For example, not only would a resident be woken with notification of a fire alarm, the smart home would also unlock doors, dial the fire department and light the path to safety. Some advantages of smart homes described as follows.

1- Safety
Increased safety is of primary concern for the person living in a smart home, and often for the relatives and the employees too. The safetyis based on the possibilities to register regular and irregular incidents in the house, as well as incidents not occurring. Such registration scan trigger off reminders or alarms.

2- Independence
Several of the functions providing safety in the smarthome, may also yield increased independence. An important bonus regarding independence is the possibility to live in your own apartment, to govern your own life, and to lock your own door. For some persons, for instance persons with senile dementia or learning difficulties, smart home technology can be an important prerequisite for independent living.

3- Quality of the Services and the Workplaces
Employees in residential homes with smart home technology claim that their work has become more calmand structured, and that the technology has made their planning of the day easier. Experiences show that this tranquility also affects the residents.

4- Financial Benefits
Financial benefits from the use of smart home technology as part of municipal services have not been investigated to any large extent. First and foremost the technology is introduced as a support for the residents and the staff and not as a replacement for human resources. In describing how technology might contribute to increased safety and independence, it is tempting to estimate the number of man-labor years that might be saved. The use of technology can yield better exploration of staff resources.

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