A house that “manages” itself, seeing to your comfort, ensuring your safety, and optimising your energy consumption to help you save on your bills… It’s not science fiction; it’s home automation. Connected homes are no longer far from our reach. They are here and already making our lives easier. So, what is home automation, exactly? Let’s find out all there is to know about smart homes now!
What is home automation?
What is home automation? In its simplest definition, it refers to all the connected technologies that help pilot communication and energy usage within your home. As the name suggests, home automation automates the various appliances and equipment you own and improves their performance to better address your needs. This provides you with unmatched comfort while allowing you to achieve significant energy savings.
Here are some of the elements that can make up a home automation system:
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Alarm systems;
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Doors, gates, and shutters;
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Electrical and domestic appliances;
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Boilers, radiators and other heating systems, air conditioning, etc.
How does home automation work?
What is home automation without a network of connected devices? In order to perform its tasks, home automation relies on six categories of interdependent, complementary elements.
Automatic controls are at the heart of any home automation system. They allow motorised, electrical, or electronic devices to come on autonomously at the ideal moment.
Programming guarantees the relevance of these automated functions. It considers several scenarios on which to base the system’s “decisions”.
Home automation equipment refers to the connected devices themselves, from the lighting to the heating system, home cinema, hoovers, and other appliances that will be switched on and off according to your configuration.
Sensors collect the necessary information from the system’s environment. These can include smoke detectors, connected thermometers, sound, light, humidity sensors, etc.
The network (wired or wireless) transfers information between the different elements of the home automation system. It also provides a “gateway” for users to interact with the devices.
The remote control and its interface grant the user complete control over their home automation installation. Dedicated remote controls were once required, but nowadays, smartphone or tablet apps are much more common and convenient.
What are the benefits of home automation?
What is home automation really going to change in your everyday life? It centralises all the connected devices in your home and gives you access to their features from anywhere, whether you’re home or not. It can even turn them on and off for you in your absence. For example, if you want your washing machine to run during off-peak hours, you won’t need to remember to turn it on! The appliance will start at the right time “all by itself”.
Meanwhile, your heating system will automatically be set to the minimum the second you leave for work and come back on about fifteen minutes before you return, just long enough to ensure optimum comfort.
Home automation makes your life easier, all while ensuring you don’t use more energy than is strictly necessary.
Home automation in practice: regulate your heating needs with a connected installation
What is home automation’s most compelling advantage? It excels at rationalising your energy consumption, especially when it comes to heating. The solution centralises your installation while giving you complete control over your heating in each separate room and in real time. Super flexible and much more precise than programmable thermostats, home automation minimises your heating expenses by adapting to your exact needs.
By using advanced criteria (time of day, whether the occupants are present, weather, insulation, sun exposure, etc.) to programme all the temperatures in your home in advance, you can avoid unnecessary heat loss. Smart equipment behaves according to your lifestyle and needs without your input. It also makes it easier to adjust the settings and get the desired temperature.
To make it all possible, heating automation relies on high-end equipment and accessories.
Connected boiler
Connected boilers are among the equipment that can be integrated with your home automation system to let you enjoy the benefits of smart heating. Thanks to their remote control capabilities, they monitor and adjust the temperature in every room of your house according to your needs and preferences.
Smart Thermostat
If you don’t have a connected boiler to serve as a hub for your installation, a smart thermostat can take on this role and allow various pieces of equipment to communicate. These include boilers, hot water heaters, radiators, heat pumps, heated flooring, air conditioning, etc. A home automation system in its own right, your smart thermostat can “decide” to turn the temperature up or down to optimise both your thermal comfort and your energy consumption.
Smart Thermostatic Radiator Valves
Smart thermostatic radiator valves are the modern version of the radiator knobs with number settings that many radiators are still fitted with. As the name suggests, they serve as local thermostats for each radiator individually. You can set the temperature manually or have your home automation system make that call. The connected valves then open or close to increase or lower the ambient temperature according to your liking.
Sensors
Sensors complement your home automation system by collecting the data it needs to regulate your home environment with maximum precision. They allow the system to consider, for instance, the weather conditions, the level of humidity in a room, or the amount of sunlight it receives.
What is home automation? An all-round solution to make the equipment in your house more autonomous, giving you additional freedom in your daily life and the peace of mind that your energy consumption is as low as possible without sacrificing comfort. Step into the future now and enjoy the benefits of a smart home that anticipates your needs and preferences, monitoring all your appliances even without your input.