Smart home. Fashionable whim or a useful thing?

Over recent years there have been many discussions about smart homes. A great number of startups are created in line with this concept. Glass houses with virtual control panels as in futuristic films instantly come to mind. However, everything can indeed be much simpler and the ordinary apartment can also be partially or fully converted into a smart home.

So what is it actually?

A smart home means that there is a “smart home” system that is connected to equipment in order to automate specific tasks and is usually controlled remotely. It is used to adjust and control your home security system, cameras, refrigerators, air conditioners and heating. Year by year an increasing number of devices that are subject to the concept of a smart home are appearing.

What is the concept of a smart home?

• It allows homeowners to control appliances, thermostats, lightning and other devices remotely via smartphone or tablet with the help of the Internet connection.
• It can be set up using wireless or wire systems.
• It provides homeowners with convenience and cost savings.

What is a smart home needed for? What are its advantages?

• Resource savings since it is possible to track the usage and turn off if necessary. The possibility to set a limit and adjust notifications of excess usage is also provided.
• Cost savings as a consequence that follows from resource savings.
• Convenient environment. It is possible to adjust the coffee machine to make coffee simultaneously with the alarm clock, set the room temperature before your arrival, choose lightning and a lot of other functions.
• Eco Friendly. Water, electricity and gas savings is crucial for preserving the environment.
• Time savings. A lot of processes are adjusted automatically and there is no need to spend extra time on them.
• Control and monitoring. Everything is under your control wherever you are.
• Security. It is especially significant when you go on a trip or someone else lives in your house.

How do smart homes work?

Once the concept of smart homes has appeared, their creation has been quite challenging. However, there are more and more companies and startups that create devices for smart homes now. This facilitates the search and reduces the cost of them.

In order to turn your ordinary home into a smart home you need:

• Wi-Fi connection
• Smart appliances (or smart home devices)
• A smart home system for connecting, monitoring and controlling these devices

What to start with?

• Do research and determine your needs. It is crucial to be aware of the reasons for you to have a smart home and your goals. Only then you will be able to properly choose relevant devices and get the best results. Prioritizing is also significant in order to choose what you would like to start with.
• Determine the needed devices. Nowadays a lot of companies offer diverse options, so you should do research, review their advantages and shortcomings that are relevant in your case.
• Check out and improve Wi-Fi if necessary.

The disadvantages of smart homes

The major drawbacks of smart homes are security, the possibility of system errors and expensive prices.

There is a risk of someone gaining access to the home management system and causing damage. However, the manufacturers are constantly working on maximum protection and have already reached a high level of security. Therefore, there is a high probability that this will cease to be a problem soon. The strong passwords and available encryption should be used as well as the access should be given to trusted people only and connected devices should be secure in order to ensure the security.

Another fear is about the errors that may occur in the systems and interfere with the home management. To prevent this, the system itself and the manufacturer should be carefully chosen and reviews should be looked through. All connected devices must be reliable too. It would not be superfluous to instruct all users how to deal with the home system correctly.

Even though a lot of companies are engaged in the creation of both smart home systems and devices for them, the cost remains quite high. If the partial conversion of the house to smart home may be affordable, the full conversion can reach up to tens of thousands of dollars.

What should be done in order to avoid hacking a smart home system:

• Avoid connecting multiple devices to one service as well as disabling the public Wi-Fi.
• Use diverse types of device authentication.
• Always update the security system both for new and old devices.
• Make sure you have protection against malicious software.
• If your home is provided with the security system, ensure it is properly protected from Internet hackers.

Almost 80% of Europeans find the idea of living in a smart home appealing.

57% of Americans say that having smart products in their house saves them about 30 minutes per day, that’s 182.5 hours a year, or roughly a week and a half.

Our company also has a great experience in developing devices for the Smart Home.

Smart shower project by EMBROX Team

It is an intelligent shower for household use. The product is intelligent and works with smartphone applications via Bluetooth. Mobile application allows users to connect to the shower head and make min/max temperature settings; collect data and display the usage statistics on the Web Dashboard Application; update firmware.

KEY FEATURES

• Control shower sessions via user profiles on the mobile application.
• Collecting information about user’s shower sessions and statistics generation.
• Displaying real time data from the shower head in the mobile application.
• The product charges itself using a stream of water.
• Ability to update device firmware OTA.

In conclusion it may be asserted that the advantages for Smart homes far outweigh the disadvantages. Year by year, the system becomes more accessible and at least some elements of a smart home can be predicted to be in almost each home over some time.