The connected home is the future of real estate and decoration. For decades, the idea of being able to turn on the light in your living room without getting up from the sofa has captivated viewers watching Hollywood movies.
Today, such functionality is within reach of the average person. Nowadays, more and more property developers are offering to create connected homes from the outset, while current homeowners can afford such a luxury with a few installations and a relatively low cost.
But what exactly lies behind the term «connected home» that everyone is dreaming about? Find out more in this article.
How does a smart home work?
The connected home is a home where many features (see the next paragraph for more details) are managed via an application on a smartphone or tablet.
In reality, it’s very easy for a manufacturer to implement connected features. The biggest challenge for the homeowner or tenant is designing a compatible system, and this needs to be planned in advance, much like a decorating project. For example, you might have wall lights that work perfectly with Alexa, Amazon’s voice assistant, while your blinds only activate when you use Orange’s voice assistant.
Therefore, before any smart home project, your first task will be to compile a list of the solutions available on the market (and there are already many), compare the advantages and disadvantages of each, the possible options with the system, and make your choice. Then, you will begin the installations.
What can you do in a connected home?
One of the first systems to be «connected» was the home alarm. Being able to turn it on/off remotely or view the live feed from your home security camera on your phone helps prevent theft and, if the alarm is triggered, allows you to determine whether it’s a false alarm or a break-in requiring a quick call to the police.
Then, connected features shifted towards practical everyday accessories such as managing roller shutters, heating temperatures, and turning on air conditioning.
Smart homes are increasingly becoming part of everyday life. Even alarm clocks are becoming connected. There are also smart refrigerators. The idea is to manage everything from an app. This simplifies your life and saves you a tremendous amount of time compared to previous habits.
But the connected world also aims for something else: improving your comfort, your health, and your finances. How does it achieve this with a connected home?
Using the connected home to «improve oneself»
The application doesn’t just react to your instructions; it learns as it goes, becoming more or less autonomous. Furthermore, it collects all the data, sorts it, analyzes it for you, and presents it to you.
The best example is how to best manage your energy bill using your smart home system. You can see at a glance which appliances are costing you the most energy or identify any bad habits. For instance, you might automatically turn on the radiator every morning in winter using your app because you assume you’ll never wake up to freezing temperatures.
The idea is good, but have you planned a time to turn off the heating? If not, your initial good idea becomes a real waste of money. By reviewing the data from your smart home system, you’ll see this, and you can simply set the heating to turn off at 9 a.m., when everyone has left the house, and turn back on at 6 p.m. for the children’s return. This scheduling prevents you from forgetting.
The various connected devices can also improve your health (e.g., advice on sleep patterns, calculation of calories eaten and those you normally need, tips given to improve air quality…).
There’s no doubt that the connected home should improve significantly in the coming years. For now, it remains a choice made only by high-tech enthusiasts, but this was also the case for accessories that have become essential in our lives, such as technology in the car, home internet, or mobile phone use.
