Smart houses

A smart house is a residence that uses internet-connected devices to enable the remote monitoring and management of appliances and systems, such as lighting and heating.

Smart house technology, also often referred to as home automation or domotics (from the Latin "domus" meaning home), provides homeowners security, comfort, convenience and energy efficiency by allowing them to control smart devices, often by a smart home app on their smartphone or other networked device. A part of the internet of things, smart house systems and devices often operate together, sharing consumer usage data among themselves and automating actions based on the homeowners' preferences.

Smart house automation takes the smart home a step further by removing the human element. That’s why this topic is actual nowadays. With smart house technology, you control devices manually. The aim of this work is to describe all the benefits and disadvantages of smart houses for people.

During initial set up, you configure parameters. Based on these settings, the devices themselves react to scenarios accordingly. This could mean automated lighting at a certain time, or climate controls shifting temperature at various intervals. You still have the ability to tweak settings manually. But the automation aspect yields greater control to the devices.

The beginning of the 21st century saw a revolution in home-living with new technology changing the places where we live, from the wireless internet to TV screens that hang on walls, and it seems technology could be changing our homes again. A project conducted by Johann Siau, Senior Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire’s School of Engineering and Technology, builds on the University’s InterHome project – aiming to create a home that monitors people living at home who are frail or elderly [1].

A smart house is one in which the various electric and electronic appliances are wired up to a central computer control system so they can either be switched on and off at certain times (for example, heating can be set to come on automatically at 6:00AM on winter mornings) or if certain events happen (lights can be set to come on only when a photoelectric sensor detects that it's dark) [8].

With the 1975 release of X10, a communication protocol for home automation, the smart house, once a pipe dream a la The Jetsons, came to life. X10 sends 120 kHz radio frequency (RF) bursts of digital information onto a home's existing electric wiring to programmable outlets or switches. These signals convey commands to corresponding devices, controlling how and when the devices operate. A transmitter could, for example, send a signal along the house's electric wiring, telling a device to turn on at a specific time.

However, as electrical wiring isn't designed to be free from radio-band "noise," X10 was not always fully reliable. Signals would be lost and, in some cases, signals wouldn't cross circuits that were wired on different polarities, created when 220-volt service is split into a pair of 100-volt feeds, as is common in the U.S. Additionally, X10 was initially a one-way technology, so while smart devices can take commands, they cannot send data back to a central network. Later, however, two-way X10 devices became available, albeit at a higher cost [3].

Besides asking what is a smart house, you might question the smart house benefits. Smart houses carry loads of benefits. These are the main smart house benefits:

1) Security: There's added security in a smart house. Consider a smart security system, surveillance system, or smart door lock. When you leave, your doors automatically lock. While you're out, an Internet-connected security system monitors unwanted movement and intrusions. But with a smart security system, you can always view your home from elsewhere [5].

2) Monetary savings: Primarily, you'll witness this with climate control and lighting. By having lighting systems programmed to shut on and off, you'll save money through lowered electricity bills. Smart thermostats can adjust the temperature accordingly lower your energy bill. If you have a smart sprinkler system, these controllers use weather patterns and prevent watering when it's raining.

3) Time savings: You'll benefit from added convenience through ease of use and automation. Simply set rules to automatically lock doors, turn on and off lighting, and bump down the thermostat.

Now that we explored smart house automation, smart house benefits, and smart house tech, we've answered the question of what is a smart house. A smart house may sound difficult to set up or expensive. However, it's feasible for pretty much any homeowner (or even renter) to set up a smart house. Building a smart house boasts tons of benefits, from bolstered security to monetary savings, and added convenience.

Once you've settled on the areas to focus on building a smart house, concentrate on finding the right technology. Keep compatibility in mind, as you'll want to ensure integration of as many smart devices as possible. The more of your smart devices that can communicate with one another, the easier it is to set up and maintain your smart house.

As the population ages, governments and medical charities are looking at home automation with increasing interest: why not use computers, robots, and other technologies to provide the support that vulnerable people need to keep them happy, healthy, and independent. Elderly people prone to falling can have their homes fitted with lighting activated by motion sensors, so that if they get up in the middle of the night they're not stumbling around dangerously in the dark. Blind people can finally buy ordinary household appliances and use one simple computer controller, programmed to suit their personal needs, to manage them all.