Smart Home Makes Your Life Easier

Smart homes are also called intelligent, automated or autonomous houses. Nowadays, you can also automate the flats. Dynamic development of automation technology gives you opportunities that were only seen in sci-fi movies in the past. Soon, probably only your imagination will be the limit.

What gives us the smart home system?

 Thanks to the smart home, you can forget about carrying out certain activities. Devices are to perform certain tasks, they perform them regularly when you need it, eg: the heating will be switched on before you get into the house while maintaining the temperature indicated in a specific room. A light bulb will be lit only when needed.
The main objective of the smart home system is the elimination of losses:

• lower operating costs of the building
• increase the comfort of living family members.

Depending on the requirements and preferences there is a possibility of full individualization of the smart home system. Smart home is a group of subsystems interacting with one another so as to create a friendly environment for the household. An smart home is one of the best examples of mechatronics. The system will allow you to manage:

• green energy,
• emergency power supply,
• curtains,
• blinds, shutters,
• gates,
• weather station,
• garden equipment,
• pool,
• household appliances,
• Home Cinema System,
• TV, SAT,
• AV Devices,
• lighting,
• heating,
• air conditioning,
• intercom,
• security system.

The basic features of an smart home are: safety, comfort, functionality, economics, security. In an smart home the household can feel safe. There are used different types of sensors:

• smoke sensor - fire detection,
• gas (methane) sensor - to detect dangerous concentrations of gas in case of the leakage of pipes or devices such as cooker, stove, etc.,
• water sensor - to detect water on the floor escapes from damaged pipes or hoses for washing machines and dishwashers,
• carbon monoxide sensor - to detect carbon monoxide, dangerous to life (the silent killer - odorless, colorless),
• motion sensor - motion detectors in a house during our absence,
• proximity sensor - detect intrusions into a building.

An smart house not only detects danger, but also performs the corresponding tasks by reducing the risk to a minimum. Below there are a few examples of how smart building responds to the detected threat:

 Fire     

• activation of the siren alarming residents and neighbours of the danger,
• opening windows to reduce smoke,
• activation of the emergency lighting which points the way to the exit of a building,
• notification of the external services (security company, guards) about the danger,
• closing the main gas valve to protect your home before the outbreak,
• SMS notification of neighbours or other designated persons.

Gas     

• activation of the siren alarming residents and neighbours of the danger,
• opening windows to reduce the gas concentration,
• closing the main gas valve and turn off electrical power to protect your home before the outbreak.

Iinundation     

• internal siren activation in a building in order to inform residents,
• closing the main water valve and closing the water valve to prevent.

Carbon monoxide     

• internal siren activation in a building in order to inform the residents,
• opening windows to reduce the gas concentration,
• closing the main gas valve to eliminate this source of carbon monoxide,
• SMS notification of designated persons.

Burglary

• activation of the siren alarming residents and neighbours of the danger,
• inflammation of the lights throughout the house,
• notification of the external services (security company, guards) about the danger,
• SMS notification of neighbours or other designated persons,
• start recording video cameras and audio microphones.

 Household presence simulation - the system learns the habits of the household for a fixed time being preceding the holiday, and then restores the natural programme, which greatly reduces the possibility of intrusion.

Comfort, functionality and economics

 Certainly you often wonder:
"Have I switched the iron off?"
"Have I closed all windows?"
"Have I turned all lights off?"
"Have I closed the door?"

These questions will disappear if you decide on to an smart home. Having home automation you turn off the lights, cum the blinds, turn on the alarm, turn off unnecessary appliances and electronics, receive information about the state of the house (eg open windows) one button.

At any time, from any place on earth, using your mobile phone you will be able to check the status of all the devices in the smart home, to control lighting, blinds and other appliances, arm and disarm the alarm. Additionally, with the access to the Internet, you can watch live images from the cameras mounted inside and outside a home.

Placed in an smart home motion, lighting and temperature detectors continuously monitor your home. All that in the absence of the household allows to lower temperature, recuperator efficiency will be reduced and unnecessary equipment will be turned off reducing consumption of gas and electricity. Your home also takes care of our comfort at night. When all household go to bed the temperature is reduced in all rooms except bedrooms. When, at night, one of the household goes to the kitchen or to the bathroom the light in the hallway lights up gently to not to blind the household member. In smart home will also help to distinguish the situation when all household members are asleep or when there is an evening event (lights will be on at the maximum for lighting).

Another convenient option is to automate the processes associated with a particular activity or situation. If you watch a movie, simply press one button and the system automatically:

• switches light at the minimum level,
• closes the blind in the room,
• turns on the projector,
• lowers projection screen,
• switches on an amplifier,
• turns recuperator to the lowest gear to reduce noise of the ventilation. 

 There are some disadvantages of smart homes (source www.ehow.com):

Cost of Intelligence
Installing state-of-the-art features inside a home results in a higher price tag for the property. The cost of an intelligent home that makes our lives convenient is high because some of the technology is relatively new. In new smart homes, wireless cameras and light sensors, a central touchscreen and automated systems are just a few advances that are standard in a new home. The cost of living expenses such as utilities, maintenance and repair of the technology can be expensive as well.
Technology Learning Curve
Owning a smart home means having to learn how to use your home. Unlike traditional homes, smart home technology requires you to adapt to the innovations within your living area such as security systems, air units and a remote that controls your entire house. For the technology-savvy family, the smart home will help achieve convenience faster, but for others, it will take reading manuals and learning how-to before the benefits of convenience pay off.
Video Surveillance
Video surveillance can be a wonderful tool in heightening security and deterring crime, but when the technology falls into the wrong hands, issues of privacy can occur. Security sensors within the doors and walls of a smart home use wireless technology to transfer signals to a central control unit that notifies emergency officials of any foreign activity. Video surveillance feeds are also transferred wirelessly to a part of the home that can be monitored. If the security feeds from the video and sensor fall into the wrong hands, your smart home could be monitored by those who have managed to hack it.

Just see movie below to see smart home owner live, where he does almost everything by voice command. Everything runs smooth until a trip to the dentist and a numbing Novocaine injection (attention, it may be funny):