(Newswire.net — October 28, 2019) — If you’ve ever dreamed about adjusting a room’s temperature with your voice, opening the windows with the click of a button, or lights turning on automatically whenever you enter your home, then you’re living in a golden time. That’s thanks to the increasing advancements in domotics, the field that deals with the automation of systems around the house.
More and more businesses are working with software development companies to create new automated solutions for your home. From smart lighting to Internet-connected appliances, domotics is working on a lot of systems that will bring our comfort to a whole new level. In fact, there are so many new domotics technologies in the works that current estimations believe that its market value will reach $12.81 billion by next year—and that’s considering this is an emerging trend!
What’s more, it’s possible that you might be already enjoying some form of home automation in your home, thanks to virtual assistants, smart thermostats, and automated security systems already available in the market. But what else is there for you in home automation? Let’s find out!
But first—what’s home automation?
As its name implies, a home automation system is a tech solution developed by hardware and software development providers to automate electronic, electrical, and digital devices around your home. Think of it as a combination of hardware and software that allows you to control and handle your devices and appliances through a single controller.
Such a controller can be a smart hub placed somewhere in your home, from which you can adjust the behavior of the system’s different areas. It can also be a mobile app on your smartphone, which allows you to control everything even if you’re not home. And it can also be a web-based platform from where you can access all the system’s features to optimize them as you wish.
What can you automate?
Though the most common examples always include security cameras, lights, and smart HVAC, there’s so much more you can do with home automation. In fact, hardware and software development services have come a long way and are now offering devices and services capable of taking care of practically anything and everything in your home.
That seems like an exaggeration but it’s far from it. Development for home solutions is so advanced that virtually anything that runs on electricity in your home can be automated. Of course, there’ll be some already-made products that can help you easily automate certain things, while other specific functionalities might only be possible with the outsourcing of software development.
Why should you automate your home?
Well, comfort is probably the most common answer. Wouldn’t it be nice for your home to have the proper temperature already adjusted when you come in from a particularly hot day after work? And how about finding some key lights already turned on? Those are really nice perks—but comfort isn’t the only reason why you should automate your house. There are other equally important, including:
- Saving money in utilities with smart devices capable of smartly monitoring and controlling the use of thermostats and lights
- Increasing your security through cameras that can be checked remotely and that can trigger specific events (such as sounding an alarm or notifying the police)
- Monitoring your home while you’re away through the use of a remote central hub
- Contributing to caring for the environment, thanks to the reduction of power consumption through smart and automatic features
Which are some examples of home automation?
As we said, you can already enjoy several technologies to start turning your house into a smart home. Here are some of the most common areas where you can find automatic solutions:
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Automatic lighting: a smart lighting system is one of the most classic examples of home automation. With it, you can remotely turn on or off the lights, create schedules for them to automatically do so at established times, and even control them in groups (like your garden lights or your living room lights) depending on your needs.
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Smart security cameras: another typical example, this kind of camera allows you to check your home from any Internet-connected phone, regardless of where you are. They can work based on motion detection to notify you about possible intrusions, sounding an alarm or even calling the police. Additionally, they can be set to record any meaningful event you can check at any time through the central hub.
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Automatic “welcome”: there are sophisticated systems that detect when your smartphone is nearby to unlock your doors and trigger other actions, like turning on lights, adjusting the heating, and playing music. This system is customizable, so each member of the house can have a unique profile and a welcome tailor-made to their preferences.
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Automatic blinds: by installing sensors in your windows, they can detect the brightness and temperature of the room to automatically open or close the blinds. This is done to ensure that the outside temperature and lighting is used for maximum efficiency, so as not to waste extra energy on them.
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Smart gardeners: new robot lawn mowers and smart sprinklers can bring automation to your garden as well. Thus, you can turn them on through an app or set a schedule for them to start working automatically. Robot lawnmowers have sensors included that prevent them from running over things while smart sprinklers are connected to your Wi-Fi network to act depending on the weather forecasts.
These are but some examples of system automation. For them to start running in your home, you’ll need the help from home automation experts to set them up. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of DIY solutions. In fact, and though you might not see them that way, assistants like the Amazon Echo and Google Home Hub are affordable ways of smartening up your home.
Amazon Echo can connect to other Amazon devices that can be used throughout the house to provide you with the possibility of controlling them all through your voice. Google Nest Hub, on the other hand, can act as a central controller to manage other smart devices you might have in your house that can be connected to this tablet-like device.
Is it worth it?
Home automation can be great for a lot of stuff. From increasing your comfort and saving your money on utility bills to providing you with an extra layer of security, there’s a lot to like in these systems. It’s only natural, though, to feel like they can be costly, given the need to hire experts to install them and set them up in the first place.
However, this doesn’t mean that home automation is just for some people. Certain devices already in the market (like the Echo and the Nest Hub) are great alternatives for people wanting a taste of home automation to see if the investment is worth it. And given that more and more businesses are coming with new products or teaming up with hardware and software development outsourcing companies to create more options, these affordable choices will become the perfect entry gateways for curious people.
All in all, home automation is here to stay and as more and more solutions start popping up in the market, they’ll surely reach a critical mass and become a common part of our daily lives.