What is a Smart Home?

Technology is changing every facet of modern life, whether it’s the mobile phones in our pockets, in-car connectivity, Building Information Modelling in the construction industry, but are we set to finally see our home life revolutionised?

You may have heard the term ‘Smart Home’ or the ‘Internet of Things’ being banded about in terms of technology that will make life easier at home, but what exactly does it mean for the ordinary family?

UK Construction Online take a look at what connected technology in a Smart Home could do for you.

There are a number of gadgets on the market that can allow you to control many aspects of your life in your home –from home entertainment, doing the laundry to going to bed.

Smart home technology can change the way we watch television or listen to your favourite music.

With a single home entertainment system audio and/or video can be delivered to any room in your home without the need to install a separate music players, blu-ray player, satellite box in each room.

Different music or video can played in every room of the house or if you prefer, the same in all rooms – particularly handy if you were hosting a party.

Internet radio can also be streamed along with other online music services. Regardless of what room you are in or what angle you are from the speaker, the high quality sound will remain the same.

Missed deliveries could also be a thing of the past, as you will be able to monitor and speak to visitors and open the door for them with your smart device.

For the concerned parent, notifications can be sent to mobile phones when children arrive back home.

Laundry is another aspect of everyday life that is being revolutionised. New generations of smart washing machines allow you to set your washing machine remotely using your phone. Progress of the wash can be monitored via a smart app allowing you to see how much time is left and what part of the wash cycle the machine is currently up to. Wash programs can also be paused and alerts sent once the machine is ready to be emptied.

Smart beds can monitor your sleeping patterns by sensing your position and makes automatic real-time adjustments to give your body more support where needed.

Connected technology in the shape of ‘Smart Energy’ can also change the way we manage our heating at hot water in our home.

British Gas’ Hive technology or its rival Nest – are smart thermostats that lets you control your heating and hot water from your smartphone, tablet or laptop.

Separate hot water tanks can be controlled remotely so schedules can be set to so you can boost your supply should a long hot bath be in order.

The technology doesn’t stop with controlling heating and hot water; lighting around the home can be controlled around the home. Schedules can be set for periods away such as the family holiday so lights can come on and off just as they would if you were at home.

How many of us have wondered if we have left the iron on at some point? Perhaps concerned that hair straighteners haven’t been unplugged? Through Active Plugs, electrical appliances can be switched on or off remotely.

The technology also makes it possible to attach sensors to windows and doors, allowing you to check via your phone whether they are closed. If a window was to opened while you were out of the house, an alert would sent to your smart phone.

Recently, we heard from the new Executive Director of the National Grid, Nicola Shaw, who claimed that these advancements in technology could mean less conventional power stations needing to built in the UK.

Ms Shaw told BBC news: “We are at a moment of real change in the energy industry. From an historic perspective we created energy in big generating organisations that sent power to houses and their businesses. Now we are producing energy in those places – mostly with solar power.”

People’s changing attitudes to energy consumption such as using power at its cheapest rate is being driven by technology.

Ms Smith described it as: “All of that is a real revolution – a smart energy revolution that’s changing the way we think about energy across the country.”

Uptake has been a little slower than many in the industry were predicting, with the expense of buying connected technology putting off people taking the plunge.

Experts in the technology expect the numbers to increase when the price begins to drop or when such advanced features begin to be included in appliances as standard. An example of this would be most new televisions available on the market come with internet connectivity, meaning more consumers are taking advantage of this feature to subscribe to streaming services or view catch-up TV.

If you would like to read more articles like this then please click here

The post What is a Smart Home? appeared first on UK Construction Online.