Home automation is a bit of a paradox. It’s all inspired by selective laziness. Such is mankind’s obsession with tools, that we will go through all kind of trials, and spend hours drudging, tinkering and designing, to create a labour-saving device. No more exhausting light switches!
But this is nothing new. Through the ages we’ve come from bonfires, to burning torches, to oil lamps, to light bulbs, so it’s in our nature to try to find the next innovation to make things easier and cleaner.
There are certain people who take pleasure in solving these problems themselves. A lot of home automation is done by geeks, using painstaking trial and error to get things working to their (sometimes eccentric) satisfaction. Then there are other less inventive souls who might buy a few stand-alone gadgets to automate when their lights come on, or buy a roomba to clean the floors. At the other end of the spectrum are those keen enough to get in a specialist and connect all their lights and media throughout the house, to various panels and controllers.
Remote Control
Home automation is used for many common tasks around the house.
- Security cameras and motion detectors.
- Remote control light dimmers, and timed light switches which can save energy, and give the impression that a house is occupied, even if the residents are away.
- HVAC or Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning.
- Automated gardening, such as watering the houseplants, and triggering outdoor sprinklers for the lawn.
- Multizone audio, spread across many rooms.
However, there are a growing number of people who wish to have access to their home controls from anywhere. There is demand for remote as in global, rather than remote as in sitting on the couch flicking through the TV channels.
Tools for Carers
As well as increasing leisure, there are lots of ways to benefit an older or disabled person with home automation. It could allow Granny to answer the door via the house phone, rather than trying to dash out to the hall in time. Or table lamp could light up when the phone rings, if she is hard of hearing. Some older people have personal alarms; small gadgets with a button to summon a neighbour or carer, in case of a fall or emergency. Another possible use of remote control might be keeping the house sufficiently warm for elderly relatives. As we age our bodies become less able to deal with the cold, so hypothermia is very dangerous to the elderly. Hypothermia is especially dangerous because once your body temperature falls below 35 degrees, you don’t feel the cold as keenly; it lowers the heart rate and blood pressure, and can lead to drowsiness. Being able to keep an eye on the temperature of the house while at work could be a great advantage for those caring for relatives at home.
Heating and Climate Control
Controlling the temperature of the home is a very important aspect of home automation.
Rudimentary heat management is nothing new, but controlling it from a distance opens up new possibilities. Thermostats, for example, have been around since the 1880’s. They regulate the temperature, by keeping it within a desired range. Modern thermostats often have timing capabilities too, so you can set the heating to come on half an hour before you get up in the morning. It can make dragging yourself out of bed on a cold winter’s day that little bit easier. To keep things economical you can lower the heating while the house is unoccupied, and warm it up again a little while before you arrive home.
But perhaps you are delayed by a late meeting, and you want to change the timing of the thermostat on the fly. This sort of remote access is becoming increasingly popular. People want fine control of their heating, hot water, and the solar panels which are gradually becoming more common. After all, there’s nothing worse than stepping off the plane at your holiday destination just to realise you forgot to turn off the immersion.
Emergencies
A traditional burglar alarm gets triggered and stays on for hours or even days, spreading rage and ill-will among neighbours, who are less likely to rush to protect your house than complain to the authorities about the noise. There is no point having an alarm going off at your house if you are out and about. Several companies already offer an improved warning system where they attempt to contact you to see if everything is ok, and even call the emergency services if necessary, instead of triggering a neighbour-infuriating siren. But perhaps in the future we will see more advanced warning systems like this which might also respond to events such as floods and fires, and maybe even subtle threats like gas leaks and carbon monoxide, instead of just intruders.
What’s Next
It seems certain that we will expect our homes will take care of us more and more and reduce tedious chores. Just as the idea of leisure time emerged in Victorian Britain because of the Industrial Revolution, we will still seek to make our work more efficient, and expand our recreation time. However, trying to identify specific innovations is more tricky. After all IBM has been promising us a self-restocking fridge for ten years now.
Tags: gadgets, home automation