What is a smart home?
What makes a home smart?
The essence and basic principle of a smart home is that devices can communicate with and control each other in order to do automated tasks, regardless the brand or technology.
Huh? You mean it is all about automating things? Yes! Automate the boring stuff and talk to your house.
This also means that if you have a bunch of smart devices that cannot communicate with each other or do not have a central point for automation you will end up with nice gadgets, multiple hubs and apps, but no smart home.
The Essence of a Smart Home: Automating the Boring Things
Now you know that a smart home is where (the boring) things are automated.
Imagine waking up to a house that greets you with your favorite music, preps your coffee, and adjusts the thermostat to your preferred morning temperature—all without you lifting a finger.
Welcome to the essence of a smart home: automating the mundane tasks so you can focus on what truly matters.
Smart homes aren’t about flashy gadgets; they’re about making life simpler and more efficient. How to achieve that?
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The Power of Centralized Automation
As convenient as individual smart devices are, the real magic happens when they work together. This is where a centralized system, like Home Assistant, comes into play. By integrating devices from various brands and technologies, a system like Home Assistant ensures seamless communication between gadgets that otherwise wouldn’t interact.
Without a centralized hub, you might find yourself juggling multiple apps to control different devices, which defeats the purpose of automation. Home Assistant allows you to create powerful automations that combine inputs from multiple devices into a single workflow.
Automations simplify life and ensure efficiency, all while minimizing energy waste.
Read this article from security.org about Home Automation.
Services
SmartMaker can do this
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Arming your security system
With Home Assistant, setting up a security system is a breeze.
With Alarmo (Home Assistant integration) you will have more than just a security system—it’s a testament to what’s possible when smart devices work together in harmony. It demonstrates how flexibility, scalability, and customization can meet the highest standards of security. For those looking to create a security system that evolves with their needs, Alarmo, powered by Home Assistant, is the gold standard.
Yes, it works completely local.
But there is more, installing the Home Assistant app on our phone enables the use of the highly advanced sensors in your phone and now Home Assistant can use your coordinates to determine where you are and you can set how to respons to that like switching on a alarm. This is called geofencing.
Geofencing
Geofencing is a feature that lets your Smart Home respond automatically, similar to how a smart button works. It uses your phone’s GPS signal to create a virtual boundary around a specific area. When you enter or leave that area, geofencing triggers certain actions, like turning off lights, sending a notification to your phone, keeping track of visits, or activating an alarm. To use this feature, you’ll need to give permission for your location data.
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Turning your thermostat up/down to save energy
One of the best ways to save on your energy bill is to automate your thermostat(s). In the old days you had those round things on the wall where you could turn the temperature up and down. A little later, timers were added.
Nowadays, in a smart home we do not clutter the wall because your radiators, heaters, aircons are integrated in your smart home system and if you want, the climate can be set for you automatically based on your behaviour and optimized while you are doing something else. You just look at the the dashboard for the results and savings.
You do not even have to replace all your appliances, just add sensors and switches to make them smart. We know how.
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Lights That Think for You
Ever walked into a room with your hands full and wished the lights would just turn on by themselves? Smart lighting systems can do exactly that. With motion sensors, your lights can illuminate rooms as you enter and turn off when you leave, saving energy and effort.
O yeah, you can tell your voice assistant to do that!
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Vacuum robot – Household Chores on Autopilot
Who likes to spend spare time to vacuum every day? Smart appliances like robotic vacuums and connected washing machines can take over routine tasks. They vacuum, mop and even clean themselves.
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Opening and closing your blinds and curtains
To save energy or keep the heat out or just to watch a movie. Those battery operated devices just listen to every command they are told from your smart home system.
Even if your blinds are not smart, they can be made smart in a few minutes. Most of the manufacturers of smart blinds have an integration with Home Assistant.
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Remembering to shut the garage door
Door and distance sensors, those tiny little wonders that can save you a lot of trouble but what if you could see on your dashboard if the car is parked in the garage or not and that the door does not close automatically if the car is half way in?
There are numerous solutions out of the box with Home Assistant to control your garage.
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Personalized Entertainment
Stop fiddling with 7 remotes. Just push a single button that automatically turns on all your devices and sets them to the right channels and inputs.
Bonus: You can also have your lights automatically dim when you’re watching a movie!
With Home Assistant you can easily “copy” your IR and RF remotes and store them in a drawer and start controlling all of them from any device with a virtual keyboard.
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Wireless buttons to control everything from everywhere
Last but not least, those handy small portable battery operated buttons that can be programmed to basically anything from actions to automations.
Quickly and easily activate or deactivate any device or scene manually with just a click. It is so tiny and convenient that you can carry it everywhere- and even fit in your pocket!
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Smart Irrigation
If you’ve ever woken in the middle of the night with the thought, “Did I turn off the sprinklers?” you know how inefficient, costly and annoying your old irrigation system can be — and it’s even worse if you’re using a garden hose and have to remember to move it every hour or so.
Fortunately, with a smart irrigation controller smart landscape technology continuing to evolve, having a healthy and lush landscape is easier and more economical than ever. Smart controllers not only save you money — paying for themselves in a few years — they save the environment by conserving water and energy.
Know your garden better than ever by adding in a Smart Moisture Sensor to complete the ultimate smart watering package. Keep track of soil moisture and temperature via Home Assistant, from anywhere on the globe.
No wires, no hazzle, connect controller to any tap and set schedules based on moisture and weather forecasts or make your own schedules and you are done.
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Smart Energy and Smart Solar
Last but not least, energy control from one point, one app.
Monitor your solar yield and consumption with automated tasks like charging your EV or starting your dishwasher. With just the installation of for example a Shelly EM series, you can monitor all energy going in and out your house, per phase.
From here you can start monitoring other devices and switch appliances on or off automatically or with alerts on your phone of audio installation and even calculate your energy costs real time.
Possibilities are endless and so are the energy dashboards that come out of the box with Home Assistant which can be tailored to your wish.
Key Features of Smart Home Automation Systems
- Integration: Home Assistant allows for the seamless integration of different smart devices from various manufacturers, ensuring compatibility and ease of use.
- Remote Control: Homeowners can control and monitor their smart devices remotely using smartphones, tablets, or voice-activated assistants, offering convenience and flexibility.
- Automation: Home Assistant can automate routine tasks based on predefined schedules or triggers, such as turning off lights when no one is in a room or adjusting the thermostat based on occupancy.
- Customization: Users can customize and create personalized scenes or routines that trigger multiple actions simultaneously, enhancing the overall living experience.
Benefits of Home Automation Systems
- Convenience: Home Assistant simplifies daily tasks by enabling remote control and automation, saving time and effort.
- Energy Efficiency: By integrating smart devices like thermostats, lighting, and appliances, homeowners can optimize energy usage, reducing utility bills and environmental impact.
- Security: Smart home systems provide enhanced security features such as remote monitoring, smart locks, and security cameras, giving homeowners peace of mind.
- Comfort and Ambiance: Smart lighting, thermostats, and audio systems allow users to create personalized settings that match their preferences and mood, enhancing comfort and ambiance.
Getting Started: Small Steps Lead to Big Wins
You don’t need to transform your entire house overnight. Start small. Maybe add a smart plug to automate your coffee maker or a motion sensor for your hallway lights. As you get comfortable, you can expand your system, eventually connecting devices through Home Assistant.
The Takeaway
A smart home isn’t about fancy technology for technology’s sake. It’s about reclaiming time and peace of mind by automating the boring things in life. When done right, it’s not just a home—it’s a partner in your daily routine.
Wouldn’t you want a home that makes life easier and more enjoyable? The future is here, and it’s surprisingly simple to embrace.