Smart is a “thing” with a device inside that can connect, interact and share with other smart devices and the person using it.
What makes a thing a smart device?
Typical example is the lightbulb which is the thing and it contains a device inside that transforms it from a ‘dumb thing’ into a ‘smart thing’. Another smart thing is the smart switch. It also has an internal device inside that wirelessly transmits the ‘press’ to the smart bulb, with or without human interaction.
To keep it simple, smart things or smart devices can share and upload data to a network (Internet or local) or to other devices with or without human intervention.
In a typical smart home, appliances, thermostats, lights, and other smart devices are controlled by automation rules or by human interaction like with a tablet or a phone using a smart home system that relies on a local network usually connected to the internet. The latter is important for two reasons:
- Not everyone wants there home be controlled via a server somewhere on the internet
- What happens if a device that only works via the internet is discontinued or the manufacturer ends the cloud service?
When you start reading below you will notice that there are smart devices that must be connected to a cloud service from the manufacturer and there are products and solutions that control smart devices from your local network.
At SmartMaker we think that critical smart devices like light switches, door locks, garage openers must be able to function without being connected to the internet. The only dependency should be your local network, even when the internet is down. It is therefore important that your router and access points have a power back up.
What is a smart home?
Examples of a smart home is when shades close automatically when the temperature in a room passes a threshold, garage door closes automatically when there is no movement for a period and nothing is blocking the door or it sends you a notification. If the water level in a tank drops below a minimum, a notification is sent or a pump is started. Lights turn on and off either based on movement or time of the day.
The possibilities are endless.
In this article I will explain the basics and variety of smart devices and the first steps to make your home smart(er).
Propriety versus Open Source, what should I know?
The smart home industry is relatively young and especially when it concerns domestic applications and devices. There are dozens of smart device manufacturers, different protocols and the market is still dominated by manufacturers with propriety products but there is hope on the horizon with an open standard called Matter to be implemented in 2022.
Propriety means here that the manufacturer is in control over the software and hardware of the device. This is called closed source while Open Source means that the software is “open” for everyone. Open does not mean that everyone can change the code but everyone can see it how it is built, test it and suggest improvements to the project team.
The goal of manufacturers with closed source or propriety is to bind customers to buy only their products. That is why they often require you to first register your device in their cloud and control the product(s) from there.
At Smartmaker, we do not sell smart devices and we are not bound to brands. We make houses smart selecting the smart devices for you that fit your needs. We don’t mind that smart devices from different brands do not work together and we know how to make propriety devices more open. We make them work together and if there is a need for something that is not on the market as a smart device, we just make it ourselves.
Everything can be connected and controlled via your own network!
Your first smart move can go wrong
To give you an idea how your first smart move can go wrong, I will give the example of the smart light bulb that must be switched on or off, automatically. You can buy a smart bulb almost everywhere and every smart device manufacturer has at least one in the assortment and you just bought one to start with. Can be Sonoff, Hue, Shelly, it does not matter.
You bought a Hue because they are expensive, hence nothing can go wrong and full of excitement you come home, install the bulb, link it to the network with your phone and voila, you can switch it on an off on your phone with the app of the manufacturer that you downloaded for free. Cool, it works!
Now you decide that it should be switched off or on automatically when it gets dark of light in the room and you look for a smart light sensor. Hue has them but Sonoff has also nice light sensors and you order one because both are advertised smart and “work with Wi-Fi”. Installation is also smooth with another app but nowhere in the app you can find the bulb. Also the app that came with the bulb does not show the light sensor. Mmm, both are smart and work with Wi-fi? Welcome to the world called smart!
Of course, you should have bought everything from the same brand and then both will be in the app and you can even control the bulb with the data from the light sensor but is this what you want? Hue also has wall switches but are they just as nice as Shelly or Sonoff? Does Hue has smart switches that you can build behind your existing wall switch to make them smart? One day you find out that you do not want to be bound to a brand because not all manufacturers have the same products and solutions. Back to the shop and the smart guy advises you to buy a hub. This story will repeat itself.
Smart devices from different brand can be connected.
Yes, smart devices or things from different brands usually do not communicate with each other until you bind them in a smart home network like Home Assistent, OpenHAB, Domicz, Node-Red and a few others. Those are all “open source” projects. Open source refers here to software development projects where the code is public and everyone can use it for private or educational purposes. The advantage of Open Source is that usually a group of highly skilled developers is working on a project and at least thousands others are watching and contributing. This makes Open Source reliable, stable and safe.
Please note that above mentioned projects are brand independent and have one goal to bind different smart devices into one network but you must be tech savvy to configure the software.
At SmartMaker we support all of these Open Source Projects but prefer Home Assistent for smart homes with lots of devices from different brands and OpenHAB for the smaller projects.
Proprietary dominates the market
Opposite of Open Source is proprietary and as the definition will tell you, only the manufacturer has access to the code and usually has built in that other products won’t work with their software until you hack it. You are in fact, completely depending on the manufacturer with regards to stability and safety. Some examples of the market leaders are Sonoff, Shelly, Xiaomi and Philips Hue and it is not all bad news.
Shelly for example has its own cloud service and product line but has built in options to use different protocols in order to connect to other devices or networks. Sonoff and Xiaomi have similar options but not as sophisticated as Shelly.
Another category is Tuya which is actually a cloud service used by third party smart device manufacturers who focus on the hardware and use the Tuya cloud service to make their products smart. Their devices are branded Tuya and thus not manufactured by Tuya. Another brand called SmartThings looks like Tuya. Some Tuya and SmartThings devices are interoperable. That means that they work on both services.
For the smart home owners who like out of the box solutions, there is Hubitat and Homey. These are hubs that you connect to your local network and after the installation procedure, the hub will find all compatible smart devices in your your and offers you a dashboard and app to control everything. These hubs can thus seamlessly integrate smart devices of different brands. Homey is by far the most developed and stable but comes at a price. Although both support an extensive list of devices from different brands, not all devices on the market are supported.
That leaves us with Google and Amazon, the biggest players when it comes to hubs and smart devices for consumers and that also brings me to the “hope on the horizon”, an integrated standard where devices from different brands can communicate via one app. Google with their Nest hub (Google Assistant) and Amazon with the Echo (Alexa assistant) have a complete line up of smart devices that connect seamlessly to their network.
Hope on the horizon is project Matter
There are about 220 companies currently in the Matter Working Group of the Connectivity Standards Alliance. I won’t list them all here (for that, visit the Matter website), but highlight some of the more notable members. In addition to Amazon, Apple, Google, Samsung, and other companies mentioned, the group includes ADT, Assa Abloy (maker of August Home and Yale smart locks), Ecobee, Facebook, Haier (parent of GE Appliances), Ikea, iRobot (maker of Roomba robot vacuums), Kwikset, LG, Panasonic, Resideo (maker of Honeywell Home products), Roku, Schlage, SimpliSafe, Tesla, and Whirlpool.
The goal of Matter is interoperability. All Matter-compliant devices will work together, no matter which brand makes them. Matter promises greater choice in the products and ecosystems they can use, a simplified user experience (in terms of setup, security, and more), and lower costs (thanks to greater efficiencies in engineering, manufacturing, and more, by not having to support multiple “works with” programs).
The first version of Matter and devices using this protocol is aimed at 2022. There have been several delays but there is no doubt that Matter devices will dominate the market.
At SmartMaker, we follow project Matter closely.
IF THIS THEN THAT (IFTT)
Apart from different brands, hubs and other issues with interoperability there is IFTT which stands for If This Then That, derived from the programming conditional used in software coding. The IFTT organization hosts a cloud service that connects an impressive list of devices and brands via applets — which are sort of like macros that connect multiple apps to run automated tasks.
Here are just three if this, then that automations you can run with IFTTT:
* If you make a call on your Android phone, then a log of that call is added to a Google spreadsheet.
* If you add a new task to your Amazon Alexa to-dos, then it will be added to your iOS Reminders app.
* If the International Space Station passes over your house, then you’ll get a smartphone notification about it. (Yes, this is an actual IFTTT applet.)
If you are getting dizzy, I understand. The Smart Home industry is on full speed and has no intention to slow down.
Summarized, think global, act local
If you are reading this article because you have plans to make your home smart(er) and you are bit lost, don’t worry. It is the same as buying your first sound system. Brands, specifications, protocols? Everything has a reason.
Most important for your smart home is to think ahead. What are the basic things and what should come after? If you for example plan a solar system you should think about smart devices helping you to achieve your goal and that is efficient energy management with different devices like smart breakers, high power switches, energy monitoring devices and automation that controls your usage.
If on the other hand you are looking for comfort to control things like shades and lights, you might be looking at products that blend into decor and your lifestyle. Control your house via a tablet and speaker recognition and let automation control your appliances.
PRIVACY!!
