Smart Home Design

Smart Home Design

Feb 17, 2023 | Blog

The Importance of Network Coverage in the Design of a Smart Home.

Who thinks about “network coverage” and “compatibility” when buying the first smart device? You just want to get going and don’t think about what it all looks like a year from now once you’ve purchased 10 more devices (trust me, it’s going to happen) and then find out that it doesn’t all work flawlessly after all.

In today’s fast-paced world, the concept of a smart home has evolved from a futuristic dream into a tangible reality. With the integration of cutting-edge technologies, homeowners can now control various aspects of their living space with just a few taps on their smartphones or voice commands to virtual assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant.

However, the seamless operation of these smart devices hinges on a critical factor often overlooked in the design process: network coverage

Let’s delve into why network coverage is so important and how it affects the design of a smart home.

The most common reason for issues in your smart home is network coverage and compatibility or rather insufficient signal and networks getting in each other’s way.

That is why it is important to make some choices from the beginning and we have listed them below.

The design of a smart home isn’t just about choosing the latest gadgets and appliances; it’s about ensuring that these devices can communicate effectively with each other and with the user. 

This is where network coverage comes into play, as it directly impacts the reliability and performance of your smart home ecosystem.

  • Device Communication (network coverage)

Most important! Smart devices need to communicate with each other to create a cohesive and efficient home automation system. Whether it’s your security cameras, thermostat, lighting, or entertainment system, these devices rely on a network connection to function correctly. Inadequate network coverage can lead to disconnections, delays, or device malfunctions, disrupting the entire ecosystem.

In the smart home industry there is not a single type of network communication (yet) – no – there is of course WiFi and there is Zigbee (very important), Zwave and bluetooth. Besides this, not al manufacturers who use this network protocols keep to the standards and made their own variant which of course, does not communicate with the rest.

There is an interesting article (English) here.

This proprietary behaviour of manufacturers is slowly fading out (thanks to the Matter protocol, see further) but still there are issues and lucky for you, we know the pitfalls to avoid.

  • Security (keep things local)

Security is (or should be) a top concern for smart home owners. However, there is an abundant amount of smart devices on the market that only connect with the manufacturers server and you need have  to use their app to control your device.

Did I say “your” device? A smart device that is completely depending on a connection to the server of the manufacturer is and will not be “your” device.

Network design plays a crucial role in ensuring that security cameras, door locks, and alarm systems can transmit data reliably. Weak or inconsistent network signals can leave vulnerabilities in your home’s security, potentially exposing your property and personal data to cyber threats. To keep (smart) things local, you need to know what protocol a device is using and if it can be controlled locally. There are enough manufacturers on the market that keep the standards in mind and although they use a hub or a app, the device can also be used locally with Home Assistant, the software we can build your smart home with. 

Lewis from “Everything Smart Home” has made a video about local control.

Have a look at the list of Home Assistant integrations here.

 

  • Energy Efficiency (most savings)

Many smart home devices are designed to enhance energy efficiency. For example, a smart thermostat can adjust your heating and cooling based on occupancy and outdoor temperature. To do this effectively, these devices require a stable and robust network connection to receive real-time data. Inconsistent coverage could lead to inefficiencies, negating the purpose of these energy-saving devices.

  • User Experience (voice control & dashboards)

The ultimate goal of a smart home is to make your life easier and more convenient. However, network issues can lead to frustrating experiences, such as voice commands not being recognized, delayed responses, or apps failing to control devices. A well-designed network ensures a smooth and enjoyable user experience. 

A preview on my dashboard running on a tablet in the living:

  • Future-Proofing (grow to 10, 50 or even 100 devices)

As technology advances, new smart devices and protocols emerge. A well-planned network infrastructure can adapt to these changes and support the integration of new devices seamlessly. It’s essential to consider the scalability of your network when designing your smart home.

For example take smart lighting; you will start with a few but soon discover that there are many advantages that come with smart lighting. First of all they are cheaper than you think – for approximately €10 you have an IKEA Tradri bulb or spot – and if you keep in mind that smart also means dimmable start calculating what a (not so smart) wall dimmer costs and you still have to buy dimmable bulbs, spots or strips and do all kind of complex wiring.

Oh, did I mention that you have to come out of your chair to operate a not so smart wall switch? At the end of the day there so many advantages with smart devices that you soon will be expanding more over the house.

Just for the record, all IKEA Tradfri products can be seamlessly integrated in Home Assistant without a hub.

  • Network Types (best mix of protocols

To achieve comprehensive coverage, it’s important to understand the different network types used in smart homes. Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Z-Wave, and Bluetooth are among the most common. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, and a good smart home design will incorporate the right mix of these technologies to ensure complete coverage throughout the house.

There is an extensive article here about the different protocols here compairing pro and cons.

My takeaway, pick Wifi only if you need and if you have enough coverage and only if they can be operated with local Wifi,

Take Zigbee and or Bluetooth for sensors that cannot be wired and ethernet for devices with high bandwidth like camera’s. Zigbee and especially bluetooth are battery operated and very energy efficient

Matter is on its way to conquer the smart home world (see further below) but personally I do not see the added value of matter when you run your own smart home server which by the way is the most safest and fastest way to create a network.

  • Placement and Equipment (declutter and show offs)

Proper placement of routers, access points, and smart hubs is essential to maximize network coverage. Consider the layout and size of your home when determining the placement of these devices. You don’t want to see antennas sticking out in your living.

Additionally, investing in high-quality equipment can significantly enhance network reliability.

Size matters

The size of your smart home network matters. It can be a mix of Wifi and other technologies like Zigbee, Zwave, RF or Bluetooth but most frustrating are devices just too far away that they keep dropping out of the network and thus are unresponsive.

To size your network you must have an idea of what devices you want to use and contol from your smart home network. Think about camera’s, motion sensors, switches, lights, aircon’s, thermostates and so on.

 

Rule of thumb:

You cannot mix networks into one network. Every network technology is in fact a stand-alone network!

Wow! What now?

The answer is the use of a software application like Home Assistant that binds all of these devices together and acts as the “man in the middle”.

Have a look at the list of Home Assistant integrations here.

 

  • Networks like Zigbee and Zwave can only have one controller. In other words, you cannot (in a simple way) have different Zigbee networks in your house communicating with each other.
  • A wifi device cannot directly communicate with a Zigbee or other network technology

What is (the) Matter?

In the coming years a new standard for the smart home will be implemented called Matter. It will take another few years but this standard eliminates the issue of smart devices in different networks not able to communicate. Matter also provides a enhanced solution for coverage based on Mesh technology.

Matter has no real solution for “man in the middle” so that will remain the area where software applications like Home Assistant come in which by the way is fully compatible with Matter.

So for now we have to be careful about what devices for what and how to extend coverage.

Keep our fingers crossed that Matter will keep its promise. You will find regular updates on the Matter project on this website.

All information about the Matter Project can be found here.

Conclusion

The design of a smart home goes beyond selecting the latest gadgets. It involves creating a robust network infrastructure that supports seamless communication between devices.

Adequate network coverage ensures that your smart home operates efficiently, securely, and in a way that enhances your daily life.

When planning your smart home, don’t underestimate the importance of network coverage – it’s the invisible backbone that makes the magic happen.

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The essence of a smart home

The essence of a smart home

Dec 15, 2022 | Blog

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.

Content: Ed Latimore

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?

  • 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

  • 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.

Read about the 2023 security audit of Home Assistant.

  • 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.

  • 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!

  • 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.

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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!

  • 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.

  • 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.

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What is a smart device and a smart home?

What is a smart device and a smart home?

Dec 15, 2022 | Blog

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:

  1.  Not everyone wants there home be controlled via a server somewhere on the internet
  2. 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!!