Every day, many functional devices appear, the main purpose of which is to make a person’s life as easy and comfortable as possible. More and more often, you can buy smart homes for your own use and live without worrying about anything. What is it? How do they differ from ordinary housing? This and many other things will be discussed in this article.

Definition.

A smart home is a system of various devices that can perform certain actions and solve everyday tasks independently, without the direct involvement of the owner. Functionally, all electrical appliances are interconnected and can be controlled remotely using the remote control. Moreover, they can be connected to a computer network, which facilitates this process.

The main functions of a smart home

1. Increased comfort. With home automation, a person spends less time and energy on daily tasks. This system provides the necessary lighting according to the time of day, regulates the temperature in the house, and turns on music.
2. Ensuring security. A smart home minimizes the damage that can occur as a result of flooding, gas leaks, fire, and illegal actions of hooligans and thieves.
3. Economy and energy saving. As the system is thought out to the smallest detail, it helps to reduce potential losses associated with various emergency or force majeure situations, as well as monthly bills for electricity, gas and other utilities.
4. All functions are performed using a single display panel.

Components of a smart home

1. Hub or controller, bridge, gateway. It combines all elements (devices) of a smart home into a single system that allows the owner to control it remotely via the Internet.
2. Sensors and sensors. They provide the system with information about the external and internal environment, such as air temperature.
3. Actuators. The largest group of mechanisms responsible for executing commands and controlling home appliances, such as smart sockets, dimmers, pipe valves, etc.

There is a group of additional components of a smart home. These include feedback devices. However, in some homes, there is no need for them, as they are equipped with voice control.

Entertaining multimedia features

• a full-fledged home theater;
• any room of the house can be equipped for games;
• smart technologies can be effectively interpreted into the interior of a home, office, institution, etc;
• arrangement and functioning of the premises in accordance with the child’s upbringing: his or her development, safety and entertainment.

Types of smart homes

1. The first criterion is versatility.

• narrow profile systems, such as security;

• wide-profile, combining different areas of improving the owner’s comfort.

2. The second criterion is data transmission.

• wired – communication between components is carried out using wires;
• wireless – components interact via radio signals. In this case, the most popular communication standards are Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, Z-Wave and ZigBee.

3. The third criterion is the type of control.

• centralized systems – equipped with a single control system;
• decentralized – have subsystems that are independent of each other or even consist of several systems.

4. The fourth criterion is the use of protocols

• ecosystems with open protocols, i.e., devices that are built into a smart home can be created by any manufacturer;
• closed systems, i.e. such houses are equipped only with the devices created by its developer.

Smart homes in Ukraine

In December 2017, the installation of the first CLAP smart home system in Ukraine was announced. This was planned to be done in 2018-2019 in Kyiv.

In addition, since 2011, Ajax Systems has been manufacturing wireless security and smart home control systems in Ukraine and exporting them to almost 100 countries.

Technology development

The integration of fintech projects with smart home systems has significant potential. Experts say that in the near future, payment functions will be provided to start-up columns, which are usually the control centers of such buildings.

Thus, it is not necessary to create a smart home based on a single ecosystem. By combining different open solutions or expanding closed ones with the help of special bridges and gateways, you can achieve a synergistic effect, getting, for example, a Russian-speaking voice assistant and a wide range of inexpensive sensors and other devices. However, this option is only suitable for those who have thoroughly studied the principles of at least one ecosystem. Otherwise, instead of comfort and cost savings, the risks of disappointment and unnecessary expenses increase.