Which household habits can be automated with a smart home?

11/2022

What are smart home scenarios?

Specialists who install smart homes call the algorithms of the work of such systems scenarios. That is how all the intelligent devices interact to produce the result the homeowner needs.

For example, washing machines with different washing cycles work according to similar scenarios. Engineers, while manufacturing these devices, program them in the required way. You need to press the necessary buttons on the device's control panel, and then you can do your favorite things.

Installers of smart homes act similarly, creating different scenarios for such systems. However, unlike engineers, they combine dozens of smart devices in your home into a single scenario. 

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Everyone left

There is also an imitation of the scenario. Only professional solutions for automating household processes can be equipped with full-fledged algorithms. Instead, a boxed solution (a separate device for controlling some functions of engineering or other household systems) has only an imitation of a scenario.

A smart home has no limits: specialists can enter into a specific scenario with any group of electrical devices in your home. Such scenarios can be easily reconfigured, changed or improved at any moment.

Now, consider a specific example - the "Everyone left" mode. When designing the automation of one of the large hotels, the installers created the scenario "The guest left the room." It was supposed that the lighting and all the devices should be turned off after the person left the room. This function was implemented thanks to motion sensors in the rooms and on the doors. This made it possible to save electricity and not leave hotel guests without light. 

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What can be automated?

Smart home installation specialists divide all scenarios into four groups: energy saving, security, comfort and entertainment. Sometimes they are very similar, so this division is very arbitrary.

Let's consider energy-saving scenarios. You can implement the simple SH scenario to make energy saving more effective. All lights and electrical appliances are automatically turned off when the owner leaves the house. There is also a more complicated option: the owners of a country house go to work, so the heating of the premises can be reduced. You can program a scenario where the heating temperature will drop to 16-18°C after the family leaves, and from 6 p.m., it will again smoothly return to a comfortable 22°C. 

Specialists can also coordinate the lighting of rooms with daylight: when it gets dark outside, the light bulbs in the house will shine brighter and brighter. Moreover, you can ask the installers to adjust the color of the light according to the circadian rhythms. The lighting in the premises will be bluer in the morning and yellower in the evening. Given the significant savings in energy costs, it is likely that a smart home will pay for itself in 5 years. 

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Security and comfort scenarios

As for security scenarios, it can be water and gas flow control, fire alarm, and video surveillance. Such functions can operate fully automatically after the owner leaves the house. The system will inform the host and emergency services if any unforeseen situation occurs. Smart home installers can program all this in a security scenario.

Comfort scenarios contribute to the formation of optimal living conditions in the house. Suppose you like to sleep at a cool temperature. In that case, the smart home will reduce the temperature in the bedroom at 10 p.m. In the morning, before you wake up, it will automatically raise it to higher values.

A very convenient function is the remote control. No one likes to return to a cold country house and wait until the temperature in it becomes comfortable again. Here you will be helped by the scenario of remote heating of the house until the moment of arrival. Another version of the comfort scenario is smart air conditioning (it allows you to cool the rooms in advance before your arrival).

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What about entertainment?

Finally, let's look at entertainment scenarios for a smart home (control of lighting and electrical appliances in unique modes). The "Party" scenario can run automatically when you have guests. The living room's brightest lighting turns on, and music starts playing, etc. In the "Cinema" mode, the curtains on the windows are closed, the light becomes dimmer, and only the TV screen works. All this can be done manually, but it is much more convenient to press just one button. In a few seconds, you will get the necessary atmosphere in the room.

Thanks to the MultiRoom function, the owner can control audio systems in all rooms of his house. You can set the necessary background music in each room using the smartphone application. Do you have a habit of singing while taking a shower? Program the system, so the music turns on during the water procedures! Why not?

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