In 1962, a cartoon called “The Jetsons” gave the term “electronic gadgets” a new meaning. The setting was outer space and the home was a space ship filled with a dizzying array of interconnected electronic gadgets. With the push of a button, George, the father, could see and speak with his children in another room, get a glass of water, turn lights on or off, and sic his robot dog on an incoming intruder. George Jetson was the first occupant of a smart house and today our technology is catching up.
Identification
There is great variety in the terms used to identify a smart house. SmartThinking.com uses terms such as smart house, automated house, home network, and domotics to identify a home that uses technology as a means of making life easier. SmartHome.com provides a definition for items you may find in a smart house as anything, small or large, that provides remote or automatic control.
Types
The types of items you can generally find in a smart house include lighting, security and access systems, home theater and entertainment, phone systems, thermostats, irrigation and the connections that bring these together. Lighting consists of indoor lights, dimmers and outdoor lighting systems. Security and access systems include indoor/outdoor audio and video monitoring and alarms. Home theater and entertainment includes equipment such as televisions, stereo equipment and speakers. Phone systems include telephones, intercom systems and wireless doorbells. Thermostats include programmable heating and cooling thermostats for your home, garage or pool. Irrigation equipment involves lawn sprinkler systems you can set for whole lawn watering or watering only in selected zones. Connections include wiring, power supplies, batteries and control units.
Features
Centralized automation is a feature common to smart homes. Centralized automation is the ability to turn devices on and off using a remote control, main control unit or a control panel you can access through the Internet. Connection methods usually feature devices hard-wired to a control panel, a multiple device remote control unit or the use of individual, automatic timers set to turn individual items, such as lights or a sprinkler system, on and off at specific times.
Function
Items included in a smart house depend on your needs, wants and the functionality you need the product to provide. Some categories, such as lighting and thermostats, have broad appeal. For example, SmartHome.com states that lighting is the most popular category of smart home technology and one that many people choose as a first step in setting up a smart house. Life stage can be a factor that determines desired functionality. For example, a young family may have a greater interest in home and theater equipment and in-house intercom systems, while elderly persons may want to consider the functionality a telephone and communications system that can send alerts to outside agencies, such as fire and rescue, can provide.
Benefits
Items found in a smart house can provide safety, convenience and economy. Safety comes from the feeling of security that home security systems can provide, and from the reassurance items such as control units set to monitor and turn off appliances automatically can provide. Convenience comes from using a remote control, central control units or automatic timers to run lights, appliances and services such as heating and cooling. The University of Washington addresses how smart technology assists financially by explaining that smart house technology can help you save on utility bills by using controllers and timers to run energy-consuming devices such as your furnace, dishwasher, air conditioner and water heater only during off-peak times when electric rates are less expensive.
Potential
Xcel Energy provides a picture of how a future smart house can work together with a local electric company. According to Xcel Energy, the future may include connecting your house to the your local electric company using a high-speed Internet connection and a smart meter that tells you in real-time how much the electricity you are using is costing. The future may also include smart appliances that can communicate with the electric company and turn on and off as energy needs dictate, and smart thermostats that adjust automatically to control your furnace, air conditioner or even your swimming pool pump.
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