Planning a smart home correctly
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Realising an intelligent house - a smart home - is less time-consuming than you think. However, thorough planning in advance is important. You should consider the following points.
There are usually three reasons for planning a smart home: Some would like to try out the new technology. Another incentive is to save energy and yet others simply want to gain comfort thanks to intelligent solutions. Before all this is possible, however, the right planning has to be done - and is therefore also the most important step towards your own smart home.
In concrete terms, this means paying attention to a certain basic wiring. Not only are sufficient sockets and switches in the right places important, but an additional control network - a so-called bus network - should also be provided alongside the power grid. The best-known variant is the KNX system, which has proven to be the worldwide standard for home automation. With such a bus network in the wall, which runs parallel to the power grid and connects switches to devices, it is easy to convert to a smart home later or control the house from the very beginning.
To install such a starter kit, it often takes little more than half an hour. Simply connect the purchased products to the power grid or insert the batteries into the sensors. Afterwards, the system is set up using self-explanatory software on the computer or smartphone. That's it. Radio-based smart home systems also have another advantage: if you move out, everything can be quickly uninstalled and taken back to your new home.
There are usually three reasons for planning a smart home: Some would like to try out the new technology. Another incentive is to save energy and yet others simply want to gain comfort thanks to intelligent solutions. Before all this is possible, however, the right planning has to be done - and is therefore also the most important step towards your own smart home.
Advantages of a Smart Home
Don't worry, today you no longer have to be a technology freak or computer expert to live in a smart home. In the ideal case, the resident does not even notice the complex processes in the house, but only enjoys the new convenience because annoying tasks run automatically. For this reason, the technology should work independently in the background without the resident constantly intervening via computer, smartphone or tablet PC. The devices are only needed for initial installation or remote access.
Image: Aqara.com
A nice side effect of a smart home: The automatic control not only brings more comfort, but also helps to save energy. According to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics, singles in an automatically controlled house consume up to 40 percent less energy. Families also have potential savings in the smart home: they can still reduce their energy consumption by 17 percent. That doesn't sound much at first, but over the course of the year it can save several hundred euros.Define your target: What a smart home should be able to do
One thing right from the start - there is no such thing as a "real Smart Home". Every intelligent house is individually adapted to its inhabitants. Anyone who starts planning a smart home should therefore start with the needs first: What do I want? - should therefore be the first question. It makes a difference whether you're planning the big push with a complex system that can do everything from the start, or just looking for a solution to control the radiators as soon as the windows are opened.The living situation with smart-home planning
In addition to the wishes for a future Smart Home, the living situation itself is the second starting point for planning. Do you live for rent or do you own a home? It also makes a difference whether you live in an apartment in an old building or are just starting to build a house.Smart Home in a new building
Regardless of whether it's an old building or a new one: "Having no electricity in the important places is always very bad", Scharper points out. However, building owners can still intervene in a new building. Therefore, you should sit down at a table with the architect and the relevant craftsmen and, if necessary, a system integrator for smart homes in good time in order to plan the smart home in detail or at least keep the possibility open for it.In concrete terms, this means paying attention to a certain basic wiring. Not only are sufficient sockets and switches in the right places important, but an additional control network - a so-called bus network - should also be provided alongside the power grid. The best-known variant is the KNX system, which has proven to be the worldwide standard for home automation. With such a bus network in the wall, which runs parallel to the power grid and connects switches to devices, it is easy to convert to a smart home later or control the house from the very beginning.
Smart Home in an old building
For residents of old buildings and rented flats, modular, wireless smart home systems are more sensible. So no cables have to be laid on the wall afterwards. And don't worry: wireless solutions can also be used to create a fully-fledged Smart Home. Most wireless smart home solutions are so-called plug & play systems which, unlike cable-based solutions, can also be installed by laypersons.To install such a starter kit, it often takes little more than half an hour. Simply connect the purchased products to the power grid or insert the batteries into the sensors. Afterwards, the system is set up using self-explanatory software on the computer or smartphone. That's it. Radio-based smart home systems also have another advantage: if you move out, everything can be quickly uninstalled and taken back to your new home.
