SMART HOMES FAQ
Smart Home
What is a Smart Home?
How does it work?
Does it just control the lighting?
What does home automation mean then?
What Smart Home system do you recommend?
Multi Room Audio
What is multi room audio?
How does it work?
What are the benefits?
Eco Friendly Technology
What is an eco friendly home?
How does KNX Smart Home technology save Energy?
What is Energy Star?
What is ROHS?
What is a Smart Home?
Smart Home technology intelligently gives you ultimate control over your home by automating the lighting system, dimming, blinds, electrical appliances, audio and security systems. The light ‘switches' in a smart home don't simply just turn on/off one set of lights, instead they are programmed to issue a number of commands to your Smart Home network. For instance walking into your lounge a single button push sets a sophisticated lighting scene, turns on the fan and the air-conditioning and starts playing your favourite music.
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How does it work?
In an old-fashioned house, lights and other devices are operated via mechanical means, the switch or knob opens or closes an electrical connection or varies the resistance of that connection.
In the smart home the switch takes on a different function. Rather than regulating the flow of electricity, the switch sends a signal to a communication network, called a bus system, informing the smart home network that the button has been pressed. In the Mechanical & Engineering (M&E) room the smart home system then controls the various electric circuits and systems, issuing commands to the various electrical systems to tell them what they need to do in response to the button press.
This makes it possible for one touch control of the home, a single press doesn't just open or close an electrical connection, but tells the Smart Home system to issue a number of commands to lights, electrical devices, fans, air-conditioning etc… The beauty of this is that one button press can control anything hooked into the Smart Home network.
Does it just control the lighting?
It can do, sometimes homeowners just want the ease of use of using one touch to turn off all the lights in their home, or be able to walk into a room and choose a ‘Scene'. Typically these scenes give a look to the room through dimming, turning on and off the various lighting circuits within the room. So instead of standing by the traditional light switches and dimmers, trying to work out which switch controls what lights, or trying to get the rotary dimmer just right, you simply walk into the room touch the scene button and its perfectly lit to your mood.
What does Home automation mean ?
Home automation is whereby other appliances or systems are integrated into the Smart Home in addition to lighting control. Typical examples are fans, air-conditioners, sprinklers and fountains, combined with presence detectors that detect the amount of light in the room and the presence of people, your residential integrator can automate these functions. For example you may specify that certain lights don't turn on during daylight hours whilst the room has natural daylight, that fans automatically turn on when the room is entered and that the sprinkler system comes on every day at 7.00am for one hour.
What Smart Home system do you recommend?
One of the most important factors when building a Smart Home is knowing that support is always on hand and that the system will not be obsolete in a couple of years time. With KNX this is guaranteed, KNX is the only Smart Home system that complies with the European and International standards for Home Automation. KNX is an open standard, other systems are proprietary – locking you into a single manufacturer and product line for the life of your Smart Home. We recommend using KNX by Gira, its proven reliability and full backwards and forwards compatibility promise a future proof home that will remain forever up to date.
What is multi room audio?
Once thought of as a luxury item, nowadays most new homes feature some type of audio system built in as standard. Multi room audio is a term used to describe audio systems that work all over your home, it is also sometimes called “whole home audio” or “distributed audio”. In-ceiling speakers are used in rooms, weatherproof external speakers for outdoor areas and underwater speakers for the swimming pool. Either hand-held controllers ( Sonos ) or in-wall keypads ( Nuvo ) are used to discretely turn the music on, choose the music selection and adjust volume in each room. Music can either be kept on a digital server, allowing thousands of albums to be accessed, with each room being able to control their music individually, or an iPod can be dropped into a dock, and each room can browse and play music directly from the iPod.
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How does it work?
Music is kept digitally on an iPod or music server, amplifiers are hidden away and speakers are concealed in the ceiling. For the Sonos system, a wireless handheld controller is used to select rooms, music and volume levels from the palm of your hand. Nuvo systems utilise Organic LED digital keypads located throughout the home, simply drop your iPod into any Nuvo dock and browse, select and play your music from any keypad, exactly as if it was the actual iPod.
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What are the benefits?
It's so simple to listen you your favorite music, anywhere in your home. Walking into any room or area, one-touch and you can be listening to your favourite album or Internet radio station. No more bulky speakers taking up room in your lounge, no more looking for the CD or having to turn on stacks of equipment – pure high quality sound wherever and whenever you want it. Party modes are great for when you have guests round, your whole home will resonate with fantastic sounding music, creating a social mood that everyone enjoys.
What is an eco friendly home?
An eco friendly home is one which is more environmentally friendly than a standard home, typically they use less energy and focus on sustainable technologies. Using natural sunlight, automated lighting and blind control and by specifying Energy Star products wherever possible, it is fairly simple to dramatically decrease the energy consumption of your Smart Home. This is important because a) energy is expensive and b) the power stations which provide our homes with electricity typically burn fossil fuels or other non-renewable energy sources to provide power. By using less power you are guaranteed lower electricity bills whilst helping to reduce our impact on the environment.
How does KNX Smart Home technology save Energy?
Recent studies prove that typically up to a 40-60% reduction in energy use can be expected by specifying KNX technology for your home. More than fourty universities worldwide are involved with KNX, their scientific studies are an important key to understanding energy efficiency within the modern day home. In one research project, conducted at Bremen University of Applied Sciences, two identical classrooms were selected as test rooms. One was fitted with a conventional installation, and the second with KNX control. Based on a four-year series of measurements, the use of KNX control was found to reduce energy consumption by an impressive 50%.
What is Energy Star?
It is becoming common knowledge that consumer electronics use significant amounts of energy even when they're in standby mode ( electricity consumed by a device when it is in standby mode and not performing its primary function is known as "vampire power") , this wasted energy can account for more than 10% of the total power used in our homes. ENERGY STAR labeled products are a simple way for consumers to identify products that are among the most energy-efficient on the market, they help to reduce the power drained by consumer electronics in standby mode, by up to 90% and run more efficiently overall. Specifying ENERGY STAR products in your home could help save up to 10% of the total energy your home uses.
What is ROHS?
RoHS is the acronym for “The restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment", often shortened to Restriction of Hazardous Substances. Also known as Directive 2002/95/EC, ROHS originated in the European Union and restricts the use of specific hazardous materials found in electrical and electronic products.
In 1998, the European Union (EU) began to turn its attention to the large amounts of hazardous electronic material being dumped into landfills throughout the world. With waste accumulating rapidly, concerns were raised about the existence of large and growing environmental contamination by heavy metals. The substances banned under RoHS are lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. These restricted materials are hazardous to the environment, pollute landfills and are also dangerous in terms of occupational exposure during manufacturing and recycling.
By purchasing RoHS compliant electronics you are helping to keep heavy metal contaminants from damaging the environment.
