Smart Home
With so many Smart Home Systems and products on the UK and Irish market, it can be difficult to understand why you should be considering Smart Home and which system to choose.
Smart Home, or more relevant, home automation systems, are more than having the ability to control your home from your phone. Truly smart homes offer layers of automation to not own save energy but make your environment more comfortable. Some examples:
- Using motion detection in hallways and bathrooms
- Having your heating respond to external factors such as particular hot/cold day
- Closing blinds/curtains to prevent room overheating
- Securing your home at night / when away
Our Smart Home solution is built on the worldwide standard for Building Automation – KNX. The KNX protocol fact file is as follows:
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- Open-source and non-proprietary meaning you are never locked into a particular manufacturer not dependant on them continuing to support the system.
- 8000+ Certified Products from 500+ Certified Manufacturers meaning you don’t need to trade style for functionality – have both!
- Bespoke solution built to the requirements of your property and family
- Decentralised & Shared Intelligence meaning no single point of failure
- Cable based meaning guaranteed data transmission
- Widely adopted with over 100,000 KNX Partners globally
- Fully backward & forward compatible throughout it’s 34 year existence
- Secure and Reliable
The benefits of KNX are by contrast the disadvantages of many other systems such as those built on ‘IOT’ technologies that are designed with a 3 year life cycle in mind! Other proprietary solutions leave Smart home owners at the mercy of the manufacturer and are often forced into costly system upgrades every 5-10 Years. With KNX, this isn’t the case as systems deployed 30+ years ago are still running smoothly today on the KNX framework.
Further to KNX’s beneficial attributes are the control features which include:
- Smart Lighting Control – Smooth Dimming, Scene Setting, Automation via Motion and Time Functions
- Smart Heating Control – Self-regulating heating (and cooling) to achieve an efficient PWM cycle on a per room basis utilising temperature measurement from the Light Switch and/or Ceiling Sensor.
- Smart Shades – Automate or manually control your roller and venetian shades including electrical openings
- Smart Security – Integrated Intruder Alarm, Door Access, Gate Access, Garage Door Control and CCTV
- Audio Visual – Integration of Multi-Room Speakers and Home Cinema
At the fundamental core of KNX, it is possible to control anything Electrical or Mechanical therefore the above list is a short and sweet overview. Every project has it’s own requirements that must be considered when deciding the right option for you.
Finally, why do you need a Smart Home? Modern buildings are becoming increasingly more complex and conventional control methods are no longer able to meet the demand. Some of the prime examples include:
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- Rising energy costs require creative solutions to reduce consumption, the automation of lighting is one of the core areas in which to automate.
- Heat Pumps cannot operate in absence of a control system to regulate the water temp ensuring sufficient heat to the property. Likewise, overheating of UFH can cause damage to floor finishes.
- Many manufacturers have an app for their hardware which can mean a dozen apps to control your property whereas KNX provides you control under 1 App.
- Overheating is one of the largest issues of the modern house, adding automated shading can reduce the solar gain and prevent energy wastage on cooling.
We fully understand the complexities in starting your journey of selecting a Smart Home Solution and we encourage you to get in touch with us for a free consultation. We are experts in our field with engineers throughout Ireland and the UK capable of progressing your enquiry from concept to reality.