How do I make a smart home with my own hands?
To talk about the “smart home” system, it is not enough to install a light in the room with remote control from a smartphone. This term includes the entire infrastructure of many systems and devices that interact with each other according to programmed algorithms and bring certain advantages.
What is a smart home made of? What elements should such a system have in order to work correctly? What elements are needed and what can you add to the add-on to better adapt your smart home to your family’s needs?
Smart home elements
The entire installation consists of several basic elements. It consists of devices managed (for example, oven heating or bulb) connected by wires or wirelessly with sensors (e.g. movement or temperature) and switches (e.g. on the wall or in the mobile app), and all combined in the Central unit.
Lighting control – having a smart home installed, you can not only turn on and off lights in rooms using switches and even without getting up from the sofa.
Control of heating and ventilation – if we connect the house to heating and air conditioning – we can set the desired temperature. Different room temperatures can be set (for example, lower in the pantry, higher in the bedroom).
Controlling the blinds is not only a matter of light, but also temperature. Allows you to configure the smart home so that it closes the blinds at night and opens at dawn.
Gate management – gate management is not limited to opening and closing. When we return from work, we can configure the system so that:
open the entrance gate,
garage doors,
disable the alarm.
Smart garden – it can water plants at a given time.
Cameras – if you set up home monitoring using a mobile app, we can check what is happening at home at any time of the day.
Intercom (video) – we can check who is calling, even if no one is home. The postman? Courier with a package? No problem – we can talk to them, open the gate and ask them to leave the parcel in the place we indicated.
Safety sensor
Motion sensor-detects that something is moving in the field of view.
Water sensor-located on the bathroom floor and monitors whether there is water there.
Gas sensor-install it next to gas appliances. It will inform you of dangerous concentrations of methane, propane, or butane.
Carbon dioxide sensor-required in the boiler room and by the fireplace in the room.
Smoke detector – install it throughout the house or in areas where there is a potential risk of fire.
Opening sensor-checks whether Windows or doors are open. This allows you to get notifications on your phone when you open any door or check if all the Windows are closed during a downpour.
Central unit
Smart home management systems can be centralized. This main computer, which is the brain of the entire system, is a module that connects to the home electrical box.
Wire or wireless network
Elements of a smart home can be connected to each other wirelessly (for example, via Wi-Fi) or using a classic cable laid in the wall, floor, or ceiling.