Home automation is a very interesting concept that is catching up really fast. In this concept, your everyday appliance and gadgets transforms into a smart system which allows you to talk and control the gadgets easily. It is anticipated that in another 3 to 5 years, more homeowners will be joining the smart home community. The growing trend of the home automation market is being closely monitored by analysts to understand what kind of products are in demand and the growth of the market.
If you are planning to get started with this concept, you can easily do it with the help of a few basic devices. These devices are easy to install and operate, aside from being user friendly. The best thing about these gadgets is that you have the ability to choose from a variety of basic products which are available at affordable rates. Although these basic products may not connect to your home network or Smartphone, however, they can help to make your life very easy and simple.
Understanding the different types of home automation products
This is a concept that came into the market quite some time back when washing machine, microwave oven, water heater, dryers, refrigerators and other such appliances were introduced to make people’s life easy.
Before we go into the details of the various basic smart gadgets, it is essential that you first understand the various types of smart home automation products that are available in the market. Home Automation Products fall under three main categories, they are as follows
Power line
These kinds of products are affordable and use the present power line that is there in the house. Under the home automation category, the protocols of the products that are known to be the most popular and oldest ones are those that work on the X10 technology.
Wired
The products that fall under the wired category use wires that are categorized as CAT 5. These products are connected to a control center or system and are easy to install and can be installed in new and old homes.
Wireless
Smart home automation products which fall under this category do not require any wires or cables. They can connect easily to any computer, WI-FI or any other devices. These are simple to install and are also reliable, however, before you install them you should check the installation procedure properly to get a better understanding of how you need to install and configure them.
The Basic devices recommended for beginners
Programmable lighting control
These are automated lighting which do not require any holes and cuts on the wall. The fixtures can be fit by connecting the lights into one central system. They can be used for tracking the fixtures and can be turned on and off whenever needed. You can raise or dim the lights whenever needed.
Smart thermostat
With the smart thermostat you can easily control the temperature of the room; this system takes temperature setting to a very different level. You can control the settings through your mobile phone and the best part is that the program can be overwritten very easily.
Smart video doorbell
A combination of a security device along with the home automation concept, with this doorbell you do not have to physically present to greet your guests. You can communicate with your guests easily with the doorbells audio and visual capability.
Remote controlled outlets and Outlet timers
There special outlets can be programmed based on when you want your lights to be turned on or off automatically. The outlets that can be controlled through the remote control can also be connected to your Smartphone; however, you would find cheaper alternatives as well. Similarly, you also have outlet timers which come with inbuilt timers that can be set when you want it.
USB Outlets
Instead of the regular outlets, you can install the smart USB Outlets which can come in handy. These outlets are equipped to cater to both electricity and USB connectivity under the same socket. Although, in literal sense, this may not be considered as a home automation product; however, it does make things easy.
