Smart Homes - article by Whimsical Wire Articles

My first introduction to smart home technology was as a hobbyist, long before I became an installer. I was interested in home automation from a very early age. I used to love reading science fiction, and smart homes were a big feature from the 1950s onward. Ideas that once seemed impossible – homes with lights that can turn on and off, stereos that could be commanded by voice, and burglar alarm systems that can be monitored from 1000 miles away – are now prosaic realities. Yet smart homes are about more than neat gadgets and gizmos. In many ways, they are a very practical technology.

Back in the day, having a smart home was about showing off what you could afford. The technology was sort of clunky and primitive, and only the rich could really set it up. Nowadays, however, smart homes are moving in the opposite direction. The technology is not just used for stereos that can be commanded by your voice or heating up your bedroom before you wake up. Smart technologies are useful for saving energy, providing greater security, and in reducing environmental impacts.

For example, nowadays there are smart homes that can target heating or cooling to the room that you are in automatically. This can save a huge amount of money – particularly if you live in a pretty big house. By only heating and cooling a few rooms instead of the whole house, energy consumption can be cut in half or even less. Similarly, smart homes with high-efficiency light bulbs that turn off when you are in the room save a tremendous amount in heating costs.

Of course, the gadgetiness of the whole thing is still pretty cool. In particular, it is pretty great to be able to access your home computer from the other side of the world. Through the use of web cams, security monitors, and even robotic technologies, you can see what is happening in your house at any time of any day. This is nice, particularly if you're taking an extended trip. It allows you to have that extra measure of comfort, knowing everything is safe and sound.

Soon, all of our houses will be smart homes. As a matter of fact, the day isn't far away when you won't even notice the technology. Having everything centered around a single monitor in a single computer is sort of an old way of doing it. As computers get cheaper and smaller, we can afford to pack in more and more of them, using small systems to control every room individually.

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