In the past, having a home automation system in our home was a crazy thing, it was reserved only for companies or wealthy people. In addition, if our house was not newly built, the installation meant getting involved in construction and paying exorbitant prices, unfeasible for most homes.
However, in just 15 or 20 years, having a smart home or smart home has become commonplace, accessible, affordable, and something that improves our quality of life. In this article we are going to see what a home automation system is and what types there are, as well as what advantages they can bring us in our day to day and what are the most used home automation systems today.
What is a home automation system?
The home automation system or simply home automation is the set of smart home appliances that allow us to automate the control and operation of various elements of the home, such as energy management, security, communication, lighting or well-being in general.
Home automation is closely related to the well-known term Internet of Things (Internet of Things IoT), a paradigm where everyday objects acquire the function of connecting to the network so that we can interact with them, with the aim of making us life at home much easier and more comfortable.
At present, home automation systems are beginning to form a notable part of our lives, thanks in large part to widespread wireless connections, the lower cost and the ease of use and installation of current home automation systems. Thanks to them we can remotely automate, control and program the lighting system in our house, the temperature of the heating/air conditioning, the electrical appliances, the blinds, the sockets, etc. In addition, thanks to the appearance of intelligent assistants, we can also control these and other elements with a voice command.
Types of home automation systems
In the last decade, a large number of control and automation devices have emerged, from complete home automation systems that allow us to control all aspects of our home to spontaneous use devices that allow us to individually automate a single feature of our home, such as, for example, the lighting. The advantages provided by the different solutions are more or less notable, but all of them manage to facilitate our day-to-day tasks in order to have more time to be with our family, rest or enjoy life more. At present there are basically three types of home automation systems.
Wired home automation system
This is the first home automation system that appeared on the market, and currently its use is less in the home, although it is still commonly used in the business sector. It is necessary to have a centralized system that connects the devices through wiring throughout the home. It is a reliable, secure system that allows us to control every detail of our home, however, it is an intelligent system that is too expensive and complicated to install for most people.
Wireless home automation system
It is undoubtedly the type of home automation system most widely used today and the one that is prevailing in most homes. It is an intelligent, wireless, complete and unified system that allows you to manage almost all aspects of a home from a mobile application. In order not to depend on the Wi-Fi network, they create their own communication network with the aim of being available 24/7 thanks to completely secure and reliable protocols.
A Hub or "central computer" is installed, which is like a kind of router capable of creating a wireless network for the devices to connect to it and which acts as the central brain of the home automation system: all communications and orders go through the Hub as and as it happens with the OOB SMART home automation devices. It is a type of system that is very reliable, fast and easy to install, which makes it possible to provide intelligence to a home in a very simple way.