This news release caught my eye. Cornell University participated in this year’s Solar Decathlon, a competition between 20 university teams given $100,000 to design, build, operate, and finally showcase a sustainable home of the future.
Imagine you have already installed your Internet-ready lighting dimmer switches and have been using these as standalone programmable gadgets to control your lighting system for energy savings and security purposes. Your programmable thermostat has been doing very well in contributing to conserve electricity and giving you convenience in not having to manually readjust it every time you feel uncomfortably hot or cold. But you’re not satisfied – these utilities and all other appliances, such as your entertainment systems, are all automated as standalone. But if these are compatible with the Insteon protocol (or even if they’re not, you can interface with the protocol – more on that in another post), then you could centralize the control of all the systems and appliances mentioned above through your iPhone or PC. Continue reading 'Control your home with your PC or iPhone'»
While it is true that home automation may be achieved by using wireless sensors in combination with appropriate receivers and transmitters, including a PC for Internet control, there are still several physical conditions that must met for these gadgets to perform. These conditions will allow the employment of the wireless control systems that you will need to automate your home for easier use, and to save energy. Let’s check them out.
The prime essentials for automating your home is the hardware and circuitry. Without home automation, our lights are controlled by manual switches. If you are planning to remotely control the activation and deactivation of the lights, as well as their power consumption, then you need to first make some revisions, such as:
Replacing the manual non-dimmer switches with programmable switches, preferably with dimmer control if you are looking forward to automate further by using an Internet interface. Even before the Internet control system is activated, you will be able to program the switches manually to attain energy savings. Make sure that the switches have provisions for Internet control.
There are certain rooms or halls in your home that need simple, standalone automated switches. If these special switches replace the conventional ones currently installed, you won’t need to turn the controls off; they will do it for you. You may want this type of a switch to automate your bathroom lights and fans, or perhaps your basement, attic, and garage—these are the lights that we forget to turn off most often. For example, you will go into your basement or attic to get some items stored in big boxes. Of course, you will be leaving the room with your hands full, and there’s no way you can turn the lights off. You never know when you will remember that the lights were on. One way to rectify this and start saving energy at home is a simple automation. Make the light turn off by itself. Use timer switches.
Home lighting systems are a necessity these days. No home is built without a lighting system. Every room, even cabinets, is installed with at least a bulb in it, thus making illumination a major factor in energy consumption. Therefore it is a smart move to consider cutting down on lighting usage to save energy.
But how can you accomplish this without compromising safety, home security, and comfort?