What is a smart home: functions, types, components and ecosystems

We will talk about full-fledged smart homes, their functions, varieties and components in more detail. We will also look at specific examples of ecosystems on the basis of which automated living spaces are being built today and not only.

What is a smart home?

A smart home is understood as a set of solutions that allow you to automate everyday activities, relieving the owner of routine. Moreover, it is rather not a set of devices that can be "commanded" remotely, but a single control system for them. It provides specific benefits to the user, including visibility of control, convenience, saving time and effort.

Such an ecosystem (a set of devices and control systems) must perform certain actions and tasks in response to specific situations without direct human involvement. So, if a child leaves his room at night to go to the toilet, the light will automatically turn on in the corridor and then in the bathroom of the smart home. If a water leak is detected in the bathroom, the system will warn the user about it, and ideally, it will block the water supply itself.

Other typical areas of automation in an apartment include climate control (air conditioning and heating) and intrusion notifications (up to sending an alarm to the remote control of protection organizations).

The main functions of a smart home:

Increased comfort. Home automation allows a person to spend less time and effort on various routine actions. With its help, the apartment will be bright in the evening, cool in summer and warm in winter, your favorite music will turn on at the right time, and all this without the user's efforts.
Ensuring protection. A smart home allows you to protect or minimize harm from flooding, gas leaks, fires, actions of hooligans and thieves.
Economy and energy saving. A well-thought-out system helps to reduce both potential costs in connection with emergency and other force majeure situations (paying for repairs to flooded neighbors, buying new equipment to replace stolen ones), and real bills for electricity, gas and other resources, since their main consumers will not work idly.

Components of a smart home

The smart home ecosystem, usually, provides the presence of three types of devices:

hub (also called controller, central, bridge, gateway, etc.) is a device that unites all the elements of a smart home into a single whole and allows you to remotely control the operation of the system, including anywhere in the world via the Internet;
sensors and sensors. These components provide the ecosystem with information about external conditions, including air temperature, presence of movement or smoke, lighting level, hermetically sealed windows and doors;
actuators (actuators). The largest group of devices that is responsible for executing various commands and manages specific household appliances. The actuators include smart sockets, switches and dimmers, valves for pipes, various relays, climate controllers and so on.

Popular smart sockets on the market

Additional components include feedback devices (universal buttons, remote controls, touch panels, etc.), although thanks to the support of voice control, some ecosystems can do without them altogether.

The home appliances themselves, which the ecosystem can manage, do not have to be smart. So, for example, a special climate controller "knows" how to transmit commands from the hub to air conditioners of early generations (those that do not provide Wi-Fi support, but are controlled by traditional remotes). Similarly, a smart socket will allow you to flexibly control the operation of a conventional boiler and reduce its energy consumption due to the on/off schedule. It's just that in some cases, initially smart home appliances allow you to do without unnecessary "pads", as well as easier to set up, manage and control.

Smart home subsystems are often distinguished within the general ecosystem. The most common of them are the following

light control. It includes light and motion sensors, smart light bulbs. Smart switches with dimmers (also responsible for brightness adjustment) and RGB controllers (control LED lights and glow colour) can replace the latter;
protection systems. They consist of sensors (movement, presence, glass breaking, opening, vibrations, etc.), electronic locks and sirens. When adding video cameras or intercoms, you can also organize an access control system;
climate management. Such a subsystem includes temperature and humidity sensors, thermostats and temperature controllers, climate controllers, etc. In addition to providing a comfortable indoor climate, an important task of these devices is to reduce energy consumption;
The multiroom system is a multimedia addition to a smart home, responsible for playing video and music indoors. It can be formed simply from smart speakers or a whole set of equipment, including both audio and video systems, as well as individual controllers, control units, etc.

Such elements are often represented within the same ecosystem. At the same time, modern smart homes are becoming more flexible, so that the owner has the right to independently decide which subsystems he needs, where and how many devices to install, subsequently setting up in detail the range of tasks and scenarios of their work.

Varieties of smart homes

The smart home industry is actively developing, and the number of systems on the market today is increasing. Because of this, without dividing them into types and types, it is easy to get confused. There are several main classification features:

1. By universality:

systems of a narrow profile or focused on individual industries (for example, protection or lighting organization);
wide-profile. Such smart homes, within which it is possible to create and manage most of the previously described subsystems — climate, entertainment, light, protection, etc.

Specialized ecosystems are a little more in demand in the professional environment, but solutions of a wide profile are optimally suited for household needs.

2. According to the method of data transmission:

wired. The connection between the main components of the system is provided by wires;
wireless. The components of a smart home interact using radio signals.

The wired smart home system is more reliable and correct in operation. It almost eliminates signal delays, is considered more secure and protected from data loss. The main disadvantage is organizational. It will take more time and effort to create, since wiring is needed, which complicates the implementation on objects where all repair work has already been done.

Wireless ecosystems are easy to install, modify and update. Modern technologies of such data transmission are becoming more economical, secure and stable, which causes the high popularity of such solutions for household purposes.

The most popular wireless communication standards in smart homes, in addition to the well-known Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, are Z-Wave and ZigBee. The last two protocols have significant advantages:

direct communication between all nodes, for example, between two sensors of the system, and not mediated through a router or hub;
low power consumption;
minimum time delays;
stability of operation in the presence of numerous nodes in the system (up to 1000 elements);
inexpensive modules (applicable primarily to ZigBee, and the use of Z-Wave significantly increases the cost of devices).

Z-Wave and ZigBee were originally created in order to overcome the problem of incompatibility of devices from different manufacturers. But in fact, unity has not yet been achieved. In part, the solution to the problem is universal hubs (bridges), which allow you to combine devices that work both on ZigBee and Z-Wave, and on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which are well known to the layman, into one ecosystem of a smart home. Without such bridges, you will have to build the system with only devices of the same standard.

3. By type of management:

centralized systems — have a single management system;
decentralized — provide independent subsystems from each other or even consist of several separate systems.

Most home ecosystems provide centralized management. It's convenient and easier to set up.

Decentralized solutions are considered more reliable: the failure of one important component will not cause the failure of the entire system. For example, in the case of protection subsystems, decentralization is often considered a justified step.

4. According to the protocols used:

ecosystems with open protocols. Any manufacturer can create devices for them, which increases the overall capabilities and versatility;
closed systems. In such a smart home, only those devices that are created by the manufacturer who invented it are integrated.

Open smart homes are distinguished by a great variety and accessibility of gadgets against the background of closed ones. But the latter have fewer compatibility problems, plus the direct creator of the ecosystem is responsible for the quality of specific components.: usually, the situation with the dominance of dubious devices from the Middle Kingdom is excluded.

The most popular option for building a smart home today is a bet on wide-profile, centralized, wireless ecosystems with open protocols. Although there are exceptions, in the form of highly specialized closed solutions. The latter are in demand primarily in the field of protection.

Let's take a closer look at the TOP solutions.

Amazon Alexa

The launch of a smart speaker in 2014 is considered to be the impetus for the development of wireless ecosystems Amazon Echo . It became the first portable audio equipment equipped with a voice assistant. In addition to the ability to listen to music, the speaker "knows" how to answer everyday questions and control household appliances.

The ecosystem is initially positioned to be open, so numerous devices with Amazon Alexa support are on the market today. Today, Philips Hue and TP-Link light bulbs, Belkin smart sockets, Nest thermostats and video cameras, Ecobee switches, motion detectors and even Ford and BMW Mini cars are compatible with it.

The debut version of the Echo speaker, its official updates and modifications (for example, a mini version of the Echo Dot, which costs around $ 30 - $ 40), as well as analogues released by third–party manufacturers with Amazon Alexa support act as the central hub of the ecosystem. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are used to communicate with other equipment, and it is most convenient to give commands to the system by voice. The advantages also include the ease of configuration using a mobile application on Android or iOS. All this makes the Alexa-based smart home one of the most popular in the world.

In the USA, the ecosystem also allows you to quickly order pizza, call Uber, top up your bank account, purchase tickets, etc. But a serious obstacle to using the ecosystem in our country is not only the lack of these service functions, but also support only English.

Google Home

The search giant's ecosystem debuted in 2016 as a competitor to Alexa. Initially, the company presented its own version of the smart column with the same name Google Home and support for the Google Assistant voice assistant (probably the most advanced among all existing ones). Just with the help of this device, it was possible to control various smart home appliances by voice.

In 2018, the company updated the Google Home mobile app for Android and iOS. And in it it became possible to control devices connected to the Assistant from various manufacturers, that is, even without a speaker.

If you still want to have a single hub, then not only audio speakers (standard and mini versions), but also Chromecast media players, Google smart displays, etc. can act as its role. Numerous third-party smart devices are easily added to the ecosystem through the application, including TP-Link, Xiaomi (including Yeelight), Nest, etc. These are various light bulbs and lamps, sockets and locks, video cameras, thermostats.

Unlike Amazon Alexa, Google's voice assistant "learned" Russian at the end of 2018, which has already increased the attractiveness of the ecosystem in the post-Soviet space.

The disadvantages of Google Home include delays of 1-2 seconds for commands sent to smart devices through the application, as well as still limited control capabilities in comparison with Alexa and other analogues.

Apple HomeKit

Apple's smart home management system was claimed one of the first on the market (in 2014). But initially it was closed: in order for third-party devices to be recognized and added to the ecosystem without problems, they had to undergo complex Apple certification. This had a negative impact on the number of supported devices that appeared. In 2016, the company simplified the previously existing procedure, which was the impetus for more active development of HomeKit. In addition, all compatible devices are still certified, which means, by default, they cannot be of low quality.

To control a smart home, it is enough to install the "Home" application. It allows you to quickly integrate various devices and use the user-friendly interface of iOS devices to configure work and create various scenarios.

Siri is offered as an assistant in management — the first global voice service that has received support for the Russian language. The system works clearly, offers a large selection of voice commands and rarely makes mistakes with their recognition.

To remotely manage the HomeKit ecosystem from anywhere in the world, you will need an iPad, a smart speaker Apple HomePod Price from 14 299 up to 18 438 ₴ or an Apple TV media player. Any of these "apple" gadgets will be able to act as a central controller (hub).

The disadvantage of Apple HomeKit is a relatively small number of compatible devices (compared to the main competitors) and their rather high cost. Thus, the products of Fibaro, Koogeek, Elgato are often positioned as premium, besides, some companies are focused on the USA and work in networks of 100 – 120 V. The use of various compatible bridges, such as the Aqara Gateway Hub, can radically change the situation. When using it, HomeKit can be equipped with inexpensive sensors and Xiaomi actuators and not only.

Xiaomi Smart Home

Xiaomi is also actively engaged in the development of its smart home ecosystem. The set of compatible devices here is not as extensive as Amazon or Google, but it seems that the growth rate is the most impressive. This is facilitated by the open type of system, and the principles of operation of the Chinese manufacturer with numerous sub-brands.

To achieve the maximum possibilities of filling the ecosystem allows the use of a proprietary gateway Xiaomi Gateway. The hub supports the Zigbee protocol, allowing you to supplement the smart home with standard-compatible gadgets from any manufacturer, including various protective sensors, switches, locks, relays, etc. Without a gateway, it will be possible to add Wi-Fi-enabled devices to the ecosystem. These can be smart sockets, light bulbs, video cameras and various household appliances, up to Xiaomi electric toothbrushes.

Smart Home compatible appliances are now actively produced under various brands, including Xiaomi/Mi, Aqara, Mijia, Yeelight, etc. This fragmentation slightly complicates the search for suitable devices. At the same time, the advantages of the products of most sub-brands include their democratic cost.

In addition to the independent layout of a smart home, you can immediately purchase an alarm kit Xiaomi Mi Smart Home , which includes a gateway, a set of sensors, a smart socket and a universal button. And after getting acquainted with it, it is easy to supplement the system with various novelties.

A proprietary Mi Home application is used to control the smart home. It provides either its own plug-ins or control windows for individual devices. There is also a voice assistant, but so far only in Chinese. Another drawback of Xiaomi Smart Home is difficulties with localization: the application and plugins are adequately translated only into English, but in Russian—language versions, hieroglyphs are often found in the most inappropriate menu items.

Ajax

This is a closed wireless ecosystem, "sharpened" to ensure home protection. It was created by a Ukrainian team of developers, so one of the first advantages is the impeccable localization, simplicity and clarity of the branded Ajax Security System application and its web version.

The system has passed the EN 50131 certification and corresponds to the Grade 2 class: it is able to resist skilled intruders with special equipment, protects windows, doors and other intrusion routes, is suitable for housing and offices. In 2017, Ajax received the "Security System of the Year" award at the Security & Fire Excellence Awards.

An ecosystem is being built on the basis of the hub Ajax Hub Price from 4 894 up to 9 799 ₴ or its advanced version Ajax Hub Plus with support for more communication channels. Branded wireless intrusion protection sensors (movement, glass breaking, opening doors and windows, including street ones), flood detection, smoke and heat sensors (fire safety), sirens and control panels are connected to them.

You can supplement the protection system with branded automation devices: smart sockets and relays that allow you to remotely control the power supply and slightly expand the functionality of home automation.

It is also possible to view videos from cameras and DVRs (any network models with support for the RTSP protocol) in the proprietary Ajax application. When buying special integration modules, third-party sensors, for example, wired ones, are also added to the protection system. This is often a justified decision, since branded devices cost from $ 30 to $ 120.

In order not to assemble the system "bit by bit", the manufacturer offers ready-made alarm starter kits Ajax StarterKit Price from 7 498 up to 9 250 ₴ and StarterKit Plus.

Ajax alarm kits popular on the market

The advantages of the ecosystem include battery life of up to 15 hours in case of loss of electricity, simultaneous connection of up to 100 – 150 devices and support for alarm management for several users (up to 50 accounts). It is stated that the sensors work for up to 7 years without replacing batteries, are protected from loss of communication and signal jamming.

In the event of an alarm, in addition to turning on the siren and notifications to the owner's smartphone, it is also possible to automatically send an alert to the protection console of specialized companies.

Nero

The wide-profile ecosystem of the Belarusian manufacturer Nero, created in 2017, is still not very popular and well-known. It operates on two wireless protocols: proprietary proprietary Intro lll with frequencies of 433.05 – 434.79 MHz and open Z-Wave plus, but with a frequency of 869 MHz (other frequencies are used in the EU and the USA). As a result, one of the current disadvantages of Nero is a limited selection of compatible devices. But even from what is already offered, it is possible to automate heating and air conditioning, lighting, gates and shutters, protect against intrusions, leaks, etc.

To create an ecosystem, an Oledo 7767 Host server (central) is needed, costing about $ 300. It connects to a wired or wireless Internet network and interacts with all smart appliances via supported protocols. All management is carried out using the free NeroHome app on iOS or Android.

A set of gadgets for the ecosystem is represented by the following elements:

branded performers of the Intro lll standard commands: relays and modules that allow you to automate the light, the operation of the air conditioner, underfloor heating, locks, roller blinds and roller shutters, other devices;
control panels and buttons, own production of Nero;
sensors (100% compatibility is provided with Fibaro products running on Z-Wave, including the universal model FIBARO Motion Sensor Price from 2 799 up to 3 199 ₴.

The Nero ecosystem is also compatible with most HiWatch and Hikvision video cameras. The application allows you to watch videos online.

The pleasant bonuses of the Belarusian-made smart home include ease of setup and use thanks to the support of the Russian language, as well as the attractiveness of most branded devices (their design was designed by Artemia Lebedeva studios).

Summing up

It is not necessary to create a smart home based on one ecosystem. Combining different open solutions or expanding closed ones with the help of special bridges and gateways, you can achieve a synergistic effect by getting, for example, a Russian-speaking voice assistant and a wide range of inexpensive sensors and other devices. But this option is suitable only for those who have thoroughly studied the principles of operation of at least one ecosystem. Otherwise, instead of comfort and cost savings, the risks of disappointment and unnecessary spending increase.

Anyway, in order for the house to become really smart, its owner must initially be such.