What Are Two Devices That Could Be Used in a Smart House?
A "smart house" is one that uses state-of-the-art technologies to control multi-media, lighting, temperature, security and other functions in the home, those that might in the past have been manually or electrically operated. Two "smart" technologies, however, appear at the forefront of all the others as design moves into a new century: monitoring and energy efficiency. These have very practical and cost-effective uses even in the present, especially for disabled and older adult residents. Does this Spark an idea?
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The Smartest House
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Microsoft's Bill Gates has what must be one of the world's smartest houses, with his $113 million home in Medina, Washington. His home features many prototype devices that he sees as future Microsoft products. This includes simple digital fridge magnets with LCDs showing real-time data feeds, such as informative local information, specific to the homeowner's needs such as weather, road conditions, sport scores, and local news headlines. Other features in the high tech house are lights that switch on and off as you enter and leave rooms, speakers hidden beneath the wallpaper that allows music to follow you from room to room and portable touch pads which allow the user to control the home's many smart features from anywhere. The Gates home might be one model of what designers aspire to in creating future 21st century houses.
Monitoring
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A wide variety of monitoring technologies are in development and many are already available. These can monitor the home itself, or the activity or inactivity of its residents. There are technologies that monitor movement and usage of appliances and devices within a senior's home that feed data back to a monitoring service, where the senior's condition can be assessed. The technology can monitor factors such as how much time a person stays in bed, when they get out of the bed, when they use certain doors, how frequently they go to the bathroom, how long they sit in certain chairs, when they use kitchen equipment and if they have fallen. For example, scientists at the University of Washington and Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a wiring system that transmits information about temperature, air quality, airborne toxins and other vital information that could warn of problems. This Sensor Nodes Utilizing Powerline Infrastructure (SNUPI) technology was prototyped in 2009. Already available, is Wellcore's Personal Emergency Response System which uses motion detection technology to detect falls automatically and summon assistance. Other systems, such as WISP Window and Door Systems can operate window and door shutters from a remote location. This system is particularly useful for those people that are often away from home and live in locations where hurricanes and tornadoes can cause significant damage. Regardless of their location, homeowners can remotely operate shutters, when they become aware of severe weather warnings.
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Energy Efficiency
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For most homeowner's, energy efficiency is as much about saving money as it is conserving the planet's resources. A home energy monitor can track and audit power usage in the home, identify those products and appliances that use most energy, suggest possible areas for conservation and track implemented changes and savings. At the most basic level you can plug a smart plug into an outlet and then plug your appliance into the smart plug. These simple devices, such as the Kill-a-Watt and GreenSwitch, monitor energy usage and can switch products off, when not in use. Devices such as Black and Decker's Power Monitor and Wattson consist of wireless sensors that monitor energy usage throughout the home and send information to a portable monitor, where data is assessed.
Installation
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Since smart technologies rely on wireless, computer-cased operation, it is possible to install smart systems to existing homes, since extensive wiring is not necessary. Cabling provides a single multi-conductor outlet for power and communications, as opposed to traditional wiring, which generally provides only 110 voltage. Flexible tubes and quick-connect outlets also make gas provision quick and easy.
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