Electric.ie March April 2021

ELECTRIC.IE • The Magazine & Website for the Irish Electrical Industry • 37 Schneider Electric Smart homes : The heat is on (when you want it) T he ‘smart home’ is by no means a new concept. Homeowners have been customising and upgrading their homes with the latest developments in home technology for years. With greater control and improved sustainability now a key selling point for smart home gadgets, what’s next? As homes become smarter, they bring greater benefits to the consumer. Smart heating systems and energy management tools, for example, are designed to give back control to the homeowner. Many smart systems are designed so that consumers can easily control their thermostat settings directly from an app on their phone, giving them the power to view and control energy usage. This technology is built on the Internet of Things (IoT), which enables users to control devices around the home to suit their own needs and preferences. This added layer of control not only improves comfort through personalisation, it can also save money and time. More efficient homes, lower heating bills, improved connectivity and reliability are all crucial, particularly as efforts towards net zero have now shifted up a gear. In terms of functionality, there are numerous features that enable and enhance the smart home experience. ർ By Nico van der Merwe, VP of Home & Distribution at Schneider Electric Intelligent surrounds We now expect personalisation as a standard from the tools and technologies we use. The next stage for heating is control and scheduling in each room independently. From the point of view of comfort, the ambient temperature for each room of the house differs – the bedroom cooler and the bathroomwarmer. We control our lights switch-to- switch and we control our water tap-to-tap – why don’t we control our heat room-to-room? Traditional thermostats and radiator controls simply aren’t efficient or measurable. Intelligent usability With the explosion of apps and smart home assistants like Amazon Alexa, it’s now possible to take ultimate control of at-home appliances including heating, lighting and entertainment systems. Not only does this make life easier, it also helps to reduce long-term energy consumption. With heating, for example, you can now ask Alexa to modify your settings instantly or adjust temperatures from your phone wherever you are in the world. Intelligent data The new era in heating solutions delivers complete insight into usage patterns and preferences. Smart heating systems can now understand how you interact with your heating, how the temperatures in each room change throughout the day and how occupancy impacts levels – which allows them to calculate your optimal settings. In a data driven world, this insight is crucial as it enables greater control and personalisation. Homeowners are now used to the convenience and control that plug-and-play smart solutions provide, so it’s no surprise that they now strive for that technology in the home. Smart heating systems offer exactly that – they have no wires, don’t require expertly trained installers and are intuitive by design. What’s more, they provide the insight and ability to reduce energy consumption and improve sustainability – factors which have become fundamental to home improvement projects. Going forward, heating solutions that provide increased control and facilitate smarter, more efficient homes will become the norm. The increased level of insight these technologies provide will not only save money and improve our comfort at home, they will also be crucial for cutting household emissions.