Hello everyone,
I am generally knowledgeable and open-minded when it comes to IT, but I’m not really comfortable with "Smart Home" technology. That’s why I’m asking the community why you decided to go for it, especially in light of my concerns.
Overall, I don’t see much value in the typical smart home features. This is partly due to my way of living, but also largely because of the functions offered. For example, I don’t feel the need to control lighting via smartphone. Each room has appropriate light switches or motion sensors. Controlling blinds/shutters is unnecessary for me since I deliberately opted not to install shutters, except for two large south-facing windows. The same applies to a ventilation system, which I don’t have nor need. Turning devices on and off via an app strikes me as unnecessary.
What bothers me in particular is the multitude of protocols, the proprietary technology, and manufacturer-dependent software. I simply do not want to buy and install an expensive system from a manufacturer when I don’t know if they will still exist in five years or whether and how the software will be further developed.
Devices that can actually be usefully controlled via app now come with Wi-Fi capability and a matching app, so I don’t need a complex smart home system for that. For example, heating systems/heat pumps, photovoltaic systems, charging stations, video intercoms, robot vacuum cleaners, etc. Whether you really need an app for a washing machine, refrigerator, or dishwasher is debatable, but even these appliances have become "smart" nowadays.
Maybe I’m missing a significant advantage of smart home technology—if so, please feel free to fill in my knowledge gap!
I am generally knowledgeable and open-minded when it comes to IT, but I’m not really comfortable with "Smart Home" technology. That’s why I’m asking the community why you decided to go for it, especially in light of my concerns.
Overall, I don’t see much value in the typical smart home features. This is partly due to my way of living, but also largely because of the functions offered. For example, I don’t feel the need to control lighting via smartphone. Each room has appropriate light switches or motion sensors. Controlling blinds/shutters is unnecessary for me since I deliberately opted not to install shutters, except for two large south-facing windows. The same applies to a ventilation system, which I don’t have nor need. Turning devices on and off via an app strikes me as unnecessary.
What bothers me in particular is the multitude of protocols, the proprietary technology, and manufacturer-dependent software. I simply do not want to buy and install an expensive system from a manufacturer when I don’t know if they will still exist in five years or whether and how the software will be further developed.
Devices that can actually be usefully controlled via app now come with Wi-Fi capability and a matching app, so I don’t need a complex smart home system for that. For example, heating systems/heat pumps, photovoltaic systems, charging stations, video intercoms, robot vacuum cleaners, etc. Whether you really need an app for a washing machine, refrigerator, or dishwasher is debatable, but even these appliances have become "smart" nowadays.
Maybe I’m missing a significant advantage of smart home technology—if so, please feel free to fill in my knowledge gap!
K
Klappradl13 Aug 2021 08:59The classic question from my parents (and many others) on the way to vacation: "Did I turn off the iron?" 🙂
But it’s possible without smart technology. My childhood home was completely non-smart. Mine is too. However, there are a few situations where having smart features would be more convenient.
But it’s possible without smart technology. My childhood home was completely non-smart. Mine is too. However, there are a few situations where having smart features would be more convenient.
@motorradsilke
Basically, @untergasse43 and @Sahitaz have already explained everything. It’s about recognizing recurring patterns. The technology has been advanced for a long time. In the age of self-driving vehicles, which have to process significantly more data in real time, recognizing a morning routine in a house is not rocket science. And yes, even the different requirements from Monday to Friday, Saturday to Sunday, or during holidays can all be taught to the system or the system learns them on its own if allowed.
You are stuck on the idea of traditional hardwired home electrical systems, where a light switch just turns on the living room light and nothing more. In a modern building, this light switch can perform multiple functions and control or regulate these variably, depending on previous user behavior and environmental influences.
The coffee cup might be a poor example, but this is exactly how it has been working in our home for about 10 years now. My wife needs her cup of coffee after getting up. Whether it’s Monday at 5:00 a.m. (5:00 a.m.) before she goes to work, Tuesday at 6:00 a.m. (6:00 a.m.) when she works from home, Saturday at 9:00 a.m. (9:00 a.m.) when she’s at home, or any other time.
As soon as my wife gets up, a short time later the coffee machine downstairs in the kitchen starts and brews fresh coffee. It doesn’t matter what time she gets up. Of course, there is also a holiday routine. Regarding the argument about the cup and cleaning, the coffee machine would need to be filled and cleaned afterward anyway, whether the coffee is brewed automatically or by hand. So in our case, the coffee example is actually perfectly fitting.
Comparing building automation in an office building and a residential home is only somewhat appropriate because in an office building many things are relatively rigidly programmed, as you want fewer variables there. In a residential house, it’s completely different. That’s why statements like "I know from work, it doesn’t work there either" are completely off the mark.
Exactly, you decide. And you can gladly communicate that to your house. It won’t bite or judge you for it.
In a house without electronics, you do this anyway. Because you consciously decide that the windows should remain open, and you don’t go and physically operate a switch or blind. You can do the same in a smart home. Instead of not going there, you press a button or tell the house verbally that you want to be woken up by the sun the next morning.
Again, a smart house knows, based on your behavior and the actions you take, whether you are just going into the garden or leaving for a longer period.
They don’t have to. But you can have many things that happen repeatedly handled automatically. For example, the house can perform one or several actions on its own while you are working in your garden and creating a new flower bed. During that time, maybe vacuuming is already going on, your favorite series is being recorded (or downloaded), and your partner doesn’t have to turn on the exhaust hood while cooking because it automatically starts, including the mechanical ventilation system switching to a higher level.
And when it gets a bit darker, you just need to enter the house, and the lights turn on automatically (if they aren’t already on), without you having to operate the light switches after working in the garden.
Basically, @untergasse43 and @Sahitaz have already explained everything. It’s about recognizing recurring patterns. The technology has been advanced for a long time. In the age of self-driving vehicles, which have to process significantly more data in real time, recognizing a morning routine in a house is not rocket science. And yes, even the different requirements from Monday to Friday, Saturday to Sunday, or during holidays can all be taught to the system or the system learns them on its own if allowed.
You are stuck on the idea of traditional hardwired home electrical systems, where a light switch just turns on the living room light and nothing more. In a modern building, this light switch can perform multiple functions and control or regulate these variably, depending on previous user behavior and environmental influences.
The coffee cup might be a poor example, but this is exactly how it has been working in our home for about 10 years now. My wife needs her cup of coffee after getting up. Whether it’s Monday at 5:00 a.m. (5:00 a.m.) before she goes to work, Tuesday at 6:00 a.m. (6:00 a.m.) when she works from home, Saturday at 9:00 a.m. (9:00 a.m.) when she’s at home, or any other time.
As soon as my wife gets up, a short time later the coffee machine downstairs in the kitchen starts and brews fresh coffee. It doesn’t matter what time she gets up. Of course, there is also a holiday routine. Regarding the argument about the cup and cleaning, the coffee machine would need to be filled and cleaned afterward anyway, whether the coffee is brewed automatically or by hand. So in our case, the coffee example is actually perfectly fitting.
Comparing building automation in an office building and a residential home is only somewhat appropriate because in an office building many things are relatively rigidly programmed, as you want fewer variables there. In a residential house, it’s completely different. That’s why statements like "I know from work, it doesn’t work there either" are completely off the mark.
motorradsilke schrieb:
How is my house supposed to know that I want to be woken up by the sun tomorrow morning, something I only decide this evening?
Exactly, you decide. And you can gladly communicate that to your house. It won’t bite or judge you for it.
In a house without electronics, you do this anyway. Because you consciously decide that the windows should remain open, and you don’t go and physically operate a switch or blind. You can do the same in a smart home. Instead of not going there, you press a button or tell the house verbally that you want to be woken up by the sun the next morning.
motorradsilke schrieb:
How does my house know whether I’m just going into the garden and naturally don’t want everything closed, or if I’m going away for a longer time?
Again, a smart house knows, based on your behavior and the actions you take, whether you are just going into the garden or leaving for a longer period.
motorradsilke schrieb:
These are all things that don’t follow any automation.
They don’t have to. But you can have many things that happen repeatedly handled automatically. For example, the house can perform one or several actions on its own while you are working in your garden and creating a new flower bed. During that time, maybe vacuuming is already going on, your favorite series is being recorded (or downloaded), and your partner doesn’t have to turn on the exhaust hood while cooking because it automatically starts, including the mechanical ventilation system switching to a higher level.
And when it gets a bit darker, you just need to enter the house, and the lights turn on automatically (if they aren’t already on), without you having to operate the light switches after working in the garden.
untergasse4313 Aug 2021 09:58Hangman schrieb:
Why do you all have such complicated coffee machines? Mine has a single button that I press on my way to the bathroom in the morning. Same here. My coffee machine, right next to my toothbrush, is by far the least smart device around—and that’s exactly how I like it, as it pleasantly slows down the automated morning routine 🙂
From my professional experience in this field, one thing I’ve learned is that a customer who needs to be convinced with arguments to adopt a smart home isn’t really a customer for it.
The industry keeps saying these things will soon become standard, but Germans seem to have some kind of issue with this topic. It might be because the whole smart plug and phone-provider gadget approach initially pushed things in the wrong direction. But if you look at the US or Eastern European markets, the situation there is completely different.
What I think I can see (read) is that there seems to be a fundamental bias in both directions.
I’m curious to see how the SmartCars will be received, and how long it will take...
... but it will probably take even longer until the necessary safety levels are achieved.
The thing is:
There are errors that only occur because of SmartCars, but there is also a lot of “nonsense” that is avoided as a result.
If I were a statistician, I would probably say: If more errors are prevented than caused, then it is “the right time” for their introduction.
I’m curious to see how the SmartCars will be received, and how long it will take...
... but it will probably take even longer until the necessary safety levels are achieved.
The thing is:
There are errors that only occur because of SmartCars, but there is also a lot of “nonsense” that is avoided as a result.
If I were a statistician, I would probably say: If more errors are prevented than caused, then it is “the right time” for their introduction.
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