Electric.ie Magazine Nov/Dec 2016

48 / 68

46 • The Magazine & Website for the Irish Electrical Industry •
Schneider Electric
Getting smart in the home
The rise of the Internet of
Things promises a brave
new world of connected devices,
smart cities and homes –
and ultimately better living.
According to technology research
Ƥ” ‡ Š ƒ˜‹‘ǡ –Š‡ —„‡” ‘ˆ
connected devices is expected
to pass 17 billion in the next
Ƥ˜‡ ›‡ƒ”•Ǥ ‘‡ ”ƒ™ˆ‘”†ǡ ơ‡”
Manager at Schneider Electric
Ireland looks at what it all means
for wholesalers and end users.
The ability of devices to connect
to each other and feed important
information back to us should lay
the path for a smarter, more holistic
way of managing and interacting
with our environments, where
continual improvements and
‡ƥ ‹‡ ‹‡• ƒ „‡ ‰ƒ‹‡†Ǥ
For the consumer market, smart
thermostats like Nest and Hive have
already made waves in this regard
and hit the headlines. Drayton by
Schneider Electric is also set to
launch its smart thermostat with
an attractive mobile app. These
products enable users to control
temperature and boiler activity in
their homes remotely, and promote
better energy management and
‡ƥ ‹‡ ›Ǥ
Š‡› ƒ”‡ ƒ‘‰ –Š‡ Ƥ”•– ’”‘†— –•
to demonstrate true potential value
of connected buildings and remote
access to home infrastructure,
giving us the knowledge and power
to optimise our home environment
to best suit our individual
preferences, reduce energy bills,
and even alter our behavior towards
energy saving and sustainability of
the planet as a society.
Intelligent building systems are
‘– Œ—•– ƒ˜ƒ‹Žƒ„Ž‡ ˆ‘” ‘ƥ ‡• ƒ†
commercial buildings; decrease in
the price of technology has made
home automation a reality for
consumers. This is also coupled with
a dramatic change in customers’
‡š’‡ –ƒ–‹‘•Ǥ ‡‘’Ž‡ ‡š’‡ – –‘ „‡
in control of their energy use, by
managing the lighting, heating
and all other electrical devices in
their home from a single hand held
device. This marks the new era of
smart, connected homes.
Endless possibilities
An automated home brings together
many control aspects including
security, lighting, temperature,
audio and video entertainment
systems, blinds and curtains,
•’”‹Ž‡”• ‡– Ǥ ‘— ƒ ‡–‡” ›‘—”
Š‘‡ ƒ† Ƥ† –Š‡ –‡’‡”ƒ–—”‡
perfectly set for your arrival, or
have the lights go up as the sun
goes down, or even unlock your
front door with a smartphone; the
possibilities are endless.
Š‡”‡ ƒ”‡ †‹ơ‡”‡– –›’‡• ‘ˆ •›•–‡•
in the market capable of automating
a single product like cameras or
heating etc., but a fully integrated
system can incorporate all of these
disparate systems and combine
them into one single point of
control or an application. All of
these connected elements work
together to make the home more
‡‡”‰› ‡ƥ ‹‡–ǡ ‘”‡ ‘˜‡‹‡–
and safer for the homeowner.
However, these devices ultimately
should be able to talk the same
language for the connected home
to run as smoothly as possible. In a
similar way to commercial building
management systems, smart devices
ƒ ”— ‘ ƒ ˜ƒ”‹‡–› ‘ˆ †‹ơ‡”‡–
protocols. Zigbee is a wireless
communication system built by
the Institute of Electrical and
Ž‡ –”‘‹ • ‰‹‡‡”• ȋ ȌǤ
It consumes a small amount of
power and is built on a mesh
‡–™‘”ǡ –‘ ‘ơ‡” ‡š ‡ŽŽ‡– ”ƒ‰‡ ƒ†
communication interoperability
between devices, with no need for
Joe Crawford,
Offer Manager,
Schneider Electric
Ireland.