The smart home of the future is coming

For decades we have been waiting for the era of smart homes. Sadly, despite many attempts, we’ve gotten used to see smart home projects mostly in movies. The occasional smart home in real life is usually done by someone with a lot of money or by someone very patient and skilled with technology.

A lot has been done during the last few years to change this. Many of the world’s leading IT manufacturers are entering the smart home segment and are working on new solutions. Some of them are already making their way to homes. There are now smart thermostats, smart doorbells, locks, etc. A lot of home appliances are also becoming smarter like refrigerators which track available foods, a washing machine which takes care of the laundry better and a lot more.

One of the major drawbacks is that there are a lot of competing standards in smart home devices. Major manufacturers want to use and popularize their own standards, which naturally is met with a bit of reluctance from other players. There are several smart home associations being set up in order to solve this issue, but so far there isn’t any real success in this.

Next, a lot of the available smart devices are expensive. Devices with a lot of features can cost above $200 a pop. And still, many of the major players are only making a couple of devices, not nearly enough to cover all of the possible use cases. Also, many of these devices come with a monthly charge, too. So, you pay once to buy it and then every month to actually use all of the features.

This is why for many people the idea of a smart home is still relegated to a smart speaker and whatever appliances they’ve got that happen to have compatible smart features. You may think, that the market is like that because there isn’t enough interest from consumers. That’s not really the case. Statistics, compiled by TechJury, show that 81% of consumers in the US are more likely to buy a new house which already features smart technology.

Also, 70% of US consumers own at least one smart home product. This may be a smart speaker, but also various appliances or something else. For example, smart security systems enjoy a lot of interest. The US is also the largest smart home market with sales volume of 23 billion per year and growing. Also, 57% of Americans say that their smart products save them around 30 minutes of their time per day. That’s a lot of time.

So, the interest is definitely there. It’s up to the companies to find a way to tap into that market. And some already have.

If you don’t want to wait, you can build your smart home IoT system right now. There are plenty of solutions out there already. And a lot of them are very easy to implement in every Internet of Things project, including for a smart home. And they don’t cost hundreds of dollars. In fact, many are well below $100 a pop.

which you can use for your home to create various systems. And you can even use some of them to turn other devices into an intelligent part of your smart home. We are offering such IoT devices from companies like Browan and Milesight.

For example, you can use the Milesight PIR & Light Sensor WS202 for a variety of possibilities. The sensor brings together light and motion detection. So, you can use it for automated lights or for triggering various other actions whenever motion is detected. Including for security. One sensor covers up to 8 meters of distance and 120 degrees horizontal and 100 degrees vertical detection range. It’s battery powered for around 4 years of use with a single charge.

Next, you can also add the Milesight WS301 Magnetic Contact Switch. This sensor comes with two parts and you can use it for doors and windows to detect whenever they are opened or closed. You can use them for security control as you will get an alert whenever an action is detected. Of course, you can also use them to trigger other actions with different sensors and devices.

Another practical solution is the Milesight WS52X Smart Portable Socket. You can use this socket to turn other appliances into smart devices. With it you can create schedules for the turning on and off of any device which uses the socket. Of course, you can also manually turn it off and on from a distance and you will get details for the energy consumption.

Milesight also has the AM300 Ambience Monitoring Sensor. This one will make sure your home’s air quality is where it should be – ideal. The sensor can even measure PM2.5 and PM10 particles, CO2 levels, Ozone levels and a lot more.

Browan’s brand MerryIoT also has some interesting solutions. One of them is the Leak Detection sensor. It can detect flooding, leaks, humidity and temperature. Ideal to monitor the conditions in your home, garage, basement or anywhere else indoors. If you are worried about leaks, this sensor will make sure you will be notified immediately even for small drips long before they become a major issue.

In the past, such devices and sensors required a fair bit of work in order to be able to use them. Today things are different. All of the sensors we’re offering have yet another thing in common. The use the LoRaWAN network standard meaning they are fully wireless and you don’t need to run wires, drill holes, etc.

In fact, you can simply attach most of these sensors with 3M tape or a simple bracket. All you need is LoRaWAN coverage and you will be up and running within minutes.

LoRaWAN is specially designed for low-powered IoT devices and allows them to connect to a reliable, low-latency network for their internet connection. And there is more good news. Chances are you already have LoRaWAN coverage. That’s thanks to the Helium network also known as the People’s Network.

Helium is based on LoRaWAN and further improves security with its own blockchain. It is a decentralized network which allows people to add their own Helium hotspots to further improve the coverage and signal quality. And when they do, they can earn the HNT cryptocurrency for maintaining their hotspots.

Helium is already available in all major cities in the world and a growing number of smaller towns and rural areas. And even if you happen to be in a blind spot, you can invest into a Helium hotspot to build your own IoT smart home (or other project) and make the best of both worlds.