Intelligent Buildings
‘Alexa: What’s next in smart homes?’ By Nico van der Merwe, VP of Home & Distribution at Schneider Electric Our smart home assistants do more than play our favourite playlists and tell us the weather. In many ways they are our life assistants, planning our days, telling us the news and controlling our home appliances. For years, homeowners have been able to customise the aspects of their home using their smart devices, so what’s next? As homes become smarter, bringing greater benefits to the homeowner, so do heating systems. By adopting smarter features, heat will be generated only when and where its required to the exact temperature that is optimal for every square foot. Simple upgrades to homes across
10
Intelligent Buildings
the country will have a huge impact on comfort, convenience and energy bills. Homes will provide more control and improved thermal comfort of occupants by enabling the personalisation of each room.
The Smarter Choice Many smart heating systems are designed so users can easily control their thermostat directly from an app on their phone – whether you’re out, on the sofa or having a lie-in. This is an obvious and altogether better and smarter choice for people to keep the cold out this winter. With homes and heating systems becoming increasingly connected, the benefits continue to grow. The Internet
of Things (IoT), allows home owners to control their heating wherever and whenever, and schedule heating for when waking up or walking through the door. This not only saves money and time but also makes homes more comfortable. To reduce energy consumption and heating bills, connectivity, reliability and overall performance are all crucial. However, there are a number of new functions that are fast becoming a necessity.
Smart Rooms Today we demand personalisation. The next stage for heating is control and scheduling in each room independently. From a comfort point of view, each room should be at different temperatures – the bedroom cooler and the
Building & Facilities Management – August 2020
