What Is Home Automation?

Every year, more and more devices become available in IoT form; we’ve seen everything from smart medical alert systems to smart microwaves. Here are the devices available, as well as what you should look for.

Home automation is the automatic control of electronic devices in your home. These devices are connected to the Internet, which allows them to be controlled remotely. With home automation, devices can trigger one another so you don’t have to control them manually via an app or voice assistant. For example, you can put your lights on schedules so that they turn off when you normally go to sleep, or you can have your thermostat turn the A/C up about an hour before you return to work so you don’t have to return to a stuffy house. Home automation makes life more convenient and can even save you money on heating, cooling and electricity bills. Home automation can also lead to greater safety with Internet of Things devices like security cameras and systems. But hold up; what’s the Internet of Things?

Internet of Things vs. Home Automation

The Internet of Things, commonly known as IoT, refers to any device that’s connected to the Internet that isn’t normally; for example, a smart light bulb that you can turn on and off via an app. All home automation devices are IoT devices, which can be automated to trigger one another. So while IoT refers to the devices themselves, home automation is what you can do with the IoT devices to make your life just a tad bit easier.

How Does Home Automation Work?

Home automation works via a network of devices that are connected to the Internet through different communication protocols, i.e Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and others. Through electronic interfaces, the devices can be managed remotely through controllers, either a voice assistant like Alexa or Google Assistant or an app. Many of these IoT devices have sensors that monitor changes in motion, temperature and light so the user can gain information about the device’s surroundings. To make physical changes to the device, the user triggers actuators, the physical mechanisms like smart light switches, motorized valves or motors that allows devices to be controlled remotely.1