How to create a smart home in NZ

Smart homes are becoming mainstream and even owners of older homes can control virtually everything that moves in their home wirelessly at the same time as reducing their carbon footprint and energy bills.

Smart home automation wasn’t a thing 20 years ago. At best you could programme timers.

Technology has gone forward in leaps and bounds. These days you can buy smart plugs, smart speakers, smart thermostats, smart bulbs and a long list of other internet-enabled devices.

Your home security can be automated with smart locks and video doorbells. You can use voice control and voice assistants to dim your window glass, lower shades on sunny days, or adjust smart lighting and dawn and dusk and through the day according to available light.

Soon we’ll likely get energy discounts for devices that can manage their own electricity use, powering down or deferring until after peak periods.

Choose your ecosystem wisely

Increasingly home owners are opting for industry standard equipment that can interface with a Google or Apple ecosystem, Google Home or Apple HomeKit, which are operated with voice commands.

Google Home and HomeKit are like smart speakers that are loaded with Google Assistant or Siri from Apple. You can ask questions or give directions, such as “turn on the heat pump in the bedroom”, or “run the vacuum cleaner”.

Voice assistants can be trained to recognise multiple voices and respond differently according to who’s talking. Or if you’re out, they can be operated from your smartphone.

Connecting more devices

Some people will choose to simply connect individual devices such as doorbells, sensors, smart alarms, speakers, smart thermostats, curtains, windows and shutters directly to Google Home or HomeKit.

Others such as heat pumps may need a hub between your Google or Apple ecosystem and the device. Hubs use radio signals to communicate with some devices. That’s a little more secure giving hackers fewer access points to your Wi-Fi network.

Just about anything that can be plugged into the wall can be made smart, thanks to smart plugs that can be programmed to operate automatically or adjusted remotely. Next time you’re driving to the airport and you wonder if you’ve turned the coffee machine off, you can set your mind at ease.

Likewise light switches can be replaced with smart switches so that you can control your light bulbs while out.

More than just devices

Home automation is much more than just the devices you can buy, says Robert Knight, Home Solutions Consultant at Schneider Electric.

Knight has the same PDL Wiser Smart Home system in his own house that he recommends to clients. It controls every single switch and plug in the house and more. The system involves a hub attached to the Wi-Fi that powers the smart switches and sensors around the house.

Knight can programme “moments” into his Wiser app. His “good morning moment”, for example, is when he leaves the bathroom in the morning. With one press of a button his app can turn off the towel rails, light bulbs, demister, and fan automatically in the bathroom while at the same time turn lighting on in the hall and lounge, adjust the thermostat, and flick the TV onto the breakfast news in one fell swoop.

He can also use Google Assistant by voice command to trigger his pre-programmed “moments”. If, for example, he hears a noise in the night, his pre-programmed security “moment” can switch on all the interior and exterior lights with one voice command from bed.

Knight also has a Netflix “moment” programmed that can fire up the popular streaming app and prepare the sound and lighting, making movie nights cosier.

“Conditions” can also be set that will lead to “actions”. That might be that the heat pump can’t run if doors or windows are left open. Or when the garage door opens, the lights or heating go on in certain parts of the house.

Knight can tell from the Wiser app what time his children came home thanks to wireless smart sensors. Those same sensors can respond to temperature and humidity and adjust the heat pump accordingly. They can also be set up to detect water leaks.

Light bulbs left on 24/7 by the children are a thing of the past because Wiser is programmed to turn them down or off automatically over Wi-Fi when not needed.

The system can be operated from a smartphone app, via voice control or by simply using wall switches. Not everyone wants their phone to hand each time they turn a light bulb on or off, he says. Including some members of his family.

Back in the day a smart home automation system could cost up to $100,000, says Knight. These days you’ll most likely get change from $10,000, even in a substantial home.

Brand names matter

Unfortunately for your pocket, brand names do tend to matter when it comes to smart home devices.

Sure, you can buy cheap alternatives from the likes of Trade Me, AliExpress, and Amazon, but the big brand names tend to be much more reliable. Some of those brands include Apple and Google of course, Ring, Philips, Belkin, Arlo, iRobot, Sylvania, Xiaomi, Samsung and Sonos.

While some smart devices are super expensive, others such as security cameras have become cheaper and easier to install. Brands such as Arlo, Blink, and EufyCam are examples.

Do always check the cost of spare parts before you settle on a particular brand. Some are notorious for having expensive spares or needing technicians to do costly annual services.

Saving on your power bill

High tech homes are often energy efficient as well.

Knight points out that the automation ensures that switches aren’t left on and appliances running needlessly, and heating or lighting left on high when not needed.

Smart appliances can also take advantage of what’s called demand response, says Gareth Gretton, senior advisor evidence Insights and Innovation at EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority).

Appliances can be programmed, with the owner’s permission, to reduce electricity usage or shift it to off peak periods. Examples of appliances capable of doing this are solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, batteries, electric vehicles (EVs) connected to smart and two-way chargers and smart appliances.

That means if your washing machine knows that electricity is in peak demand it can delay your wash until demand drops. Or your EV charger can wait to start its job.

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