With the overwhelming amount of smart home solutions available, sometimes the benefits of a smart home may not come across clearly.
A smart home is not just for gadget loving guys. While they may be most enthusiastic about it, we share why a smart home can work for you.
1. Security
Are you concerned about security? A smart home system can boost your home security with CCTV and smart alarm systems that can be controlled remotely like through a phone app. Integrate a digital door lock to look at who enters and exits your home and also the time that they do so. A video doorbell is great for monitoring anyone who comes near your doorway. Integrate the CCTV, alarm, door lock and video doorbell easily and allow for remote access with a smart home system.
2. Monitoring
Do you have pets or children you’d like to check up on at home? Apart from a CCTV, you can also monitor some of the activities that they may be engaged in. Koble Smart Home even has a smart pet feeder to feed your pet remotely! They also have the ability to detect smoke, gas and water leaks. For the seniors and the younger ones, a smart emergency button can be installed to alert you when someone at home is in distress.
3. Energy Management
Having a smart home solution set up can boost your energy savings. Automatically draw blinds and curtains at the hottest times of the day to keep your home cool and minimise energy consumption on air-conditioning. Easily manage lights, fans and appliances and turn them off appropriately and remotely.
4. Lifestyle & Convenience
Morning – Wake up naturally, have a fresh cup of coffee waiting for you and get a morning brief (on traffic updates, news or your task list and schedule) for that day. Leave for work with piece of mind that your lights and air-conditioning have all been turned off as a flick of a switch.
Afternoon – Keep your security on and monitor when you child comes home. Draw the blinds and curtains to keep out the afternoon sun. It starts to rain and your balcony starts to get wet. You can save the hassle of interrupting your day by setting rules to close your motorised zip blinds when it detects rain (through a water sensor) or by weather reports in your area.
Evening – Cool your home by turning on the air-conditioning about 30 minutes before you arrive home. Automatically open the curtains and blinds for your home so it doesn’t get too dark.
Movie Time – Close the curtains and blinds to prevent glare and help with blocking out sounds from the outside. Turn on the TV and sound system. Turn on the air-conditioning and dim the lights. All these can be done at a single command or the touch of a button.
5. Well-being
A smart home can help to boost your well-being with healthier habits. Imagine your morning routine. Wake Up Naturally. Instead of a blaring alarm, you can set rules to have the curtains or blinds pulled to allow light in to wake you naturally. Alternatively, use soft, gradually increasing lighting from overhead lights or bedside lamps around the time you need to wake up. Avoid waking to chilly temperatures by setting the thermostat to gently raise the room temperature.
With such functionality, surely smart home solutions must cost quite a bit? Not necessarily, with the right solution selected, you can have a reliable smart home system with physical smart switches from as low as $1,500.
Our pick for a Smart Home provider – Koble Smart Home, a Singapore grown company, using the ZigBee protocol for the Smart Home solutions.
Why we like Koble Smart Home
- Reliable, stable solution using the ZigBee protocol
- More energy savings versus a Wi-Fi solution
- No need to worry about competing with the Wi-Fi bandwidth especially when streaming video
- Wide range of products and solutions
- Aesthetically pleasing
- Great service and support, including services for the initial set up
Check out Koble Smart Home
Looking to create a smart home? Let’s build your dream home together. Make an appointment with us here.
FAQs by Koble Smart Home
Q: If I do not install smart switches, can the app still work? If the smart switch fails, can the app still work?
A: If smart switches are not installed, the app can still work. In fact, you can download the app now, register an account to explore how the app works.
Q: If the home internet is down, will the switches still work?
A: If the home internet is down, switches can be manually toggled. Automation rules such as motion sensor that triggers lights to switch on and scheduling of smart devices will still occur as it’s a ZigBee intranet.
Q: Must Wi-Fi be available for use by phone app control?
A: For app control to work, (i) phone must have access to internet and (ii) hub (central control) must be connected to router/modem and have internet connection.
Q: In the event that the home automation system fails, will the smart contact switch still work like a normal light switch?
A: Yes, the switch will still work like a normal light switch.
Q: What is ZigBee? And why is it better?
A: ZigBee is a type of communication protocol between smart devices, meant for connecting devices tgt. You can view ZigBee as an alternative to Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and IR (remote control).
When we control the smart switch to turn on lighting using the app, the command is sent via the internet from the phone app to the gateway (central hub which is connected to router/modem for internet). The gateway then relays the command to the respective smart devices via ZigBee signal.
Key Advantages of ZigBee over Wi-Fi Smart Devices
- ZigBee uses low power (longer battery life). Wi-Fi is used to transmit huge data (e.g. watch YouTube video) hence uses more power but ZigBee is meant for smart device communication (simple instruction like turn on/off)
- ZigBee runs on a mesh network – each smart devices relay signal from one to another, reducing dead spots like Wi-Fi where some corner of the house can’t connect to internet. On the contrary, more devices strengths the ZigBee network while more Wi-Fi devices connected to the modem slows down the internet
- Signal is encrypted, low latency and can connect to many ZigBee devices (65,000)
Learn more at Koble Smart Home
Looking to create a smart home? Let’s build your dream home together. Make an appointment with us here.
