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Inteligentny Inteligentny Dom Dom

A smart home - live with class a SMARTech guide

We hereby invite you to read the smart home guide. We await your questions, doubts and opinions at [email protected].

© All rights reserved – Mariusz Szepietowski – SMARTech – www.eng.smartech.pl

I – What is a smart home? „Reduce your bills. Care for the environment. Choose comfort. Choose a smart home.” More and more often in the media, in discussions with customers, one can hear the phrase smart home, friendly house... but what kind of a house should it exactly be?

Since you are interested in receiving our guide, you are probably aware of the fact that a good architectural design, and an interesting interior are only half of the success. The requirements of the family members constantly grow. They would like the house to be useful and functional, modern and safe, to provide comfort for the family and... their wallets. Where to get inspiration for such designs? From intelligent future...

We will try to describe to you the essence of a smart home. What is it exactly, and what are its capabilities? What advantages and simplifications can it provide? Why is it worth it to invest in a house like this? We work together with architects every day, on each of our projects. So, we know their requirements and doubts, and of course - the needs and doubts of the customers. That is why we will endeavour to describe to you a smart home from your perspective. We will show you how to best make use of chances offered by intelligent technology.

First, let us think about what makes a home intelligent. Present-day electric systems controlling the lights, heating, window blinds and audio/video systems are all independent from each other and operate on their own. The will to increase the comfort of life and to provide safety to oneself and to those closest had brought forth the integration of all installations so that they worked together, operated together and communicated, and foremost - served the family better.

The smart home is simply the integration of all household installations for the purpose of their control from one control console/panel in a room, remotely via a control unit, the computer or the Internet. In case of many doors leading into one space and/or many devices, a traditional installation soon becomes too complex. The solution to this problem is

© All rights reserved – Mariusz Szepietowski – SMARTech – www.eng.smartech.pl

an intelligent installation. The goal here is the achievement of energy savings, better security of the house and the family, increased comfort of use of the growing number of home appliances, and better aesthetics (one console/panel on a wall looks nicer than five different ones controlling different systems). Such systems were in the beginning installed in office highrises, where energy savings are a priority, but for 20 years now they had seen more frequent use in houses and flats.

Reality better than dreams We wouldn't have been able to convince our customers about the idea of smart homes if we ourselves hadn't believed in it. After all, who of us doesn't dream of a comfortable, safe and economic house? Try to imagine this: when you enter your house, soothing, pleasant lighting is switched on, window blinds and drapes are shut, and your favourite music begins playing. You don't have to worry about setting the light level in the living room when guests surprise you - all it takes is one press of a button to change the atmosphere - to 'evening meeting', 'romantic dinner' or 'film night' When hurrying to work in the morning you don't have to worry about whether you had left the light on in the bedroom. When you turn the key in the lock, the alarm system will

arm,

external

blinds

will

close,

temperature in the rooms will be reduced, and any lamps or home electronics left on will turn off instantly. Why waste precious energy if you will be away from the house for the next several hours? What if the water from a tap left running was to flood the house...? The system will automatically close the valve and will call you on your mobile phone.

© All rights reserved – Mariusz Szepietowski – SMARTech – www.eng.smartech.pl

Why is it worth it to invest in a smart home system? A pleasant vision, is it not? This is just the beginning. The abilities of a smart home are limited only by your imagination. Your every idea, your every need will become reality thanks to your sense of taste, your imagination, and the most modern technology. And don't worry about the technical details of the project - leave this to us. The unquestionable argument in favour of the use of an intelligent installation is the increasing of the comfort and pleasure of the user. The presence of the system may be felt in every part of the building.

Living room The living room is a place where meetings or banquets are often organised. 'Light scenes' will conjure up an appropriate atmosphere - just let your dreams run wild and create a one-of-a-kind atmosphere for that special evening, like a banquet, watching TV, reading, or a romantic dinner. Upon pressing of a selected button on the wall console, the blinds will drop, the chosen lamps will turn on, and your favourite, appropriate music will begin playing. From the comfort of your own armchair you can control the lights, heaters, blinds and all your audio/video equipment - from one remote control; in case the phone rings, the system will automatically mute your TV set.

Corridor The corridor is visited frequently and at different times of the day, that is why it's important for it to be properly lit. Thanks to the smart home system this is not a problem. A properly adjusted motion detector will never allow the light to go out when we are inside. It will do so when we leave that space. A sensor will protect the radiator from freezing - and will reset the valve in case the temperature should drop, so that the water doesn't freeze. In addition, a properly programmed console will allow us to control the equipment in another room. For example, a selected, programmed button can turn on all of the lights of a building, reduce the temperature in all of the rooms and cut the power to all outlets.

© All rights reserved – Mariusz Szepietowski – SMARTech – www.eng.smartech.pl

Kitchen The place in which the presence of EIB is extraordinarily useful. Kitchens are in many cases connected to dining rooms, and practice shows us that such a choice is wise and has many advantages. This is the perfect place to install many hanging or regular tube fluorescent lamps under the cupboards. Electric outlets are among the electrical components used most in the kitchen. In a sample EIB system they are designed as intelligent. Connected to the main system bus, they are able to start up or turn off any selected appliances or devices at a selected time, or as an effect of a predefined event. The blinds are controlled via a special unit together with a temperature sensor. Everything is simple and easy to use thanks to quadruple consoles installed at strategic points in the kitchen.

TV room Individual designs foresee the option to control a TV and amplifier set directly through the EIB system. The entrance of a family member can cause favourite music to play or the TV to display a particular painting. Should the home cinema system be engaged, the blinds can automatically drop, and the light level can be adjusted to an intensity preferred by the user for that occasion. A particularly useful function is the Multiroom system, allowing sound amplification for multiple rooms. Its goal is the use of one audio system to distribute the sound to many rooms. These systems are becoming increasingly popular due to their flexibility.

The KNX/EIB systems are the official standard for intelligent installations in the European Union. This standard is driving typical electrics off the market, and will soon become commonplace. KNX/EIB devices are manufactured by large European companies like ABB, BERKER, BOSCH, GIRA, HAGER, JUNG, MERTEN, MOELLER or SIEMENS. A house equipped with an intelligent system is more comfortable, safer and gives savings, and has a higher value for potential buyers.

© All rights reserved – Mariusz Szepietowski – SMARTech – www.eng.smartech.pl

Comparison of abilities of a traditional and intelligent installation

Traditional

Intelligent

installation

installation

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

No

Yes

Control of lighting from any point in the house. Light scenes (atmospheres) . Automatic switching off of the lights before going to bed or when leaving the house. Automatic temperature reduction when leaving the house and before going to bed (every 1°C are 7% energy savings). Control of window blinds from any point of the house. Closing of window blinds after leaving the house or after dusk (so that observation of the inhabitants from outside is impossible). Ability to reconstruct or upgrade the installation without damage to the walls Option of integration with the alarm system (i. e. so lamps in the house and garden blink in case of an intruder, to quickly scare him off).

So, comfort, safety and savings - these are, in short, the advantages of an intelligent installation. They will be described in detail in following parts of our guide. In the next one we will tell you about lighting in the house.

© All rights reserved – Mariusz Szepietowski – SMARTech – www.eng.smartech.pl