Nov 18, 2019
Home automation is sometimes associated with mainstream consumer-based IoT products, which has led to common misconceptions. This often influences customers before they even consider a smart home installation.
Read on to find out about some of the main misconceptions and how in the professional sector, we put our customer's minds at rest.
It is true that smart homes are a complex network of hardware and software, which just reinforces the need for a good quality installer; but that doesn't mean you need to have a degree in engineering to understand what is going on inside a smart home.
Thanks to the bespoke customisation within our solutions, complex information can be tailored to the homeowner's preferences and displayed in a simple and clear format.
For example, setting the intruder alarm when you leave the house can automatically close blinds, turn off heating or air conditioning and lock doors.
Compared to the alternative of doing all of those commands independently, what could be simpler than that?
Everyone is concerned with cybersecurity, and yes it can be a concern if a network is not set up properly. An NVI smart home installation includes advanced security configurations within the products, to keep the homeowner's data safe.
Also as our systems do not need to communicate via the cloud there are no security issues from leaving potential back doors open into the homeowner's network.
Physical security is also important. We integrate security systems into your smart control system so that you can access cameras, and door entry feeds from anywhere in the world.
You can read more about smart home security here
Many believe that smart homes are gimmicks. Whilst there are some not-so-smart devices like the smart toothbrush. There are useful solutions that can benefit the modern day family.
Door entry systems provide a video feed of who is at your door, to mobiles and tablets. This allows you to communicate directly to visitors from inside the safety of your home.
Intelligent lighting systems can help when the whole family is heading out and lights are left on in several rooms. The integrated lights can be turned off from one button instead of turning every single light switch off, or simulate a random lived in routine while you are out.
Integrated heating can link to phone locations and automatically turn off when the homeowner leaves or when no one is in the home. It can also be integrated with sensors, so heating is on only when someone is in a room.
These automated solutions can save time, energy and money in a home without letting a homeowner worry about the need to remember to action them manually, and the wasted energy when it’s forgotten and left on.
Wi-Fi is both a blessing and a burden. Even though you can get an internet connection everywhere in your home, you cannot have every smart device running on it. Especially in a luxury home.
For example, 4K streaming consumes a lot of data to show the highest quality image. If it is streamed wirelessly then a poorly designed network would constantly buffer and drop in quality whilst sending over masses of data.
Learn more about the Home Network here
To combat this, structured cabling is installed to TVs, speakers and other devices that need to be connected to the internet. This will ensure that every device has a secure hardwired internet connection.
This way everyone can watch what they want without losing any quality, as the wireless bandwidth is kept free for the devices which need to use it.
One of the biggest misconceptions is that a smart home will be outdated within a few months. With new and constant technology on the rise, we can see how this can be a concern.
However, future-proofing is something that we build into a smart home system.
A centralised system will include an equipment rack which contains all of the hardware. In the future when key components do become outdated, they can be easily be swapped out for the latest model.
Cabling is an important aspect of future-proofing. By having foresight over future technologies, the cables we put in the walls will keep the house prepared for the next generation of technology.
We hoped we opened your eyes to the truth of luxury home automation.
Smart home devices like the Google Home and Amazon Alexa, whilst impressive, can be unreliable. Our bespoke systems that are hardwired are more reliable.
Want to Learn more about Smart Homes? Register for our CPD here.