How does a smart home differ from a regular one? A smart home is equipped with technologies that make our lives more convenient and energy efficient. It is a residence that uses internet-connected devices to enable the remote monitoring and management of appliances and systems, such as lighting and heating. In this sense it offers us complete control of many aspects of our home and appliances with minimal physical effort.
But being ‘smart’ requires appliances and systems fitted with the right semiconductor solutions. Working together, sensors, controllers and actuators enable us to properly collect, interpret and process real-time data and trigger our appropriate action or response.
Smart TV switch
All TV models on the market today offer higher resolution than was available a few years ago. There are significant differences between technologically advanced and midrange products, but there is another big element of value driving television prices through the roof – their connectivity. Nonetheless, there are some ways how to turn our TV into smart TV.
Plenty of smart technology manufacturers sell small solutions like smart TV switches, dongles or sticks that simply work with a mini computer. They connect via USB or HDMI and turn the TV into a smart TV.
Smart stove
The smart stove of the future makes it easier to choose recipes with a recipe database, by pulling thousands of them from our favourite apps. Using its touchscreen, we will be able to browse based on meal, ingredients, price, nutrition facts and more, all with just a little tap of the UI screen. Over time, the device will learn our preferences and serve up recommended recipes. Its UI screen also helps to remove the friction that many of us face while tirelessly searching from our smart phones, or through our grandmother’s recipe box, trying to decipher her cursive script.
Just imagine that our stove could lead us through meal preparation step-by-step. With the list of ingredients displayed, its built in sensors detecting the tare weight of each component. If we have a company and need to cook for more people, it can adjust the recipe portions and can also help to orchestrate our recipe, to be sure that each component of our meal is perfectly timed. Since the device and recipe talk to each other, it knows exactly how hot our burners should be for each dish. If we get distracted, it will note the inactivity and adjust temperatures, so we do not accidentally burn our food.
Smart iron
Most of us can remember a time when we turned off our iron after ironing, or worried if we did when we left the house. The smart irons of today have an accelerometer chip that detects the idle state of the iron by noticing the absence of motion, and switches it off after a set time. Since it completely shuts it off, it is very safe and avoids overconsumption of power.
They also come with some features to manage our iron from a smart phone. The iron box is equipped with Bluetooth 4.0 enabled micro controller. Phone and home automation consoles can display its status and parameters like temperature, power usage, water level etc. The iron’s temperature can be set from our mobile phone. When it reaches the set level, it gives us an audio alert.
Conventional irons are designed to sit in a vertical position when not in use even for a short while. The Smart Iron detects the position and allows us to set an idle time at different positions. It also keeps track of the usage history, allowing the user to collect the power consumed during any given time period. If we want to lower our monthly bills, the Smart Iron app helps us monitor its electricity consumption.
Smart water heating
Water is an integral part of our lives. Aside from being a bare necessity for survival, it is perhaps the single most important part of our daily living because we use it for domestic chores such as bathing, cooking, washing, and more. To be able to heat water until it reaches the programmed temperature level, water heaters utilize an energy source. However, their major flaw is they consume large amounts of energy.
When we think of a smart appliance, it is somehow unlikely that a water heater will be the first thing to pop up into our head. But the invention of smart thermostats has got consumers thinking about the possible advantages of other smart devices, especially when it comes to energy saving.
Smart water heaters give us a continuous supply of hot water, but they also come with some great features and energy-saving capabilities. We are able to connect them to our smartphones, tablets, and even our personal computers through Wi-Fi and 5G wireless signals.
We can turn them off when we are away and turn it back on coming back home, so our water temperature will be just right when we get there. Their operating system can scan every aspect of our heating system. When it discovers any fault, it will automatically send an alert to our smartphone.
