We’ve heard for quite a few years now that home automation systems, linked into a central control panel, will be a lucrative future business opportunity for the enterprising security installer. We’ve heard about the capabilities of X10-based systems, as well as their ability to be remotely controlled and maintained via the internet.
But so far home automation has not captured the public imagination in the way that some people thought it should. That is starting to change, however. There are new factors in 2007 that are beginning to wake the market up in a significant way.
Awareness of global warming is significantly higher today than it was just 12 months ago, and this is increasingly fuelling a desire among people of all ages to improve energy efficiency, in homes and business premises.
A generation that has grown up treating electricity as a cheap and inexhaustible commodity is starting to find itself checking whether all the lights are turned off when leaving the home – and not just lights, but all those other appliances that get left on wasteful standby mode.
People are even aware that ‘silent’ devices such as mobile phone chargers and equipment left on standby are steadily using power, and that when you add up the millions of them plugged in around the world they are making a damaging contribution to carbon emissions.
So suddenly, the advantages of control from a single point in the home become clear. The users can set their security systems and power-down all selected appliances with the same key strokes at the control panel. They can do this when they leave the building, or when they go to bed at night – no more walking round checking individual switches. The really appealing thing about such solutions for a forward-thinking technically-literate generation is that they use technology to solve a serious problem. This is about ‘intelligent living’ and not frugality.
Domestic potential
As an example, Paul Smith of West Cumbria-based JP Alarms believes the appeal of intelligent systems is one reason why the domestic market now has the sort of exciting growth potential previously only seen in the commercial sector.
“For the first time we are now able to design systems around the customer, rather than design them around technical standards that customers don’t understand,” he says. “Up to now panels have really been designed for engineers and householders have only used a fraction of their functions because they didn’t understand them.
“With SigNET we can sell benefits that the customer not only understands, but that actually get their imaginations going.”
Of four recent SigNET installations undertaken by JP Alarms engineers – including a major system at a young offenders institution and a smaller one at a motorbike dealership – the most exciting are actually the two latest domestic jobs, says Paul.
In the case of this particular customer, the feature that really sold the system was the ability of the systems to provide a separate arm/disarm code for his remote garage, and another, via a wireless connection, to a shed. “Having come this far he now wants to look at home automation,” adds Paul. “Judging from what people are telling us I think this is really going to catch on. The difference now seems to be that people understand the technology and see how they can benefit from it.”
Another reason why home automation has so far been of only limited appeal is that control panels could previously only handle a limited number of devices – typically 16, and was not all that flexible. But with the latest products up to 156 lights or electrical appliances can be controlled.
You can be very imaginative in the way you use the technology too. Lights can be programmed to switch on automatically when somebody enters the room, and to switch off again after several minutes of non-movement. During the same installation lights can be installed in cupboards, to turn on and off along with doors.
The TV can be automatically switched off if nobody is watching it (and the recorder can stay on, in case something is being recorded). A great example is the landing light, which can be set to come on at night whenever somebody gets up (no need for night-lights which can disturb sleep, or fumbling for a switch).
For those who sell and offer these systems to the market there is a real opportunity to get the message out. Security systems today are about intelligent lifestyle choices – and from now on the argument for energy efficiency through home automation is going to become more and more convincing.
