After understanding the difference between smart home and home automation, it's time to start your secret project and make your home "smart". But it's not that easy: where to start? I have to rely onecosystem of a single brand? Do I need a hub - a central device - that controls everything?
Smart home: single ecosystem or single products?
First of all, we must remember that a smart home is in constant evolution. You could buy components to familiarize yourself with the subject, and then upgrade later with more complex and expensive systems. Or you may already have your own perfect mental project, thanks to months of online tutorials and reviews, and then decide to proceed with something more definitive, but with the knowledge that it is possible to change everything.
Smart components that don't need a hub
In case your choice is to proceed step by step, to get used to a smart home and abandon the ancient gesture of pressing the switches (is there anyone who still really does it?), The best advice is to rely on single products, that do not need a hub, therefore a brain to connect to. This allows you to familiarize yourself with the components and above all to fall in love and discover all the potential of a smart home and then arrive at a larger and more expensive project, entrusting yourself to a real control center. The only limit of the smart home, at that point, will be only the your fantasy.
First steps: smart bulbs
To get started, you might then choose to welcome some smart light bulbs stand-alone, therefore they do not need hubs (in the guide we will refer to the hub also meaning the proprietary gateways and bridges that perform the same control function). There are tons of choices, such as the Xiaomi MiLED, or the famous ones Yeelight, both of which can also be managed using Amazon Alexa and Google Home.
Xiaomi Mi LED Smart Bulb White And Color Kit da 2 Lampadine,...
- 800 lumens
- Power: 220-240V, 50 / 60Hz, 0A
- Wi-Fi connection: Wi-Fi ieee 802.11 b / g / n 2, 4 ghz
Yeelight GU10 W1 Wi-Fi bulb, 4,5 W 350 lumens No hub ...
- Yeelight W1 GU10 bulb has more than 16 million colors. The light can be synchronized with the rhythm of your ...
- Yeelight GU10 W1 Wifi Bulb is compatible with major smart home platforms, such as Google Assistant, ...
- The updated and iterative Yeelight application has multiple built-in lighting scene settings and adjustment ...
These bulbs allow you to control the lighting through the proprietary application, using your voice assistants and, in some cases, even through the Apple Home application. For the latter, you need to check compatibility with the Apple Homekit system. Do not assume that there is: it is always good to check.
Camera connected
You may then decide to add a video surveillance system, to feel more confident. Again the choice is vast and you could start with less expensive components to settle in and understand if this road is for you.
Discount
TP-Link Internal Wi-Fi Camera Surveillance Camera ...
- Having difficulty configuring? you can solve it easily by watching the unboxing and setup video ...
- High quality video: night vision up to 8 meters, 1080p resolution for crisp and clear images; get a ...
- Motion detection and instant notifications: Instantly receive push notifications from the app when it is intercepted ...
Xiaomi Mi Home QDJ4041GL Security Camera 360 ° ...
- 1080p video recordings
- Rotates 360 ° for full visibility
- Enhanced night vision
Through these cameras, you will be notified in case of detection of suspicious movements, after configuring their settings. You will then be able to view the clip of the crime remotely, even if you are away from home, so that you can intervene promptly.
Cameras also have a life of their own, without the need for a separate physical system.
Smart switches
The next step could involve buying a smart switch discovering the little electrician in you. With a single component, therefore, you can control the lights in your room while maintaining classic bulbs, therefore not smart. Among the most famous are the switches Sonoff, brand that deals with components for the smart home and much loved by all users in fixed with the smart home.
Smart Switch, SONOFF Touch T3 3gang Light ...
- 【APP & RF for Remote Control】 The eWeLink APP allows you to control the SONOFF device from anywhere with just one ...
- 【Automatic Control Schedule】 By presetting timers or schedules on the eWeLink App, a lamp can ...
- 【Smart Scene】 You can create smart scenes so that a SONOFF device can ...
It also does not need a hub and is compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Home ed IFTTT. The latter - contraction of “If This Then That” (literally: “If this then that”) allows you to create automations that communicate between components from different manufacturers, allowing you to trigger a reaction to a certain condition. An example? I can tell him to turn off the light if the weather station detects a certain weather condition.
The choice of a unique ecosystem
If, on the other hand, you already feel like a pro player in the smart home, you can opt for the choice of a unique ecosystem that includes all the components of your smart home.
One of the most difficult decisions, after choosing the pizza on Saturday night, is theecosystem to which to entrust all intelligence of your home. Deciding to focus on a single brand for various components has the advantage of converging all operations into onesingle application. So, in fact, at a glance you can manage your heating, house lights, motion sensors and any other component from a single control panel. Opening four different apps to manage your home isn't nice, and it might make you want to go back to when your home was normal and stupid. Plus all of this allows you to have a single hub which acts as the nerve center of the project.
You have to imagine the hub as the brain of your smart home. It allows you to coordinate, manage and automate all the functions of your smart environment. The brain then manages all the sensors, devices and components, also making them communicate with each other. In fact, it allows 360 degree automation: “When you detect a presence, turn on the light”.
Consequently, relying on a single ecosystem facilitates the total management of your smart home.
Philips HUE ecosystem
Among the most famous ecosystems, we find that of Philips. Through the installation of a Philips Hue bridge, it will then be possible to fill your home with high quality components. The whole ecosystem is based precisely on the proprietary hub, which has the role of "coordinator" for all devices in the line. The need to purchase a hub has led Philips to create a series of “starter kit”: packages at affordable prices that in addition to various components also contain the Philips Hue Bridge.
Philips Lighting White and Color Ambiance Starter Kit con 2...
- Control Philips Hue smart lights with your Smartphone or voice assistants (Amazon Alexa, Google Nest, ...
- Thanks to the Hue Bridge included in the kit you will be able to access all the complete functions of the lighting system ...
- Through the Hue Bridge you can connect up to 50 luminaires to your smart lighting system ...
Philips Lighting White and Color Ambiance Starter Kit con 3...
- With Philips Hue your home is safer, you can control the lights wherever you are and you will give the impression of being ...
- Create the right atmosphere, choosing from 16 million colors
- Set the light schedule for easy home automation
To these starter kits it is obviously possible to add single components of the same brand, such as gods motion sensors, additional bulbs, LED strips, spotlights and many other things.
The application for mobile devices allows the management of the ecosystem of your smart home with various functions. Not only can components be turned on and off, but also create scenarios, for a personalized setting. For example, you can create an "evening" scenario that turns off all the lights in the house and keeps only the light of your bedside table on, or a "good morning" scenario that turns on all the lights at the same time.
Philips Hue is compatible with Google Home, Amazon Alexa e Apple Homekit, thus allowing 360-degree management.
Xiaomi Ecosystem
The ecosystem Xiaomi is made up of the Mijia product line. It has very similar characteristics to the Philips ecosystem, while maintaining a lower price. It also has ahigh expandability, thanks to the large number of components that cover all demotic environments. It also boasts compatibility with various components from other manufacturers, such as the line Aqara of the Lumi brand (also owned by Xiaomi), which therefore allows you to expand your smart home.
To make everything communicate, it is necessary to have it Xiaomi Smart Home Gateway, which is a small device that acts as a concentrator for Xiaomi components and also for those not directly produced by Xiaomi but compatible with the "Smart Home" line, for example the “Aqara” line mentioned above.
Xiaomi Mi Security Kit, Home Automation Automation, Smart ...
- Mi Control Hub: control center of your smart home
- Simple installation
- Detect human and animal movements
Thanks to the application Xiaomi Mi Home it is possible to manage components and create automations, which can involve several components together. Mijia and Aqara products include door opening, presence, thermal and humidity sensors. In addition to that of flooding, vibrations and smoke detection. Buttons are also available, both wi-fi buttons and real wall switches, IP cameras, smart sockets and power strips and of course the light bulbs.
The Mijia line through the Xiaomi Smart Home Gateway is compatible with Google Home e Amazon Alexa. While choosing the Aqara gateway the compatibility also extends to Apple Homekit.
Hive ecosystem
Hive is an English brand that is very famous in the smart home sector thanks to its reliable ecosystem, composed of many devices. In fact, among the products available there are light bulbs, power sockets, motion sensors, smart heating systems and many other devices.
Like other ecosystems, Hive needs a hub to connect to your home router. After making the connection, just use theofficial application of Hive to configure your entire network of smart accessories, available for Apple and Android.
Even the English brand has made available to users of the starter kit to get started with the products, an example is the kit that includes the hub, two light bulbs, a smart socket and a motion sensor.
Hive Smart Hub, White Color, Protects your Home ...
- Hive Hub allows you to create your own Smart Home by connecting other Hive devices and managing them via the ...
- In addition, it detects sounds, noises, alarms and alerts you directly on your smartphone or with an email
- For a Smart Home, complete your Hive system with thermostat, camera, sensors, lights, sockets
Hive Smart Socket, Format F with button, White Color
- Intelligent Tusk F-format (Shuko) 16A
- The Hive Hub is required to manage the socket
- Schedule automatic shutdown of your electrical appliances when you don't need them
Hive is compatible with Google Home e Amazon Alexa.
Ecosistema Samsung SmartThings
With the line of components “SmartThings”, Samsung has managed to create a personal home automation system flexible, reliable and above all very crowded with components. This is possible thanks to the use of multiple standards and therefore makes the ecosystem compatible with devices for your smart home also from other manufacturers. Furthermore, the success is also due to the presence of the management app SmartThings pre-installed on popular Samsung smartphones and tablets.
The difference with other ecosystems is the ability to manage not only components based on a specific standard (usually ZigBee), but more standards (such as Z-Wave and Bluetooth LE) which allows for a versatile system, consisting mainly of large appliances.
Since Samsung is one of the largest home appliance manufacturers in the world, as you can imagine the brand's strategy is to make home automation such products using SmartThings. The heart of the smart ecosystem is the Samsung SmartThings HUB, arrived at the third version. Components compatible with the Samsung ecosystem are marked with the words "works with SmartThings" and are divided into three categories:
- Those All over the line “Samsung SmartThings”, consisting of traditional buttons, motion sensors, flooding and passage opening
- Those manufactured by Samsung, not officially belonging to the line mentioned above but fully compatible. It is about traditional appliances (mainly large appliances), a feature that distinguishes Samsung from other smart ecosystems.
- - third party accessories but compatible with Samsung's smart ecosystem. Among the most famous are IKEA's smart products and the Philips Hue line.
The complete list of devices compatible with the Samsung SmartThings ecosystem is available by visiting this page. Samsung SmartThings is also compatible with assistants Google Home e Amazon Alexa.
Samsung GP-U999SJVLGSB SmartThings Hub V3
- Monitoring and control of connected devices via SmartThings App¹
- Receive notifications in case of status changes of the connected sensors
- Automate personal routines with SmartThings
Now that you understand the difference and the potential of a smart home system, the choice is yours. Good fun!
