Home automation provides better energy management for homes

Rising energy costs and concern for our environment are motivating Australians to look for ways to reduce their energy consumption. In recent years, sophisticated energy management systems have been deployed in commercial buildings to help achieve higher energy ratings and lower energy consumption without compromising functionality. The same attitude is now evident with homeowners wanting to make their homes more energy efficient, but without the burden of having to think too hard about it.

Every Australian homeowner and occupant would like to reduce their energy consumption - not only to help the environment, but also to reduce their ongoing energy costs. While pursuing this objective, however, no one wants to compromise their lifestyle or their home’s functionality.

Many people conscientiously go out and buy electrical appliances that are very energy efficient, but that just contributes to a home’s energy efficiency in a limited capacity. A sure-fire way to be fully energy efficient every day is to manage the home’s services with an intelligent control system that is programmed to optimise the energy efficiencies of these appliances and all aspects of a home. In commercial premises, they are called building management systems. In homes, they are called home automation systems. They both do the same things and do them in virtually the same ways. It’s just that, all too often, home automation systems are seen as luxury items rather than tools to very efficiently manage the home’s services and appliances.

As home automation is ‘hi-tech’, it has the potential to be far more profitable than standard electrical wiring for a house.

Philips Dynalite Residential Segment Manager, Phil Main, points out that there are many possible benefits in improving the energy efficiency of houses and other dwellings using home automation systems. “Home automation primarily supports energy conservation, and therefore energy cost savings, by intelligently and continuously managing most of the services in the home, often without the homeowner thinking about it,” he said.

Let’s consider a few areas where home automation can optimally manage the energy efficiency of a home.

Climate control

The climate within a home can be efficiently and effectively optimised through constant temperature monitoring and control that can intelligently:

• activate ceiling fans;
• activate and run air-conditioning systems;
• activate and deactivate air-conditioned zones or rooms depending on room occupancy;
• open and close blinds and window coverings to control heat gain and loss through windows;
• open and close windows to warm or cool rooms;
• activate fans to exhaust moisture from bathrooms and laundries.

Ordinarily, ‘climate control’ is a manual task - the occupant makes a conscious effort to switch on or off fans, air-conditioning or heating systems, and open or close curtains, windows or doors to adjust the climate to their comfort levels. It’s not only inconvenient, but very inefficient. Without automation, we rely on the air conditioning or heating to ‘manage’ a home’s climate. Modern versions of these devices in themselves are generally energy efficient, but it’s often we - the occupants - who are not, frequently leaving doors and windows open or heating and cooling unoccupied rooms for long periods of time.

Lighting

Lighting reportedly consumes 20-25% of all electricity in homes, so this is a significant area where home automation can contribute to the energy efficiency of a home.

Over the years, I’ve heard people scoff at home automation as ‘just an expensive light switch’. However, these people typically fail to realise just how much energy can be saved in just one house if the lighting is optimally managed. It’s not just a matter of turning lights off and on.

Main comments: “Having the ability to use the latest in lamp technology and to extend the life of that lamp without deteriorating the quality and functionality of the installation is economically beneficial as well as being good for the environment. Lamps can be set at slightly lower output levels, say 90%, at various times of the day when the lower lighting level is imperceptible, which extends the life of the lamps. While at other times, when full output is necessary, the lighting can be automatically ramped up, again imperceptibly.”

So, using high-efficiency lighting is only a partial solution to reduce energy consumption. By intelligently controlling lighting with a home automation system, the benefits of energy-efficient lamps will be enhanced by optimising their performance. So a well-designed, fully automated lighting system using energy-efficient lighting has the potential to deliver twice the energy savings of just energy-efficient lamps alone.

“Market trends appear to be leaning towards integrating blinds with lighting, as a minimum functional control, to further optimise energy efficiency,” continues Main. “Thermal and optic sensors, as well as pre-determined schedules programmed around the homeowners’ lifestyles, are integrated with appliances and lighting to make everything work together. People are becoming far more conscious of what can be done with lighting and how properly managing it can yield big energy reductions.”

Water conservation

Main says that “Most home automation systems can integrate water storage and reticulation systems to ensure optimal operation. Multiple storage tanks can be managed and utilised for a variety of applications, such as irrigation, greywater management, swimming pool top-ups and so forth. Garden watering systems, for example, can be set up to only distribute water under ideal conditions to ensure the plants are properly maintained, and then connecting all these systems together to provide a green solution. There’s no reason why the homeowner needs to consciously go out and water his garden at 6 am just because it’s the time of least evaporation. He doesn’t needlessly leave the drip system running when it starts to rain. In fact, he doesn’t even need to be home. The home automation system can be programmed to water the garden at the optimum times, while sensors monitor the ambient conditions such as soil moisture, wind, temperature, rain, etc to ensure efficient and effective garden management. Intelligent monitoring and intelligent control.”

Power management

Smart meters are now becoming more commonplace, both externally for utilities to better manage household loads and internally for homeowners to monitor their consumption. Main suggests these should be integrated with home automation systems: “Smart meters should be considered as a new opportunity to manage energy systems and load-shed non-essential circuits during high tariff periods. They can be integrated with home automation systems to yield considerable savings for the homeowner, while maintaining the comfort and functionality of the home.

“Stand-by control is another opportunity for energy savings. By powering devices off at the GPO rather than leaving them on stand-by, energy consumption can be reduced without any deterioration in performance of the system. That degree of power management can also be integrated with home automation systems.”

Education is the key

According to Main, home automation technology has come a very long way from its modest beginnings with the self-opening garage door, to create the sophisticated and energy-savvy intelligent homes of today: “Rapid technological advancements have facilitated the development of fully integrated intelligent control systems that automate numerous household functions using a single interface.

“Lights and heating, for example, can be controlled by either timed events or triggers from temperature, light and occupancy sensors in and around the home to optimise energy usage. Automating these resources - such as curtains, windows, louvres, lights and heat sources and sinks - provides unparalleled aesthetics and comfort, making life easier and promoting energy management.

“It is important to keep the home automation system simple but effective. Labelling each button, for example, is an excellent way to make sure anyone can operate the system effectively. That way the homeowner is not overwhelmed by the complexity of the technology that’s hidden behind the switches and touch panels. They need to feel comfortable in knowing how to make subtle adjustments to it to suit their lifestyle, but at the same time having the confidence that it’s programmed to intuitively and seamlessly manage their home for comfort and efficiency.

“These advancements - previously the domain of futuristic television fantasy - are now possible, but still remain largely esoteric. Rapid changes in technology necessitate public education. Wider appreciation of the energy-management benefits of home automation relies on increasing public awareness of the technology and its advantages. This is particularly true with the shift towards ‘green consumerism’. Society responds to a felt-need, in this case to reduce its ‘carbon footprint’.

“As electricity prices rise relative to the cost of intelligent home automation, the cost benefit of these systems will improve - market uptake, and the appreciation of the energy-management benefits, will also likely increase. People are already seeking out more environmentally sustainable ways of providing the comfortable environments they enjoy; to meet this, and future increases in demand, the industry needs to get its message out there now.”