How to Set up a Smart Home

The possibilities are endless. In the morning you will wake up to a soft light and the kettle starting to boil in the kitchen. After you leave, the thermostat lowers the temperature and the smart sockets are automatically disconnected. The security sensors guard your home and send you notifications if they record anything suspicious. The cameras also provide live transmission from the living room to the office. In the evening, you come home to a warm apartment, the smart lock automatically locks the door behind you and the motion sensors turn off. The blinds are closed, the AV system is launched, and the smart lighting creates a cosy atmosphere. The light in the children's room will turn off as soon as they fall asleep. You have absolute control over everything through an intuitive smartphone application.

• Easily control the whole household remotely from your smartphone.

• Create automatic function settings and follow-up actions for different situations.

• You have a perfect overview of your home - anytime, anywhere.

• Increased safety and comfort.

• Reduce and control the costs of running a household.

Starter kits provide the perfect stepping stone for a smart home. They are relatively inexpensive and easy to install - just unpack everything from the box, place devices in the desired areas in your home, and turn them on. However, these sets often only serve a single purpose (like security). It can be difficult to add a third-party device because it is a closed system with its own communication protocol. An example can be a smart thermostat, to which you can add other thermostat controllers. If you buy a smart light from another manufacturer, however, you may need to download another separate application to control it. The more you expand your smart home, the more applications you need, which is not very convenient.

The heart and brain of a fine-tuned smart home is the central unit, the so-called hub. Just connect the central unit to the router and then gradually build up a complex, smart household by connecting other devices.

The hub communicates with individual smart components that support ZigBee or Z-Wave protocols that are safely encrypted with a 128-bit algorithm. Both protocols communicate by passing the signal across devices to the central unit. Every additional device expands the network reach. However, ZigBee and Z-Wave communicate at different frequencies, so take protocol compatibility into account when choosing smart devices.

The most convenient way to control a centralised smart home is by using smart voice-control assistants, such as Amazon Echo or Google Assistant. They can communicate with a variety of devices using both WiFi and Bluetooth, including products that primarily use only one of the universal protocols.

IOS users don't need a dedicated hub with the ZigBee or Z-Wave communication protocol to centralise their smart home. An iPhone will do most of the work.

Apple HomeKit combines the control of smart appliances and components marked with the "Works with Apple HomeKit" logo in a single application. You can easily add more devices and other users directly in the app. Apple HomeKit can be controlled by an Apple Watch and even Siri's voice guidance. The Apple TV multimedia device and the smart Apple HomePod speakers are two devices that you can easily use with the HomeKit.