Home automation is part of “The Internet of Things,” also known as IoT. The way devices and appliances can be networked together to provide us with seamless control over all aspects of your home and more. Home automation has been around for many decades in terms of lighting and simple appliance control. Recently technology caught up with the idea of the interconnected world at the touch of your fingertips or a simple voice command to Alexa, Google Assistant, Siri, and Cortana. The dream of making your home smart is now a reality. Smart Home and home automation are quite interchangeable, in fact, if you research what is a smart home most of the same results will appear.

With home automation, you can dictate how a device should react, when it should react, and why it should react. Set a schedule to determine when you want devices to turn on and off. Based on your personal preference you can control time, money, and convenience.

Touchmatik home automation technology can send alerts to your smartphone and notify you about unforeseen events while you’re away from home. Such as water leaks, visitors at your front your door, and even remotely turning on lights while you’re on vacation, at work, or anywhere else. Home automation is based on the idea that communication signals can be sent between devices to make something happen – like pressing a button on a remote control lights or on your smartphone to have a light turn on or off or dim.. There are various technologies used to make this happen, some use existing you home power lines, somme using radio frequency, (RF), some using Wi-Fi, and some using a combination of these. Technology Explained:

Wi-Fi Only : Wi-Fi technology can be really fast and super simple to set up. Typically, home automation devices using Wi-Fi for communication can be quickly setup using an app, and will not require a hub or other interface for remote control from a smartphone or voice control – as the communication comes straight from your Wi-FI Router to the devices. There are limitations to the numbers of devices on Wi-Fi network, so if you don’t plan on having a significant amount of home automation products, this is a good fit for you.

Z-Wave & Zigbee : Z-Wave and Zigbee are the two most popular wireless technologies, using RF to communicate between devices. These technologies are licensed out, meaning any number of companies can create their own products using Z-Wave and Zigbee technology. As a result (for the most part) all Z-Wave devices can work with each and all Zigbee devices can work together – regardless of brand. A Hub, or other Z-Wave interfaces will be required for smartphone control or voice control of Z-Wave products.

Insteon : Insteon technology uses power line and radio frequency to communicate and transmit signals. The Insteon Hub is required if you’d like to control Insteon devices from a smartphone, voice control, or to set schedules. Insteon products run of their own special frequency allowing older generations of the product to work with new ones through the Insteon Hub and home automation app.