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Smart home automation is a fairly new topic and many people don't know what the systems consist of. The most important part of a smart home and business is the hub. Don't stop reading, the hub is so critical that many companies are selling systems with hubs that have limitations. The hub is the key to making sure your system will stand up to changes in technology.
Lets step back and take a good look at Smart Home Technology and how it started.
"In 1991, Ad van Berlo setup a consultancy office for assistive technology in the care sector. He switched from the world of medical technology (cure) to the world of care technology. The field of ‘gerontechnology’ was strongly emerging, which is technology aimed at making the lives of older people easier and more comfortable. Eindhoven University of Technology started gerontechnology in the 90s as a new research area and home technology was one of the main sub-disciplines. Later, this was called home automation. France and Belgium use the term ‘domotique’ and in the Netherlands it is called ‘domotica’. In the early 90s, people could not yet imagine what home automation would entail. There were PCs but nobody knew about mobile telephones and the internet. In the 1990s, various projects took place in which older people could actually experience what home automation had to offer.
In 1998, Corien van Berlo, Ad’s partner, setup Smart Homes together with her husband. The aim was primarily to further the promotion of home automation, execute demonstration projects and start experiments. To this end, Smart Homes provided support to all pilots commissioned by the Brabant province. These demonstration projects were finished in 2000 and 2001, but the importance of these projects is still enormous. The necessity of a system integrator's participation has been demonstrated. Partly because of this, the supply of technology offering better and cheaper solutions has taken off strongly. Perhaps the most important thing is: we have learnt a lot from the most critical consumer group, the older people who may not have a lot of financial resources at their disposal.
The breakthrough in home automation, which emerged tentatively in 2001, saw the Van Berlos employ staff for Smart Homes for the first time and build The Smartest Home of the Netherlands. Through cooperation with many participants, to whom Smart Homes is very grateful, the significantly renewed demonstration home was opened in Tilburg at the end of 2001. The exceptional thing about this completely inhabitable home is the integration of the four pillars: industrial, flexible and demountable (IFD) building, home automation, durability, and accessibility. The home has already attracted many thousands of visitors in Tilburg, Almere, Duiven, Heerlen, Dokkum, Amsterdam, and Eindhoven."
Today as the technology has progressed many times each system already in place has had to be changed to keep up with the marketplace. The systems today are not even close to the systems back in 1991, and with the new wireless technology they are more flexible.
What runs all of the new systems is the Hub. "As smart home gadgets proliferate — from lights and digital locks to security cameras and thermostats — it can help to have a centralized method to control them all. Smart home hubs offer this functionality, as they can connect all of your devices to a cloud and give you one app that acts as a sort of universal remote. Additionally, a hub provides the ability to automate your gadgets. So, for example, when you unlock your door, the lights in your entryway will automatically turn on, and the thermostat in your home will be set to the temperature you like." *tomsguide.com
The Hubs control all the smart products together and allow you to add many devices and run them from a your cell phone or smart tablet. Hubs are the center of the smart home universe, without one you will not be able to run multiple devices on your home automation system and control them from your phone or tablet.
There are many manufactures of Hubs, and you can get them in stores like Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. They usually will come with some devices like a thermostat or garage door opener. If you are buying a system from a major installer like Xfinity Home, ATT, ADT or a local Security Company they will have their own hubs that they install as part of their package.
Here's the problem with Hubs, most of them don't come with security. What does that mean? This means that even though you have home automation products running in your home you are not plugged into external security. If you have a break-in in your home or business the local police or fire departments will not be notified. [When you have security with a system efficiency is a whole other discussion.] For this article we will only discuss Hub's and leave security for another article.
If you have a smart home automation system running in your home or business, and you want to add different products many times the hubs will not allow it. If you are running a system that is installed by a company, not DIY, they will charge you more money to add new equipment and many times you will pay a service call plus the equipment cost.
The smart home and business automation technology is changing rapidly so you will want systems that allow you to stay up to date without breaking the bank. One of the newer companies that has recently emerged in the DIY [Do It Yourself] business space is JAQX Smart Home and Business Automation with Security. [You will certainly want your hub to support security.]
JAQX is unique in that it allows you to install your system personally, with ease, and add new products anytime you want at no cost. You can either buy the products from JAQX or anywhere else, they all sync with the hub as long as the products are Zwave compatible.
This is the new smart home automation business model, giving consumers the ability to expand their systems without being tethered to one particular company for expansion. JAQX makes their money off the monthly cost for security and the hub, and really does not care where you purchase the products to expand the system. The JAQX Hub is expandable to add as many new devices as you wish no matter where you get them.
Before you purchase any new system or upgrade an existing system you should look at the DIY models since they are so easy to install and provide more flexibility than the installed ones from the big named companies. .
For more information just click here and you will be directed to a video that will give you an overview of the revolutionary new JAQX Smart Home and Business Automation w/Security.
Thanks for reading.
Dr. Raymond Jewell
PS: Dr. Raymond Jewell is a leading economist and home based business consultant. He is also a Legacy Founder with Markethive and manages several blogs on the Hive.
