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Residential technologies

What are “residential technologies” these days? One example is technology that provides access to the house, which could mean anything from a garage door remote to a full smart home solution, which allows you to secure your entire property with a single click or voice command. This article will attempt to take a more pragmatic approach to residential technology, based on the functionality you want in a home. Future articles will look more specifically at security, audiovisual, smart home gadgets, the IoT home and wiring. 

The best way to approach the use of residential technologies is to consider what functionality the residents of the home require.

A good starting point is using the “Home Wiring Essentials”. The home wiring essentials list includes the following functional elements:

Age & assisted living
  • Safety alerts (falls, no activity, abnormal use of appliance, etc)
  • Security – protection against intruders – includes panic buttons etc
Appliances
  • Monitoring all major appliances, from the hot water system to refrigeration and washing machine
  • Smart grid interoperability
  • Demand response
Electric vehicle charging
  • Charging of Electric Vehicles (EVs)
  • Smart grid interoperability
  • Demand response
  • Monitoring power use (specific to charging of EVs)
Energy management
  • Monitoring power usage of major appliances such hot water systems, air conditioners, pool pumps, refrigeration, EES and solar systems
  • Implement economic cable sizing to all major appliances
Entertainment
  • Distributed audio and video
  • Free-to-air TV and high definition (HDTV) content
  • Home theatre
  • Pay TV
EES systems (battery)
  • Electrical energy storage systems (batteries)
  • Charging/discharging of batteries
  • Smart grid interoperability
  • Demand response
  • Monitor power use (specific to batteries)
Information & communications
  • Internet access
  • Home video conferencing
  • Intercoms
  • Telephony
Intelligent light and power
  • Control a range of systems in the lived-in environment to improve amenity and sustainability through the integration of lighting, power, communications and monitoring
Security and safety
  • Automatic access control
  • Electronic monitoring
  • Fire safety
Solar
  • Use of rooftop solar (PV)
  • Smart grid interoperability
  • Monitor power use (specific to PV)

Figure 3 functional elements to help plan the deployment of residential technology 

You can use the functional elements in the Home Wiring Essentials to start a conversation with your customer, learning what functions they desire and then build a technology solution for them. 

Discover more information about how to develop solutions by accessing the three documents that make up the Home Wiring Essentials. These can be found  by clicking the button below.

Other resources

Check out our collection of tech articles 

What IoT means for you

Nov 13, 2020

Over the last few years the Internet of Things (IoT) space has grown from a small niche to a global industry valued at USD $212.1 billion (in 2018, expected to grow to $1.3 trillion by 2026), with many households now having at least one smart device in the house....

WiFi security in the home

Nov 5, 2020

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Maximising the WiFi in the premises

Aug 30, 2020

The installation of a quality cabling solution undoubtably offers the fastest and most reliable internet connection in a home. However, WiFi is still an important component needed to provide a wireless signal to laptops, tablets, smart phones and other portable...

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Residential AV and the shift to IP

Jun 18, 2020

Audiovisual (AV) setups in the home certainly have come a long way over the years. In the ‘old days’, your average home entertainment system was simply a free-to-air antenna connected to a TV using coax cabling. If you were looking for a higher end experience, you may...

The evolution of WiFi technologies

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It has been a little over two decades since WiFi come into being and it is hard to imagine a world without it. WiFi has had a widespread impact on many areas of society since the first standard for WiFi (IEEE801.11) was introduced in 1997, delivering a speed of just...

Residential security you can rely on

Apr 9, 2020

Security systems must be carefully designed to meet the needs of everyone in the modern home, from the young to the elderly. A residential security system can be as simple as a basic intrusion detection, through to a fully monitored system that opens and shuts every door and window in the home and sends out a panic alert. Regardless of what level of security system you are deploying, will it operate reliably during blackouts and alert someone when things are not working as planned?

Debunking the dangers of 5G

Apr 9, 2020

We have all seen the marketing campaigns by the major Australian telcos, 5G is being touted as a revolutionary development in mobile communications – a dramatic leap forward, making autonomous cars come to life and connecting the world like never before. However,...

WiFi and 5G

Feb 1, 2020

New wireless technologies continue to develop and grow in their impact as they become more widespread. WiFi6 and 5G are part of the latest wave in developing wireless technologies and both technology platforms will continue to be deployed. The important thing you need to know as a cabler is, both technologies need more cabling than ever. So the question is, are you prepared?