Globally, the market for smart home solutions is expected to be over $122 billion in 2022, in parallel with the trend favoring the development of the “Internet of Things”. In addition to the advantages related to novelty, comfort and safety, there are numerous advantages in terms of energy efficiency proposed by smart homes, both globally and in Romania, where smart home solutions are already being implemented. In terms of energy efficiency, smart solutions can also be implemented at municipal or even national level. <\/p>\n\n
Energy efficiency, or why homes are becoming smart<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Energy efficiency is currently one of the most important issues of modern households, both in urban and rural areas. The simplest solution, however, that of directly reducing energy consumption, is not always practical: more and more households are counting the increased energy consumption due to the increasing number of devices. And this even if the efficiency of the devices is increasing. <\/p>\n\n For example, an LED bulb consumes almost 5 times less than the traditional incandescent bulb, and lasts up to 100,000 hours. An LED TV consumes, on average, 20% less than an LCD screen, and almost 40% less than a CRT screen. But the number of TVs, bulbs and lighting systems, and electrical devices in general is increasing, which also directly affects consumption. <\/p>\n\n The level of technology of Romanians is also increasing. A good indicator of this is internet access. If a few years ago Romanians had, on average, 2.6 devices with internet access, currently, the number and frequency of their use has increased even above the low consumption performance implemented in new technologies. Although mixed technological solutions persist, in which the 100W incandescent bulb consumes along with the latest type of iphone. The data, obtained from INSSE,<\/a> details the profile of these households and indicates an upward trend towards the technologization of Romanians, and therefore, also of energy consumption. It is also the reason why smart homes offer a series of advantages that are difficult to match. <\/p>\n\n Smart homes, advantages that are difficult to match<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Smart homes allow the integration of household consumers into a local, programmable network, which can also be controlled remotely, either directly, through the Internet of Things (IoT), or through a hub. Any residence can be configured with smart home solutions. Smart homes can turn on or off, by programming or by remote control, a series of consumers, with pre-set programs. From the espresso machine that starts <\/p>\n\n e simultaneous with the morning alarm, when turning on the air conditioning 1-2 hours before arriving home, the possibilities are n<\/p>\n\n limits. In the simple version, any residence can be transformed into a smart home with a minimum of investment: <\/p>\n\n the troll of the lighting installation through smart switches.<\/p>\n\n Mainly, smart homes limit or even eliminate unnecessary consumption: no forgotten lights or equipment on, no phantom consumers (some devices consume even when they are not in operation). In addition, smart homes can manage energy consumers to provide a balance between consumption and performance. The typical example is that of thermal comfort installations (boilers, boilers, AC, etc.), which can be automatically controlled in order to limit consumption. <\/p>\n\n Smart homes offer energy efficiency and, in a broad, interpersonal sense. A series of automation solutions and the possibility of remote control facilitate interactions that were impossible until now: from the preheating of the oven configured on the way home, to the programming of an automatic machine wash cycle that synchronizes with the arrival home. <\/p>\n\n Energy Consumption, by Sector, in Romania (Eurostat data)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Although they are at the top overall in energy at European level, Romanians remain among the most inefficient energy consumers in the European Union, with energy efficiency at half of the European average, and Romanian households are responsible for a third of the total energy consumption at national level, according to the analysis of energy consumption at European level, carried out by Eurostat.<\/p>\n\n