Smart Houses

SOURCES

When you're not home, nagging little doubts can start to crowd your mind. Did I turn the coffee maker off? Did I set the security alarm? Are the kids doing their homework or watching television?
With a smart home, you could quiet all of these worries with a quick trip online. When you're home, the house takes care of you by playing your favorite song whenever you walk in orinstantaneously dimming the lights for a movie. Is it magic? No, it's home automation. Smart homes connect all the devices and appliances in your home so they can communicate with each other and with you.
Anything in your home that uses electricity can be put on the home network and at your command. Whether you give that command by voice, remote control or computer, the home reacts. Most applicationsrelate to lighting, home security, home theater and entertainment and thermostat regulation.
SMART HOME BENEFITS
Smart homes obviously have the ability to make life easier and more convenient. Who wouldn't love being able to control lighting, entertainment and temperature from their couch? Home networking can also provide peace of mind. Whether you're at work or on vacation, the smart home will alertyou to what's going on, and security systems can be built to provide an immense amount of help in an emergency. For example, not only would a resident be woken with notification of a fire alarm, the smart home would also unlock doors, dial the fire department and light the path to safety.
Here are a few more examples of cool smart home tricks:
• Light a path for nighttime bathroom trips• Instantly create mood lighting for time with that special someone
• Program your television so that your children can watch only at certain times
• Access all your favorite DVDs from any television in the home
• Have your thermostat start warming the bedroom before you get out of bed so that it's nice and toasty when you get up
• Turn on the coffee maker from bed 
Smarthomes also provide some energy efficiency savings. Because systems like Z-Wave and ZigBee put some devices at a reduced level of functionality, they can go to "sleep" and wake up when commands are given. Electric bills go down when lights are automatically turned off when a person leaves the room, and rooms can be heated or cooled based on who's there at any given moment. One smart homeowner boastedher heating bill was about one-third less than a same-sized normal home [source: Kassim]. Some devices can track how much energy each appliance is using and command it to use less.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
http://home.howstuffworks.com/smart-home3.htm

Smart Home Systems

• Smart home refers to a system of home automation cover a wide variety of household devices. The goal of a smart home centerson enabling those who live in them to control a large number of electronic devices easily and remotely. A simple smart home change might, for instance, turn on the kitchen lights and turn off the alarm when the garage door opener activates. Smart homes typically have many more complicated systems, but they all operate via the same principles.

Smart homes work via fairly simple systems:receivers and transmitters. Normal home devices---such as lights, entertainment systems, heaters, air conditioners, computers, security systems and radios---are equipped with receivers. These receivers detect a certain signal initiated by the transmitter, which can be housed in a control device such a light switch or, most commonly, a remote control. Other transmitter devices attach to a computer sothe user can operate them via a remote command.

Signal Variants

• The methods these transmitter systems use can vary. One of the most common methods involves a radio signal. Transmitters send signals on a very small radio network established by the smart home system. Radio signals make an ideal option because they do not require line-of-sight connections and can operate at fairly long...