

Ask HN: Home Automation businesses? - herval

I found this discussion ongoing at Scott Adams' quite interesting: http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/home_servers/<p>I know there are dozens and dozens of open source initiatives to build 'the house of tomorrow', and even Microsoft is investing big on it's luxury robotic house.<p>Which begs the question: what do you think of home automation as a business? Is it still a far-fetched idea for the rich and famous?
======
brk
Been there, done that.

The industry and market-base is still way too fractured.

One of the biggest limiting factors is that in order to be very useful and
functional, there has to be a moderate degree of programmability in the device
that is acting as the server/controller for the home. This limits the
effective market to geeks and tinkerers, who are also the most common build-
vs-buy crowd.

Homeowners, in the general sense, do not want to pay monthly fees for service
and are leery of installing a system that controls their home that they feel
they have little or no personal control or understanding of.

Where the HA industry has seen some decent business is in specialized lighting
and HVAC control systems.

~~~
dag
I used to install automation and A/V equipment in boardrooms.

I'm curious, do home users go for automated blinds, room lighting, or TV
controls?

~~~
russell
The short answer is no. This stuff has been around for 40-50 years and you
dont see it in homes. The few things that homeowners do care about have
special purpose controllers: heating, irrigation, perimeter lighting. I see no
need to fire up my computer to turn on the furnace when I can walk over to the
thermostat. If I want really fancy control, I buy a really fancy thermostat.
My coffee maker has a timer, so if I want coffee at 7am, I can set it. At the
same time I can check the coffee and the water level. Computer control would
buy me nothing since I still have to check the coffee and water.

The one time I thought about controls was when I had to replace a leaking
skylight in a cathedral ceiling. I could do it myself for $300-400 or I could
get one with electrical controls plus a carpenter plus an electrician for
$1500-2000. I went with DYI and a long pole to open and close it.

------
CyberFonic
Integration is the big challenge. The proprietary solutions are either
expensive or very limited. Open source solutions tend to be oriented towards
DYIers with the right tools and attitude.

As the 12:00 blinking VCR phenomena shows, the majority of people are just not
into doing this sort of stuff for themselves. Only a full service solution
will meet their needs and to do that well is very expensive and people change
their mind when they find out how much it is going to cost.

In 2009, it still is for the Rich and Famous and the DIYers.

------
noodle
i think that the only way that it will become a seriously profitable business
that will be useful to the masses, not just the rich and famous, is if someone
could justify it via a cost-benefit analysis. prove that whatever you're going
to do will be worth the customers' money.

otherwise, if its just frivolousness, you'll stay inside the realm of the
people with the money to toss around.

~~~
herval
I always see that as the main argument for companies that sell home
automation: you will save X in energy, save Y in time...

What if people WANT frivolity? Look at the web: the most popular websites are
all basically focused on chatting with people and watching silly videos. Maybe
something like Boxee (who takes the usual appletv thingie and turns it into a
'social' stuff) would tickle?

(can't think of anything interesting enough though - comparing your fridge
with your neighbors is booooring at best!)

~~~
noodle
frivolity is bonus. save X energy in Y time will only convince some people. it
also needs bells and whistles to become truly popular/successful. some sort of
hook.

------
future09
What aspect of the industry are you thinking of getting in to? Security?
Lighting? Media distribution? All of the above?

Are you planning on installing a pre existing product line (eg cresteon, amx,
control4) or creating a product like linux mce or misterhouse?

------
DenisM
FWIW, my friends are working on home automation in this startup
<http://www.lagotek.com>

------
mooism2
I can see home automation for the masses possibly coming in on the back of
smart meters.

