
The Unbelievably Teched-Out Houses of Smart-Home Obsessives - tortilla
http://nymag.com/selectall/smarthome/extreme-makeover-smart-home-edition.html
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forapurpose
I think smart home tech has value, but not so much in turning on lights, fans,
and coffee makers on, and adjusting thermostats for convenience. How about
something of value?

For example, for lighting, automation could open window coverings allowing in
natural light, sensors could detect how much additional artificial light is
needed, and dimmers could adjust artificial light sources appropriately (and
specifically to areas of the room).

Or, I expect a lot of energy could be saved by the following intelligent
cooling system:

Input the day's forecast for outside temperature from an Internet source and
the current outside conditions from a thermometer. Calculate expected interior
conditions based on prior data about internal conditions relative to external
(internal usually is warmer AFAIK, due to people and machines), and take the
following remedial actions as needed:

(A) If the internal temperature won't exceed a comfortable upper limit, leave
external ventilation open.

(B) If external temperature is acceptable but internal temperature will be too
warm, increase ventilation by adjusting speed of an exhaust fan, and activate
ceiling fans in rooms where sensors detect people and too much heat. Also,
sensors can identify locations around the outside of the building with the
coolest air (e.g., shady areas), and the system can open ventilation inputs in
those locations and close them in others.

(C) If the forecast external temperature will be too warm, at coolest time of
day (e.g., just before sunrise) use ventilation to equalize internal and
external temperatures and then close ventilation, trapping coolest air inside.
Also, as needed turn on ceiling fans in rooms where sensors detect people and
too much heat.

(D) If the above won't be sufficient, turn on artificial cooling (air
conditioning) as needed, but only in regions of house where it's needed and
will be used.

My inspiration is that I do (C) manually on hot days, and simply trapping the
cooler air makes a big difference for the whole day. However, I'm not always
available to do it, and a lot of unnecessary A/C is used because of it.

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slededit
Automatic window coverings are probably the killer application. It has a huge
improvement in livability and can dramatically reduce energy consumption for
heating and cooling.

