Honeywell Convenience
Whether you're home or away
Create
exactly the home environment you want at any given moment--making it easy
for you to access and manage your home security system, temperature settings,
lights, appliances and other key home functions. Plus, you can control
your home from any location in the world where you have Internet access,
giving you peace of mind while away.
And best of all, enjoy knowing that your home is future-proof--able to accommodate new technologies and services when they become available as well as changes in how your family lives.
Your home, exactly the way you want it: Comfortable, Convenient, Inviting and Secure.
If you’re
one of the projected 196 million people who will surf, sell, shop and
study via the Internet this year, you know the value of being empowered
to explore a vast matrix of computer users and information resources “out
there,” spread across countless locations around the globe.
But you might be surprised to learn there’s another important information network unfolding much closer to home. In fact, it’s evolving inside today’s homes.
As we homeowners acquire more entertainment devices, computers and appliances
to make our lives easier and more enjoyable — and as we seek ever greater
convenience and comfort in our lives — manufacturers have begun laying
the groundwork for your “networked home.” In other words, a home where
electronics, systems and appliances are linked by an internal network,
which in turn is connected to the Internet.
The Net Effect
Why should you care about living in a network home? Imagine the comfort,
convenience and safety advantages if the technologies and systems in your
home could “talk” to each other and to you, wherever you happen to be:
- you hop into bed, at the touch of a button, you send the house into “sleep” mode. That command turns off inside and outdoor lights, sets back the thermostat, arms the security system, even schedules a wake-up call.
- Early the next morning, an hour before you wake, the system signals the temperature zoning system to begin warming the kitchen and bedrooms. The lawn sprinkler turns on. Embedded heaters under the bathroom tile begin to glow.
- As everyone leaves for school and work, a touch of the “away” button arms the security system, turns off lights and draws the temperature down to an energy-stingy 60 degrees F — helping you manage your utility bills.
- Later, at work, you can’t recall if you unplugged the coffee maker. No problem. Log on to your Internet home page and simply switch off power to that outlet. As you do, your energy consumption indicator shows that the furnace is consuming more gas than normal. You make a note to change the filter, then click on your home maintenance address book to schedule a service call by your heating contractor.
- As your teenage daughter gets off the bus from school, your networked home stands ready to greet her at a comfortable 71 degrees F, lights on, security system disarmed. When she opens the door, a notification e-mail simultaneously arrives in your inbox at the office.
Ready, Set, Go
If you’re starting
to see the benefits of networked living, there are things you can do today
to begin moving in that direction.
For example, if you’re in the process of planning or building a new home, or your contemplating a remodel, you’re in an ideal position to begin laying the basic network building blocks.
Talk with your building contractor about “"future proofing” your home to the greatest degree possible. That is, plan to install the “Category 5” data and telecommunications cabling necessary to get and keep your home “wired” as you add new appliances and equipment, and as telecommunications, computing and Internet technologies advance.
Also, when you buy a major piece of technology for your new or existing home — a new Web-enabled TV, a security system, heating and ventilation equipment, etc. — ask to be sure that the manufacturer has equipped the device to be “networkable.”
Coming to Market
Several leading control and information technology companies — including
Honeywell, Compaq, Intel, Microsoft and Mitsubishi — are currently developing
a common set of “application programming interfaces,” or APIs, for networked
home products. Programming standards developed by the consortium, dubbed
the Home API Working Group, should make it easier for manufacturers to
create (and consumers to buy) software applications that recognize and
control home devices such as TVs, VCRs, lights, security systems and thermostats,
among others.
In fact, the first Home API-based product is just about to hit the market. It’s the Honeywell Home Controller GatewayTM, featuring a built-in Web server that enables direct, secure access to home systems via the Internet. The system will enable a wide range of convenient scheduled activities, from security lighting times to setting temperature and humidity comfort zones by location in the house and time of day. In the future, the Home Controller will be a secure platform for delivering information-based services to the home.