Q. My house is already built and done with all electrical wirings. Is it possible to automate my lightings?
A. Yes.
We use Fibaro relays to switch ON/OFF the lights. The relays will be inserted in to all individual switch boxes and connects it to the lighting circuits. The relay will establish a Z-wave communication to Fibaro controller through which you can control the lights from your mobile phone/Tab.
Q. My switch boxes are small in size with only 2-modular type. Is it possible to insert Fibaro relay into it?
A. Yes
The dimension of Fibaro relay is only 42x36x15mm, which is even half the size of 2-modular switch box.
Q. What will happen to my existing switches when the lights are automated?
A. The existing switches will be retained as it is and you may also control your lights from the existing switches in addition to the control from App.
Q. Do I require to do additional wiring or hacking to get my home automated?
A. No
We utilise the existing wiring and deploy Fibaro relays and devices in the house to achieve the complete control of your home.
Q. Am I be able to control my lights, AC, TV and curtains when I am outside?
A. Yes
With Fibaro you are able to control your home from anywhere in the world by using Fibaro App.
Q. Do you have solution for dimming the lights?
A. Yes. We use Fibaro dimmer module to control the brightness of lights.
Q. Do you provide solution for motion detection and alarms?
A. Yes
We use Fibaro motion sensors to detect human movement and we can trigger lights, AC, TV, curtains etc. depends on the motion detected.
Q. What if someone trespass my door or thief tries to tamper my door, do you have alarms to notify this?
A. Yes.
We use Fibaro door sensors and motion detectors to capture such events. And send notifications to mobile phones in addition to trigger the audible alarm inside the house.
Q. I have an automated gate and I want to control it from my mobile phone. Is it possible?
A. Yes. We can integrate the gate into Fibaro App.
Q. Am I be able to open the gate for my visitor even if I am away from home?
A. Yes. By using Fibaro App you can control any of your devices from outside.
Q. I am going for a long holiday. I want to keep my lightings ON during the night time to avoid giving impression that the house is unmanned. Can it be done?
A. Yes. It’s possible with Fibaro system.
Q. Do you provide integration for Amazon Echo?
A. Yes. We provide solution for integrating Amazon Alexa with Fibaro. So as you can control all those devices connected to Fibaro through voice commands.
Q. I want to Lock and Unlock my door using my smart phone. Do you have this solution?
A. YES. We provide digital door locks which has many functions in it, like biometric opening, password opening, card opening, remote control opening etc. Additionally we will integrate this digital door lock into Fibaro system so as you are able to lock/unlock your door by using your mobile App and you will also be able to check the status of your door lock. We use Samsung Digital Door Locks to meet this requirement.
Q. Do you have automated curtains and blinds?
A. YES. We do have various models of blinds and curtains available which are capable of integrating into Fibaro system in order to be able to control them using your smart phone. The blinds can be configured as open and close automatically depends on the lighting intensity inside your house.
Q. Do you provide installation of complete system?
A. Yes. We are one of the best home automation companies in Kerala in terms of products, services and experiance. We provide consultation, proposal, design, installation, configuration and commissioning of entire home automation system.
Q. What is the warranty and service support of Fibaro home automation system?
A. Warranty is 2 years on the products. Additionally we provide a free service attendance for 2 years from the day of installation. All service calls will be attended with in 24 hours either by online diagnostics or onsite checking. Most of the troubles can be resolved by using online diagnostics.
Q. Do you have a demo showroom?
A. Yes. We have a demo centre in Kochi where you can have a complete experience of Smart Home solutions. Please call us before visiting.
What are the types of Smart Home Systems available in the market?
There are many kinds of solutions available in the market which serves the purpose of something called Smart home solution. Some of them originates from China, India and some from EU, USA. All of them have different methodology in terms of their functionality. Being aware of this fact, one has to do the homework before selecting the type of home automation system for their home.
The Smart Home Automation systems can be fundamentally divided in to 2 categories
1. Wired Home Automation system.
2. Wireless Home Automation system.
Wired home automation has been in the market for many years and has gained a deep root in the heart of luxury home owners. Wired home automation needs to be planned in advance and the planning to be moved along with electrical wiring plan. A typical wired home automation will have all the lighting cables run to a central location. The Central location will be installed with a panel in which the switching relays are placed. The widely used communication protocol for Wired home automation is KNX. All the KNX switching relays will have the terminals to connect the lighting circuits. KNX relays will also be connected to the wall switch actuators using looped cables. The KNX relays can be coordinated and linked to the home network using Ethernet cables so as the operator is able to control the lights through an HMI unit.
The major disadvantage of the wired home automation is that the effect of it’s single point failure is huge. Meaning that if one of the KNX relays fails, the entire number of lights connected to that relay will lost the control. And the advantage is of course the reliability of the hard wired control system.
There are brands like ABB, Legrand, Berker are the leading players of KNX home automation solutions.
Wireless home automation is relatively new in the market and has tremendous potential to grow. In fact the term Wireless doesn’t refers to a complete wireless scheme, instead the controls signals are the only part which happens on a wireless protocol. There are wireless communication protocols like Z-wave, Zigbee, WiFi etc. which enables this system to communicates between the devices. Different smart home makers have adopted different wireless protocols for their system due to their own reasons. Z-Wave has the most number of advantages among these protocols. A typical wireless Smart home system will have a central control unit which will be wired to the home network through the router. The controller will have the capability of connecting wirelessly to it’s node devices and exchange the data. Unlike wired automation, the controls of wireless automation is distributed around the whole area of the house.
As for the control of lights, there are compact relays which connects wirelessly to the controller and wired to the lights. There are Z-wave enabled sensors like Motion sensors, door sensors, smoke sensors, temperature sensors, burglar sensors etc. available in the market, which are capable of pairing with the Z-Wave controller. The automated lighting controls can be configured inside the controller by using the signals from motion sensors or door sensors. Thus the lights will be operated depends on the status of the door, motion, light intensity etc.
Apart from sensors there are digital door locks which are capable of pairing with Z-wave controllers. Digital door locks are capturing the market attention due to it’s innovative features. Apart from the normal features like biometric, passcode opening, card opening, some brands are equipped with Z-Wave module which enables the lock to connects with a Z-Wave controller.
Other home fixtures like curtains, blinds, shutters, roof skylights, gates etc. are also be able to control from wireless automation system.
A complete Integration of all the controls and sensing is possible with this type of systems.
The major advantage of wireless smart home system is their wast possibility of customisation. And also most of the wireless systems are designed to be fitted on homes which are already built. This advantage helps the home owner to make the decision on automation at any stage of building of their house.
There are brands from USA and Europe like Fibaro, Wink, Zopato, Samsung smartthing etc.
Other brands like MCO home, Orvibo, Wulian, Aeon, Heiman, Vera are originated from China.
Well known electrical manufactures like Havells started bringing wireless home automation solutions into Indian market as they have identified the growth possibility of the market.
It is very important for a home owner to take consultation from an expert while making the decision on the type of Home automation system that can fit into his/her home. Apart from the type and brand there are other factors like warranty, after sales service etc. are to be taken into consideration.