It is not uncommon to see reports of new IoT devices or smart home kits being released, but there are rarely reviews of the actual operation of such systems. And they threw me a task that is quite common throughout Russia and neighboring countries: it was necessary to secure the dacha and ensure the possibility of operation in the autumn-winter period. Both security and the issue of automation of heating were solved literally in one day. I ask all those who are interested under cat. By tradition, for those who like to watch, not read, I made a video.
Let's start with the available resources: a wooden house with a connected electrical network (previously there was 1 phase of 5 kW), gas supplied and in a quiet, almost deaf place. The house has a large and beautiful wood-burning stove, but recently a gas boiler has been hung up and batteries have been installed throughout the house.
And now about the tasks: despite the neighbors living nearby, I would like to know about the possible penetration into the house. In addition, it is necessary to maintain a minimum temperature in the house and warm up the house before the arrival of the owners, that is, remote control of the boiler is required. Well, of course, it is necessary to warn about a possible fire or smoke in the room. Therefore, the list of requirements for the system was set as follows:
- The presence of a smoke sensor
- The presence of a motion sensor
- The presence of a controlled thermostat
- The presence of a head unit that transmits information to a smartphone or mail
Equipment selection
Having searched the net, I realized that either a monstrous and expensive system with redundant functionality is suitable to comply with the technical specifications, or you need to assemble something simple and separate yourself. So I came to the conclusion that one thing is safety, and another is the management of the boiler. After making this decision, everything went very simply and quickly. I was looking mainly among Russian developments so that the service and developers were available. As a result, the problem was solved by two different sets:
- Thermostat Zont H-1 for heating control
- Smart home kit LifeControl "Country" for building a security system
Let me explain the choice. I am of the opinion that systems should have independent communication lines so that the failure of one communication channel does not affect the operation of another system. I also got a couple of SIM cards from different providers: one works in a thermostat, the other in a smart home hub.
The task of the thermostat is to maintain the temperature according to the schedule (on Friday evening, start heating the house for the arrival of the owners, on Sunday evening it switches to economy mode with the temperature maintained at about 10 degrees), to report a power outage or an emergency temperature drop.
The task of a smart home is to control the opening of the front door, control the movement in the room, detect smoke at the beginning of a fire, notify the owners of the house about various abnormal events on the smartphone of the owners of the house, ensure the presence of the Internet in the house.
Russian development with a range of sensors. First of all, I was interested in reliability and autonomy. This thermostat has a built-in GSM modem, a temperature sensor and a built-in relay to control the boiler. The modem supports only GPRS data transfer technology, and more is not needed, since the amount of data transfer is extremely small and the speed is not important here. The kit includes an external antenna to improve the signal in case of poor communication quality. The relay works on the principle of dry contact and sends a command to the boiler to turn on and off when the set temperature is reached. There is a certain setpoint so that the boiler does not experience problems with constantly turning on and off near the target temperature. The device can be equipped with a battery that allows you to work autonomously for several hours. The controller sends an alert when the external network is disconnected. There is also an alert when external power is available. There is control via a website, an application on a smartphone and via SMS.
Another Russian development with a wide range of sensors, actuators and good expansion potential. The trick is that the smart home works with support for the ZigBee protocol, which means that it will soon be possible to connect a lot of third-party devices to it. But even now there is a list sufficient to equip the house, and a number of other devices are expected. I was attracted by the fact that the head unit or hub is equipped with its own 3G / 4G modem, there is a Wi-Fi module and it supports connection to wired providers. That is, the device can be connected as a router and distribute Wi-Fi, connect wirelessly to an existing router, or bring the hub to the Internet using a mobile operator's network. In the latter case, the hub turns into a router and can itself distribute the Internet via Wi-Fi! I will add that the hub has a built-in microphone and camera, and there is also a battery for autonomous operation if the external network is turned off. The "cottage" kit also includes a motion sensor, a door opening sensor and a smoke sensor. Communication between devices is carried out wirelessly, and the sensors themselves operate from their own batteries.
Setup and launch
To be honest, I expected that there would be problems with our products during setup, but I was wrong. I expected some simple and nondescript interfaces, but I was wrong again. I will be consistent and start with the Zont H-1 thermostat.
The device comes with a sim card with some kind of ready-made tariff and it is ready for use. Installation and connection to the boiler with pulling all the wires took about half an hour. Each boiler has a pair of contacts for connecting the thermostat, which close when the boiler is to be started and open when the desired temperature is reached. The boiler itself must be pre-set to the required temperature of the coolant. Boiler settings are beyond the scope of the article, but if this topic is interesting, then I can answer questions in the comments. Then everything was simple: installing the application on a smartphone, linking the thermostat in your personal account, setting up profiles (economy, comfort and schedule). It should be noted that if you place the temperature sensor higher, then the actual temperature in the room will not be very high, and if you put the sensor near the floor, then the room will be very hot. It is advisable to install the sensor at a height of 1-1.5 m from the floor in order to create the most comfortable conditions. You can connect several temperature sensors, including wireless ones, but the boiler will be controlled by only one of them. You can control the thermostat both from the website and from your smartphone.
Now let's move on to describing the capabilities and interfaces of the Life Control 2.0 smart home system. I'll start with the head unit or hub. I decided to use it as a mobile router. I took a sim card with unlimited internet and inserted it into the router. By the way, the antenna on the back of the router serves to increase the Wi-Fi zone, and there is an internal antenna to receive a signal from a cellular operator. I didnβt have to configure anything at all, I connected from my smartphone and laptop to the router and started using the Internet. Then I installed an application on my smartphone and added all the sensors through it. In the same place, I set up rules for triggering sensor events: for example, when a door is opened, I receive an alert on my smartphone and e-mail. A photo from the hub is also added to it. The same happens if the motion sensor or the smoke sensor is triggered. The hub is positioned in such a way as to remain invisible in the room, but at the same time so that the front door and the room with the gas boiler are visible. That is, in the absence of everyone in the house, if the smoke detector is triggered, you can connect and see in real time what is happening in the house.
A separate plus is the presence of a battery. If the external network is disconnected, the hub continues to operate from the built-in battery for another 5 or 6 hours. Here you can watch movies from a laptop or smartphone until the network is turned on. And the security system will work if the intruders decide to de-energize the house, hoping to turn off the security system. Separately, I was worried about the range of the sensors and the operating time from one battery. Everything is simple with this: the range is measured in tens of meters in the house if the walls are not shielded, and the ZigBee protocol operates at a frequency of 868 MHz and provides low power consumption, so that the sensor can work from one battery and a year or two, depending on the frequency of operation.
Interestingly, the ZigBee protocol works on the principle of Mesh systems, when an intermediate device is a link between the hub and the farthest sensor. In the LifeControl system, only devices that are permanently connected to the mains are such a link: at the moment, these are controlled sockets and light bulbs (if they are constantly powered).
And what about those who do not have gas? If the house is heated by electric batteries, then you can set up the operation of controlled outlets in such a way that they will turn on before your arrival and the heaters will have time to warm up the house by the arrival of the owners. Also, sockets can serve as a backup system for starting electric batteries if the boiler fails so that the coolant in the pipes does not freeze. I will add to this that if the house has good insulation, then you can set a schedule for turning on electric batteries at a nightly rate, warm up the house overnight and turn it off for the day - savings in this heating mode can reach from 30 to 50 percent, depending on the size of the gap in your tariffs for electricity.
Test
So, the devices are arranged and launched. The boiler works and the house is warm, even hot. The thermostat honestly works out maintaining the temperature and is noticeable from the operation of the boiler, as it sometimes turns off and then turns on. The temperature sensor was specially moved from the room with the boiler to the living room at waist level. Now regarding the smart home system. I placed the hub in the kitchen, which is also the boiler room, overlooking the front door. I hung the door opening sensor on the front door itself, and I put the motion sensor in the back room, which is not visible from the street, and directed it to the windows. That is, if intruders want to get into the house through the window from the back, I will also receive a notification. I hung the smoke detector in the middle of the kitchen and tested it. Even when setting fire to a piece of paper, it worked in about a minute, although there was not much smoke. So, if you fry a lot and you have smoke, put an exhaust hood so as not to cause a false alarm of the smoke sensor. It signals not only remotely, but also locally - with a loud squeak for the whole house.
Both systems allow you to monitor or control not only yourself, but also give access to other users. For the Zont system, this is implemented by passing a login and password for full access or creating a guest login, when a person can monitor the state, but cannot affect the operation of the system. LifeControl smart home also allows you to issue invitations to third-party users with only the ability to view the system status. Everything works through the cloud, so in both cases there will be no problems with work, regardless of the communication channel and connection features.
Π‘onclusion
So, the country house is ready for winter. The heating system will allow you to come to an already heated house and save on heating when no one is in the house. And the smart home system will make it possible not to worry about the safety of your home, both from those who want to profit from your property, and from unforeseen situations. It is worth adding that the house should still be equipped with automatic powder fire extinguishing systems of the OSB or Buran series. In addition, the LifeControl system is modular and the number of sensors can be increased according to needs. I believe that several more motion sensors will be added to this system in order to block the entire perimeter of the house. I must say that the setup and operation of the systems did not raise any questions at all: if you had to refer to the instructions for the thermostat, then everything was intuitively clear with the smart home system.
BONUS
Poryskav on the website of the manufacturer, came across a page where you can order a summer cottage kit for a third cheaper than collecting it separately. There is no direct link on the site itself, but I placed an order and waited. 10 minutes later they called and confirmed the order. So while it works, I share. Ready to answer questions about the operation of both systems. Don't forget - Winter is coming!
Source: habr.com