The home automation system that never gets old

Often, when there is not much information on a subject, it automatically ends up being considered "for the few", difficult. I believe that this is the case with the smart home, a concept that may seem complex, but in reality is understandable and replicable by anyone, for a series of reasons.

It is generally thought that it is only possible to have a smart home and make the most of its potential if you have a state-of-the-art, purpose-built home automation system. In reality, this is not the case, because even home automation systems designed with foresight ten years ago can now be taken to the highest levels thanks to new devices.

The essential feature of today's home automation/smart home systems is the following: compatibility with the most popular platforms and voice assistants such as Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Apple HomeKit, IFTTT and the open source Home Assistant platform. This is an added value that further increases the potential of the smart home: without voice and app control, a number of advantages such as remote control, flexibility and convenience, to name but a few, are missing.

Compatibility with at least one of these three voice assistants, therefore, allows you to stay up to date and have a system that can be managed online even remotely, using the protocols of the world's largest companies, inheriting their high standards in terms of IT security. Obviously, compatibility remains even if one decides to extend the components of one's home automation system, such as, for example, adding new lights to the house or domotising new areas previously controlled in the traditional way: as soon as these devices can be integrated into the home automation system, they will be controllable via the Google, Amazon, Apple, IFTTT and Home Assistant platforms.

Two further advantages of a smart home connected to the platforms of these big technologies, in addition to security and remote control, are flexibility and energy saving.

• Flexibility because, depending on our needs, we can create routines and scenarios that are always different, simply by using the respective apps and allowing the system to adapt to our lives and our changes, without requiring professional intervention.
• Energy saving because, by taking advantage of remote control and once the right routines have been created, there will be no more forgotten air conditioners running or letting the irrigation system run while it is raining.

Finally, there is the matter of money. We often wonder whether all these electronic components consume a lot of electricity: in reality, the increases are not excessive compared to those of a traditional system, and are in any case irrelevant when compared to the savings that can be made in the long term.

We've talked about systems built years ago and we've talked about making them compatible with the latest technologies from Amazon, Google and Apple, but how can this be done?

The solution comes from Freedompro, a company specializing in the world of home automation, which has created Easykon.

Easykon is a device that connects to the home automation system based on Bticino's MyHome technology or on the excellent home automation standard called KNX, which allows you to evolve home automation systems, even the oldest ones, making them controllable by the Apple, Google, Amazon Alexa, IFTTT and Home Assistant smart platforms through a simple and fast installation. Installing this device and pairing it with the platforms is quick and easy: once the procedure is complete, you will have access to your entire home automation system via voice control or app, even remotely.

Thanks to Easykon, even your old system will be upgraded and exploitable at the highest levels that technology can offer in 2021.