The Internet of Things

Have you heard of the "Internet of Things?"  For those of you unfamiliar with the term its the concept  of having everything you own "talk" to each other.  They would communicate status, anticipate needs, and work together to make your home and your life smarter and easier.

I first heard of this concept in elementary school, where my teacher told me that "one day your refrigerator will order it's own milk" I couldn't understand how it would do that, or whether I would even want it to.  How did it even know there wasn't brand new milk already in there, in the back, waiting to be opened?  What if it thought I needed milk when I was about to leave on vacation?  It sounded like a waste of money.

Fast forward several decades to the world we live in today.  I don't have a R/F tag (radio frequency tag used to communicate with other devices) on my milk jug, nor does my fridge have a scale on it that measures how much milk is left in the jug, but my smartphone knows my

The smart IQ Thermostat "talks" to your home control panel
and makes adjustments based on your personal habits and location

schedule, and my home knows when I am there and when I return.  The internet of things has already begun.  My doors have sensors that report when they've been opened.  Each of rooms have image sensors that detect movement and can show me a picture of whats happening in them.  My home control panel tells my thermostat to turn itself down when I've left my home and my smartphone tells my home when I am only a few miles away so it can turn the thermostat back up to my preferred temperature for when I return.

So what's next?  Almost anything.  We have shoes that talk to our phones, TVs that connect to the internet and watches that take phone calls.  In a few years we'll see these sensors and devices aligning under a single platform, making your home smarter, your life easier, and innovation only a few steps away.

Let it snow!

Winter is in full swing and my home has been quite chilly.  We've got almost 12" of snow on the ground and last night my thermometer dipped below zero.  My daughters kept getting out of bed mumbling "I'm cold" as they climbed into bed with us.  Their miniature toes were like potato bugs made of ice, wriggling their way into those warm spots right behind my knees.  Once my teeth stopped chattering we all warmed up enough to slip into a semi-restfull sleep, but it seemed like the more comfortable their miniature bodies got the more they would spread out, hogging all the blankets and kicking me as they tossed and turned.  The debate raged in my mind: do I dare the cold to put them back in their beds, or hope they get comfortable and fall into a temporary coma?  Another unintentional kick to the groin and I had my answer.

One by one I carried their limp bodies back to bed and tucked them in, staggering back to bed like a zombie from AMC's The Walking Dead.  As I lay awake struggling to un-pause the dream they had interrupted earlier I find myself wondering "How do I keep my house warmer without spending the kid's college funds on the energy bill?" (Which really means: "How can I keep those girls warm enough that they won't disturb me at night?")

After logging in, click "emPower" and then "Thermostat"

The answer, in part, could be in the settings offered by my Alarm.com account.  There's an "emPower" tab which gives me the ability to optimize the settings of my thermostat to save money and keep my home warner when I'm home.
 

The Thermostat tab shows you current interior and exterior conditions
and gives you options to make adjustments to your programmed schedule

Clicking on "Show Smart Schedule Activity Pattern" shows me when I'm most likely away from home.  Its based on arming habits and motion detection inside my home and I use this information to make adjustments to my schedule.  For example, I know that every Sunday my family goes to church.  No reason to run the heater the whole time we're gone, so I drop the temperature while we're out.

The other thing I do is activate the "Away from Home Thermostat Override" which adjusts my heater when I arm my panel in "Away" mode.  This not only overrides my current schedule to save me money, but encourages me to keep my home safer by arming my system.  After all, saving a little money on my energy is a great motivator to keep that panel armed as often as possible.   And if I can save a bit more money during the day, perhaps I can afford to turn it up a little at night, keeping those ice-cube-tootsies in their beds where they belong.

Want to save even more money?  There's a button at the bottom of the page to help!

In my opinion the beauty of the whole system is the access.  Whether I use my smartphone, my IQ Panel, the IQ Thermostat itself or my Alarm.com account online, I can make adjustments on the fly wherever I am and whenever I like.  You know why?  Cause I'm ALWAYS CONNECTED!

If mommy kisses Santa Claus... I'll know.

One of the beautiful things about having an IQ Panel with Alarm.com is the ability to know who is coming and going at any time. To make this possible, one needs a simple yet robust network of sensors and devices that track every day occurrences like doors opening and closing, bodies, moving, and the exact location of smartphones.  (Shameless plug: All of these devices are available as part of the IQ Solution.)

Since the tune of the holiday song "I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus" sends my children into mischievous giggles I have decided to protect myself against the unlikely eventuality that this bearded elf will steal my spouse's heart by setting my Image Sensor to "Peek in Next Motion."  This fantastic setting will tell the device to take photographs of the next person to enter its field of view, and with the five light emitters these pictures can be taken whether the moon is on the breast of the new fallen snow or the room is all tarnished with ashes and soot.  If my calculations are correct, the only people that should set this off are naughty children ignoring the dreams of sugarplums and sneaking a peek of their Christmas stockings, or, in a less likely scenario, old St. Nick himself.

Like all my cameras, the Image Sensor will send the photographs taken to my panel which will transmit a signal to my alarm.com account.  When what to my wondering eyes shall a appear but a miniature text message with a picture attached.  Santa, you're not getting away this year!

Yes Virginia, this is an actual product, but only comes in white.
Sorry to all those readers who thought they could get the silly colors displayed here...

Automating my Christmas Tree

Everyone loves the holiday season.  (Well, okay, not EVERYONE, but aside from a furry green fellow on the top of Mt. Crumpet, there's magic in the air.)  For my family, that magic really starts the day we bring the tree inside.

Our 7-month old daughter stares in awe at the illuminated evergreen

For years we did the fake tree thing, a combination of laziness and being frugal, I suppose.  I had proudly fought the crowds at the Wal-Mart day after Christmas sale and purchased a 6' pre-lit tree for only $15.  Every year we would retrench it from the garage and put it up while watching "Its a Wonderful Life" on TV.  With each passing year it seemed to get dustier and the color grew duller.  The lights on the top burned out, and rather than find the bad bulb and replace it, I simply wrapped an extra strand of lights around the top.  "See? Problem solved"  It was the Christmas version of sewing up the holes in your socks, and I knew the time to retire it was close.

As parents its part of our reasonability to ensure our children have positive, memorable experiences, especially during the holidays, and "dusting" the family christmas tree isn't what I picture them looking forward to each year, so we went down the road to a local tree lot.  As we wandered the fantastic pine hallways the smell of Christmas was everywhere. Kids darted in and out of the rows, calling out "I found one!"  As we converge on the spot they would point at some homely excuse for an evergreen with a triumphant look in their eyes.  I really wonder what criteria a kid uses to determine which is the "best tree" since almost every one looked like the big brother of Charlie Brown's pitiful twig.  Sparse branches, needles falling off like green snow, some of their choices were just awful.  I can't fault them too much, perhaps their standard was the ugly fake tree we'd been using for years, or maybe the view from the lower angles of these evergreen effigies is markedly different.  "Let's keep looking, I want something bigger" I would say, and their eyes would grow in eager anticipation.

My wife and I enjoyed the brisk air and discussed what kind of tree we wanted.  Something tall, we have a vaulted ceiling, but not too tall or we couldn't decorate it.  Full, but healthy, we didn't want a puddle of needles all over the ground Christmas morning.  We discussed the fire-hazard aspect, but knew the IQ Smoke paired with our IQ Panel would alert us if something tragic happened.  Finally we decided on a 7' noble fir.  It was a full, healthy tree with soft bristles that felt supple and smooth.  According to the man with the leather gloves and the "ho ho ho" tee shirt it was a farm tree, and an excellent choice.  He twined it to our roof and we were on our way.

Bringing that tree into the house was a source of elation for the kids.  They leapt up and down, so excited that we were creating such change in our home decor.  First on were the lights, Four packs of energy efficient LED bulbs purchased at... wait for it...  the day after Christmas sale last year.  Now the coup-de-gras: the IQ Smart Socket.   By connecting the lights to the smart socket I didn't have to climb under the tree every time we wanted to turn it on or off.  I simply used my app.  It was fantastically easy, and once the kids were in bed my wife and I grabbed the laptop and logged into our Alarm.com account where we created a series of rules and schedules.  Turn on the lights in the morning at 6am, turn them off again at midnight.  Turn them off anytime we arm in "away" mode.  It was fantastic and took the hassle and worry out of the entire equation.  Now our season is brighter and I get that added pride of showing off my automation to my neighbors.  Let the Jones' try and keep up with THAT!

Z-Wave of zee future

A truly automated home is within the affordable reaches of everyday consumers, and there are more sensors and devices to make your smart home the most intelligent house on the block.  From door locks to thermostats, motion sensors to mobile device geo-fencing, the future is here.

My home is smarter than yours, but I can't take too much credit.  Its all thanks to the creative innovation built into the Qolsys IQ Panel and the interactive services powered by Alarm.com.  The panel speaks Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Cellular, Security, and Bluetooth, which is just about every language you need to automate an intelligently-outfitted home.

On my front door I have a Yale touchscreen deadbolt, on my back door a Kwikset push-button deadbolt.  When my son comes home from school he can open the door without a key.  My wife can go jogging without leaving her keys in the bushes or finding a place in her spandex to uncomfortably secure them, and on more than one occasion I have unlocked my door from the driveway so I can carry a sleeping child inside without fumbling with keys in the cold.

I have also set up elaborate rules using my Alarm.com web portal.  Because our smartphones have GPS, they know where we are at all times.  When they detect that we have traveled outside a specified distance from our home they send a signal to our door locks saying "if you're not already locked, do so now." The thought of leaving a door unlocked is virtually impossible, and when combined with the sensor placed on the top of my door I can know that door's status.  If I left a door open, I get a text message, a convenience that not only keeps our energy bills manageable but helps us ensure our children aren't wandering the streets like Oliver Twist.

Removing the hazard of holiday lights

Remember that scene in A Christmas Story where dad is decorating the christmas tree?  After getting all the lights strung he desperately looks for an extra outlet in which to plug his holiday decorations.  He lifted cords and moved wires, and upon finding an open spot he inserted the plug and everything goes dark.  Pandemonium ensues as the family struggled to find their way in the dark and his son Ralphie's commentary praising his old man's prowess in changing a burnt fuse.

In my home we understand how dangerous it is to add dozens of electrical devices to a single outlet, and the only time we break this rule is by our home entertainment center where everything is fed into a surge protector made by a reputable brand.  But what about that Christmas tree?  You may find yourself adding dozens of strands of christmas cheer to your tree, chaining them end-to-end, looking feverishly around the room for a place in which to power this holiday joy.  Once you do so your evergreen will illuminate like the Griswold's home and you will greeted by a standing ovation by family, friends, and the occasional uninvited cousin.


How much power does this monument to holiday cheer draw?  Will you spend your utility money on presents in December, only to find that January's electric bill will require a second mortgage on your home?

There's an easy way to know, and to help mitigate the risk associated with it.  Before you plug your lights into the wall, connect an IQ Smart Socket to the outlet.  This amazing little device will not only display the actual energy usage on the bright LED screen, informing you of the sheer volume of jigawatts you draw during the holidays, but gives you the added capability of controlling the power provided to that outlet.

Imaging creating a rule that says "When I leave the house, arm my system and turn off my tree."  Your home will be safe and those worries that "Christmas trees are dangerous" will quickly dissipate.  Create an additional rule that says "when I unlock my door turn my christmas lights on" and each entryway will be greeted by a burst of gleaming holiday joy.

So go ahead, enjoy that extra mug of eggnog at the Johnson's annual ugly sweater party.  Your home is safe while you are gone.

Home Automation and Control: The future is here

Home control has typically been a dream that only the social elite could achieve, but with affordable solutions and the smartphone technology already in our pockets, the Qolsys IQ Solution puts limitless possibilities within reach.

The IQ Panel

It starts with the IQ Panel, an innovative device that becomes the "brain" of your smart home.  Built on Google's Android, the IQ Panel will intelligently "talk" to all of your devices to monitor their health, report their status, and ensure that you are aware of anything and everything that occurs within the walls of your home. With a built in Wi-Fi radio, cellular radio, and Z wave radio, The IQ panel is perfectly poised to control all aspects of your home and the devices installed within.  

Peripherals

The contacted home is all about the peripherals you install.  From a sensor that is placed on your door that monitors every time it is opened or closed to a Smart Socket inserted into your outlet that allows you to monitor energy usage and control the power of anything that is plugged into it, there are devices to control and monitor just about everything.  To see the full lineup of possibilities, click here.  

Awareness

With technology today we have persistent awareness of everything that is going on in our lives.  From social media posts to interactive applications on smartphones, we have the technology to show what we are doing, where we are doing it, and who we are doing it with.  Your home should be no different.  Your doors should let you know when they are open or closed, your home should tell you if it detects movement, and your cameras can show you exactly what is happening inside.   Qolsys IQ solution devices communicate directly with the IQ Panel to provide this information in real time, and deliver to you wherever you are using alarm.com’s innovative and easy-to-use smartphone app.

Access

If you can see everything from your smartphone there’s no reason you can’t control it.  Arm your panel, adjust your thermostat, lock your doors, even turn lights on and off all from the sunny beach of California or the darkened corners of your office cubicle.  With Alarm.com’s innovative and powerful mobile application you literally have the power of your entire system in the palm of your hands.  

Rules

With alarm.com’s connection to your IQ Panel, you can set up simple rules automate your entire home, and add alarm.com geo-services to turn them for you.   For example, set up a rule that says “when I am farther than 1 mile from my home, arm my system in AWAY mode, turn down my thermostat, turn off my lights and lock all my doors.” Add another rule to turn it all back on when you get home.  

Alerts and Reminders 

If something happens, you’ll know.  Intelligent alerts send you important information telling you when your system was disarmed, users logged into the website, or if you forgot to arm the system by a certain time each day.  Messages like “System was disarmed by Cathy at 5:37pm” or “The system was not armed by 11:45pm” are delivered directly to your smartphone via text message, e-mail, or push notification.  Everything is customizable, and can be configured to alert multiple people as needed.