The world of smart homes is evolving at a pace unthinkable even a decade ago. Photo: My Place.
It’s a market that started with gimmicky stuff.
Novelty items you could order online for $100 turned up in a box promising to transform your home’s lighting into a kaleidoscope of 16 million colours.
“You’d have a lot of fun trying to connect these gadgets to your network … a couple of hours and a few swear words later and you might get there,” laughs MyPlaceIQ group general manager Darren Bee.
That’s the not-so-smart end of the “smart home” market.
At the other end are sophisticated home automation systems that can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
“You can clap your hands and have the lights come on, which is great fun the first few times, but is it worth it?” Darren asks.
“Systems can be set up for ‘Billy’s room’, but then an electrician will charge you half the value of the house if you want to change it to ‘Tommy’s room’!”
According to Darren, the gap between the gimmicky and the tasteful (over-the-top and pricey) technology is what’s held back the smart home market for so long,
“The options are infinite in terms of what you can do,” he says.
“But the industry has languished for a while in terms of the value it provides consumers versus the price they pay.
“The challenge is in providing something to the consumer that represents value and is genuinely useful – that solves problems on a day-to-day basis.”
There’s little doubt the world of smart homes is evolving at a pace unthinkable even a decade ago.
Globally, it’s valued at $250 billion and is on track to hit $600 billion in 2032, according to financial planner Scott Haywood.
MyPlaceIQ can be used on the go. Photo: My Place.
A smart home is more than just a house with all the gadgets – a truly smart home can seamlessly deliver convenience, comfort, energy efficiency and security.
It can interpret, anticipate and even set the scene for all your family rituals.
But Darren says the majority of consumers are firmly focussed on the necessities – the cost-of-living crisis has made sure of that – with the “nice to haves” further down the tree.
As energy has become a huge expense for households, products such as the MyPlaceIQ smart air conditioning system have come into their own.
Darren says MyPlaceIQ is a smart product that has been independently certified to reduce air conditioning costs by up to 46 per cent a year.
“When you consider air conditioning accounts for about half the cost of energy in a home with a ducted air conditioner, that’s a massive saving,” he says.
So, it’s a tick on efficiency, but there are other benefits too.
According to MyPlaceIQ, nearly 50 per cent of couples fight over what temperature the air conditioning is set to, but now everyone can have their room their way.
With smart technology at the touch of your phone, you can cool and heat only the rooms you are using – and to the individual temperature you want – even when you’re not home.
Darren says while the Australian-designed MyPlaceIQ innovation started in air conditioning, it’s now expanded to a range of smart add-ons for the home – the garage door, outdoor and indoor lights, security cameras, video doorbell and blinds.
Not sure whether you closed the garage in the morning rush to work? Bolted onto an existing garage door, the smart garage system sends you a notification that your garage has been left open and allows you to open or close it with a touch of your phone, no matter your location.
“It’s the little, practical things like that which genuinely make life easier,” Darren says.
He estimates the air conditioning systems, garage controls and security account for about 80 per cent of MyPlaceIQ demand – and you can access them all from the one app.
“We focus on genuine functionality. It might only be two or three things that a person decides, ‘Yes, that’s worth it’.”
But while Darren’s proud that MyPlaceIQ is offering solutions that help make your home the “smartest on the block”, there’s some uncharted territory they’ve yet to tackle.
“We haven’t quite worked out how to get different temperatures on different sides of the bed.”
For more information, visit MyPlaceIQ.
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