Understanding Home Automation: Technologies and Applications

This page delves into the world of home automation, including the technologies behind it, applications, software, and the manufacturers who are shaping this exciting field. Remember those days when controlling your TV with a remote felt like the peak of innovation?

It once seemed like a distant dream to control every appliance in your home with a remote: lights, switches, electric meters, fans, curtains, windows, doors, your car, the washing machine, the microwave… the list goes on! Now, thanks to innovations like Zigbee, Z-Wave, and Lightwave RF technologies, that dream has become a reality.

To enable remote control, all these home appliances and devices need to be wirelessly enabled with one or more of the technologies mentioned above. This remote control over all aspects of your home is what we call home automation. It offers a comfortable and enjoyable lifestyle with minimal hassle, working through a single technology or combination of technologies like Zigbee, Z-Wave, and Lightwave RF.

Home Automation Software and Applications

There are numerous software applications available for various devices and operating systems, designed to make home automation user-friendly.

• Control4: Develops software and applications for automating everything from lighting and home security to temperature control and more.

Product Vendors / Manufacturers / Suppliers

Here is a list of home automation product manufacturers who utilize wireless technologies like Zigbee, RFID, Wi-Fi, LightwaveRF, Z-Wave, and infrared.

• RFXCOM {RF receivers, transmitters, sensors for home automation.}
• control4 home automation applications/softwares
• BuLogics
• Zonoff
• Savant
• Worthington Distribution
• PowerHouse Alliance
• URC
• Philips
• HDI Dune
• Global Cache
• Motorola Mobility/4Home
• Schlage
• 2GIG Technologies security/home automation
• Actiontec {gateways}
• Aeon Labs {lots of Z-Wave goodies }
• Baldwin/Kwikset {motorized/automated door locks }
• Echo Labs { home control/energy management implementer for broadband service providers }
• Evolve Guest Controls { lighting, thermostat and other controls for hospitality and residential }
• Fibar Group
• Fujikom { Z-Wave LED lights }
• GreenWave Reality { energy monitoring and management }
• Kwikset { motorized/automated door locks }
• Leviton { lighting, other connected devices }
• MiOS { a nifty, app-based home automation platform }
• Mitsumi { The only Z-Wave chip supplier besides Zensys owner Sigma Designs}
• NorthQ { USB home controller }
• Poly-Control { motorized/automated door locks }
• Radio Thermostat { thermostats }
• RCS Technology { arguably the most well-established smart-thermostat maker in the US }
• Remotec { remote controls }
• Skyco { window coverings }
• Square Connect { nifty hub for iOS home control }
• Wintop { switches and gadgets }
• Yale { motorized/automated door locks }