The smart home is based on three main concepts: comfort, safety and economy. When we prepare for a longer vacation, we will concentrate more on safety.
Some people take precautions, as to leave an interior light on and stop mail delivery so that thieves do not suspect that the house is empty. In addition to offline tricks for a “busy” home, once you leave a smart home then IoT devices (smart lights, internet-connected security cameras, blinds and smart thermostats) along with VIKI can help you manage your home remotely and even simulate the fact that someone is in the house.
Now that smart devices have turned our houses into smart homes, we don’t have to worry too much about an empty house during the holidays.
The VIKI team comes with some tips for the time when you leave your smart home alone. It can work just as well on its own for several days or even weeks, with VIKI and based on the previous behavior of its users.
VIKI learns the behavior of the inhabitants of the house and can simulate it at any time even if they are not there. So, possible thieves will be discouraged.
Here’s how everything will work in your absence:
Lights and blinds
The smart lights of the VIKI house light up in different rooms at certain times of the evening, to mimic your typical routine at home, even if you are not at home. A good idea would be for the outdoor lights to be on at night and off during the day, while indoor lights should go on and off in different rooms during the evening and early in the night. If you have smart light switches, VIKI will run a program based on previous experience, as a replica of what you normally did while you were at home.
If you have automatic blinds, they will go up during the day and go down on the windows of the house in your absence, simulating the presence of the owners in the house.
Multimedia
If your TV is visible from the outside, the VIKI holiday algorithm can turn it on for a while every night. We can even turn on the home audio system to simulate the human presence in the house.
Surveillance cameras, sensors
Set up connected security cameras inside and outside the home to monitor your home for any suspicious activity and send alerts to your mobile phone.
Make sure that the motion sensors, cameras, locks that are running on batteries have new and fully charged ones, and notifications are properly activated to reach the right emergency contacts.
Irrigation system for flowers
Irrigation of a green wall, house plants or garden is scheduled to take place before the sun appears or after it sets. This is a measure to prevent them from drying out until we return home.
Interphone
The advantage of a VIKI system equipped with Video intercom and call to mobile phone is to give the owner the opportunity to answer from the mobile phone the test call that can be made by a person (calling the intercom) who wants to check the presence of owners in the house .
Thermostats / Air conditioning
When the “Holiday” scenario is selected, VIKI will know how to maintain the temperature of the house so that the house consumes as little energy as possible when you are gone and has the right temperature when you get home.
Smart protection
Although smart devices could keep thieves away from your home, there are fears that it may be attacked by hackers when connected to the Internet. One way to help protect your smart home is to use a secure Wi-Fi router, as not all IoT devices have data encryption algorithms. Therefore, the owner of the smart home has the obligation to carefully choose the installation of devices connected to the home network to prevent cyber attacks.
Returning home to a smart home
With a VIKI smart home, you can make coming home comfortable after a trip, you just need to activate the “Coming home” scenario.
At that point, VIKI will know how to:
• adjust the smart thermostat so your home has a comfortable temperature.
• turn on the outside and entrance lights to light your way when you arrive.
• set the automatic coffee machine to wait for you with a cup of hot coffee after a tiring flight.
If all the checks are done, all you have to do is leave for the holiday with minimal worries. You can rely on the VIKI application to be available at any time to inform you of the status of the house or to “activate” the house to guard it.
A house that looks alive is less likely to become a target, so use automation to bring it back to life while you are at the beach or diving into the sea.