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(Română) UPDATE VIKI: Adăugare pagină producători de energie
How to protect our house from fluctuations or power outages
Electrical protection with voltage stabilizer
Power Backup (UPS)
We all have experienced fluctuations or power outages at home at least once – you may have noticed that the TV or lights turn off and on again after a few seconds, or the oven clock is not set properly.
Most often, these fluctuations occur in the evening, when people return home and energy consumption increases, but there are many causes that can lead to these disorders. One of these causes could be the fast development of residential areas, which leads to higher energy demand, compared to the power of the network in that area.
Outages can also occur due to connection and disconnection of large electricity consumers in the area, or electrical discharges during storms. Last but not least, they can occur as a result of disconnections and service reconnections in the area of the electricity distributor. After a power outage, voltage surges may occur and the electrical appliances in the house will suffer.
How do we protect our equipment in the house?
As a result of these variations or outages, the electronic circuits in sensitive equipment will degrade according to the frequency of shocks and the duration of variations, and over time, their lifespan (especially of power supplies) decreases considerably. And in the case of smart homes, where equipment worth thousands of euros is installed, this is a serious problem, requiring smart design and electrical protection.
The solution is to use protective equipment called: autotransformers, stabilizers or voltage regulators, which protect the devices from large variations, respectively an uninterruptible power source – UPS.
The VIKI system includes from the start several types of power supply circuits, so that, in case of variations or voltage shocks, the equipment is protected and the house and its inhabitants remain safe. Thus, we have the VIKI circuit, which includes the most important consumers in the system, such as the home server, communications, motion sensors, perimeter, flood, smoke, CO, video surveillance, access etc., then the VITAL circuit, which powers emergency lights, stabilized circuit (most sensitive equipment: refrigerator, television, multimedia equipment, dimmable lights etc.) and an unstabilized one (large consumers: electric oven, electric hob, air conditioning).
When a power outage occurs, VIKI uses both a voltage stabilizer and a source (UPS) to keep the critical circuit functional – which includes the home surveillance system, emergency lights, access system (close/open doors), the internet, certain sensors, the VIKI computer.
These are the VIKI consumers, the ones that are protected, are connected to the UPS and are not affected by power outages.
Backup of electricity
For modern sustainable homes, those that produce energy, not just consume it, things are even simpler. The energy produced is stored in the battery – we talked about this in the previous article – and is consumed when it is needed. The stored energy will be used at that time of day when the network price is high, or as a back-up, when power outages occur.
VIKI + HEMS = LOVE
New steps have been made in the development of the HEMS mode in the VIKI application, in the past weeks – the communication interfaces with the new energy producers and consumers have been created. We are rapidly developing the concept of HEMS – Home Energy Management System, crucial for self-sustaining homes, which we mentioned in previous articles.
HEMS – Home Energy Management System includes both the hardware (equipment) and the software that manages the flow of energy production and consumption, allowing the user to monitor consumption, but also their own energy production (where it exists), respectively to control, manually or automatically, the energy consumption of the house. In the end, we want a house capable of managing its energy as well as possible, consuming as much of its own production as possible, so that the total cost of external energy resources consumed is minimal. Continue reading “VIKI + HEMS = LOVE” »
Restarting the VIKI home server
Restarting the VIKI server application regularly leads to a more stable working environment and a better operation of the VIKI SERVER application. Periodic restarts also protect the system from unforeseen shutdowns, and this maintenance operation can be done easily, without requiring the presence of a specialist from the VIKI support team.
The option is available in the VIKI client application – settings section. Continue reading “Restarting the VIKI home server” »
Implementation of the tariff plan for energy consumption
Energy, how it is obtained and its costs have sparked heated debates recently, with the climate change and global warming. And this autumn it is a topic of interest especially after the liberalization of the market, a situation that announces considerable higher costs. In these circumstances, energy saving should be the next important topic to be discussed – and resolved.
This is exactly what VIKI aims to do, through its integrated tariff plan definition module. The module can be found in the application by selecting Control, then Energy and Archive. Continue reading “Implementation of the tariff plan for energy consumption” »
Irrigation monitoring and management from the VIKI interface
Plants and flowers in the house or on the terrace refresh the atmosphere and improve mood, as well as air quality – but for most of us caring for them is an extra task, for which we do not have the time.
In the houses managed by VIKI, however, everything is easier, even caring for the plants. VIKI manages the watering, giving them the right amount of water, according to a predetermined schedule. And if the homeowner wants to monitor this process, VIKI can send them notifications about how the predefined home irrigation programs have been run. The user can also view a graphic about how the irrigations work, and the control interface can set dates / times for the irrigations to be operational. Continue reading “Irrigation monitoring and management from the VIKI interface” »
Pre-scheduled events in the VIKI house
The role assumed by VIKI in our life is to help us every day with the routine and tasks, to take over our chores or even to remind us of things, when we are overwhelmed and busy. This is exactly why we always say that VIKI is our virtual butler – he is always “behind” us, ready to help us. Continue reading “Pre-scheduled events in the VIKI house” »
How much energy did you consume… next month?
Even if this question sounds strange, the new VIKI module can actually give an answer… from the future. This module provides a way to estimate the amount of energy that will be consumed in the near future by our home, using a prediction model based on the historical behavior of family members and algorithms based on artificial intelligence. Continue reading “How much energy did you consume… next month?” »
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VIKI and the urban garden. How to manage a green balcony in the city
We continue the series “VIKI in real life” and this time we present a garden in Cluj-Napoca, located on the terrace of an apartment, managed entirely by the automatic irrigation system implemented in VIKI.
We wrote a lot about what VIKI can do, about the ways it can make our lives easier, about how it protects our house, about how it ensures the desired comfort and much more. But it is important to actually see what a house equipped with the VIKI automation system looks like in everyday life, so we take another look at our customers’ homes. Continue reading “VIKI and the urban garden. How to manage a green balcony in the city” »
Scenarios ready to make your life easier in the VIKI house
Mornings can be difficult for everyone, for morning persons and the grumpy ones equally. And when we talk about families who also have children to prepare for school or kindergarten, things get even more complicated.
What if you would have someone to help on these chaotic mornings? To have someone to gently wake the little ones up, so they can get out of bed happily and prepare for a new day. To have someone to prepare your coffee and turn on your favourite music. Or turn on your TV on your favourite news channel while you get ready for work.
Everything would be easier with such help. But the days when families had servants in the house are over, aren’t they? Of course, times have changed, and so have the routine of families and their dynamics. The good news is that we can now rely on the virtual butler to make our lives easier – in the morning and at any other time of the day. Continue reading “Scenarios ready to make your life easier in the VIKI house” »