We are all aware of the major recent changes in our society. The global prices of energy have soared by more than 100% for the past year. Therefore, we have basically two options to adapt to the new reality: we either produce (some) of the energy we need ourselves or/and we become more efficient and consume less energy. About a year ago, my wife and I decided to build a house. Besides the architectural planning for the house, I have also started a thorough planning of all the smart systems which will bring energy saving, energy production and comfort into our home. The smart systems will include:

• Heating system

  • Multiple zones with individual target temperature

  • Heating source : geothermal pump combined with a fireplace

  • Automatic adjustments of water temperature for each underfloor circuit

• Manual or/and Automatic power cut for some devices within the house which are consuming power even when they are not used (like the TV)

• Manual or/and Automatic outdoor blinds used to avoid overheating in the summer and heat loss in the winter

• Photovoltaic panels with a power production monitoring module which allows optimizations for enabling/disabling some consumers (i.e. charging you electric car, heating pump, etc)

• Irrigation system using a 10.000 liter water tank and soil moisture sensors

• Lights with dimming and dual control (from internet and from the wall switch)

• Windows tamper alarm

• Carbon monoxide level monitoring with alarm 

I will show you that building such smart devices is not as hard as you might think, it is mainly about using the right tools and a step by step testing process.