Chapter 5. LonWorks Home Control and Automation
In this chapter…
The home automation market is growing at a tremendous pace. There are about 40,000 new homes constructed in the United States each year with a value of more than $1 million, and market research firm Parks Associates estimates that about 80 percent are installing some form of intelligent electronic control system.
So what is home automation? There are numerous answers to this question, but they all are based on one fundamental concept—consumer requirements and expectations have changed dramatically in the past decade. Let's look at a modern home as an example. A fully automated lighting system ties all the lights, dimmers, and switches to an underlying home network. Electricians no longer need to worry about individually wiring switches to lights, and consumers don't have to be concerned about changing lighting requirements within the home. Additional cost savings are also gained by the fact that lights automatically shut themselves off based on occupancy and/or preset schedules. In the intelligent homes of the future, your lighting system will harmoniously work with the following subsystems to create new levels of comfort, convenience, and safety:
Security and alarm system
Heating subsystem
Ventilation
Air conditioning
Fire alarm subsystem
This chapter describes a popular home automation system called LonWorks. This system includes all the necessary hardware and software components for implementing complete end-to-end control systems.