I am adding a few supplements to the points listed by Mycraft that are often implemented in private households:
Access control: By integrating motor locks and RFID keys, you can grant certain people access only at specific times. For example, the cleaning lady only on Wednesday mornings. Or grant the neighbor access from work at the push of a button so he can let the meter reader in, etc., etc. This can also be used to improve presence/absence control.
Regarding roller shutter control. This should be handled more cautiously. A control system that reacts too sensitively to lighting conditions can be quite annoying on slightly cloudy days. In most cases, my experience has shown that it is best if the shutters only react to darkness in the evening and accordingly go down. When it gets dark, there is rarely a situation where this is bothersome. Quite the opposite in the morning when it gets light. Due to changed wake-up times (shifts changing, school cancellations, illness, guests, vacation, flexible working hours, etc.), automation can more frequently cause disturbances in the long term. At least regarding bedrooms. Many eventually disable at least the automatic raising of shutters in bedrooms and bathrooms in the morning. Bathrooms because, in winter, on hazy days with the room light on, one can still be clearly seen from outside even after sunrise...
My husband was thinking about an alarm system. When it is triggered, all the shutters go down,
I would strongly advise against that! It is bad if the burglar has already jumped into the house, the shutters block the way out, and you are standing in the doorway between the only escape route and the burglar.
the outdoor lighting starts blinking around the house and all lights in the house go on. Of course, there’s also a signal to the phone, obviously. I then told him that after the first false alarm we would be known in the city and asked if he really wanted that.
Turning on the lights inside and around the entire house during an alarm can certainly make sense, as it has a rather deterrent and scaring effect. Outdoor alarms should be viewed skeptically with regard to false alarms. Phone notifications are definitely recommended. Also useful is a network camera that turns on at the latest when the alarm sounds and can be accessed via phone to possibly check if everything is okay, allowing you to deactivate the alarm remotely.
Alarm smoke detectors should ideally switch on lights and raise the shutters to clear escape routes. But don’t just implement such a function blindly. When using combined gas/smoke detectors, for example, the light should not necessarily be switched on. (For electric shutters, one should generally think through the topic of escape routes in their house!!!)
In combination with shutters, one should always consider the state of entrances/exits. So as not to lock oneself out. It is not enough to just monitor if a patio door is closed but rather if it is locked. Patio doors are often just left ajar in the summer.
Then generally the use of state sensors. There are smoke/gas/CO/CO2/humidity/temperature sensors that can be used to control heating, ventilation, etc., etc. For example, to prevent mold. If sensors in a room report temperature <= 16° and humidity >65%, you can raise the temperature to 18-19°. I once successfully prevented a mold problem in two side rooms of a community clubhouse this way. In addition, ventilation can be linked to the CO2 level or humidity when high values are exceeded.
Then you can do things like water level monitoring in garden ponds, overflow alarms, etc., etc.
Regarding the weather station: Here you can react to extreme events besides garden irrigation. For example, extending and retracting shading in strong storms. However, for many purposes, you do not necessarily need a weather station. Many automation centers have databases for sunrise and sunset times for the region. Online access to weather data, etc. That is often enough, especially if the weather sensing for the desired location takes place nearby.
@demian
There are quite a few systems available on the market for implementation:
In my opinion, the royal road is KNX if you are not put off by the wiring effort. Open bus system with free protocol and an innumerable variety of controls, sensors, actuators. There are also many bridges to other automation systems here. It is also mainly used in commercial areas.
If it should be radio-based and also not a completely closed system, you should look into the Enocean area. Thanks to battery-less radio actuators, maintenance effort is lower here.
Then personally, I also find Homematic by EQ3 quite good in private use. The system is quite flexible due to a large range of radio actuators and sensors. Despite radio, it is quite reliable because of the bidirectional bus system. The downside is that it is a closed proprietary system, although there are initial moves to open it further with Quivicon. Bridges for integration via IPSymcon and for using older FS20 components are available.
EQ3 also manufactures the RWE Smarthome system, distributed by RWE. Currently, there is only a limited selection of sensors/actuators. The components are hardware compatible with Homematic but cannot be mixed or interchanged due to different protocols in the bus system. At least not yet. A big advantage is simple configuration. If you want more information on that, it’s best to look around in relevant forums. There you will also get countless suggestions for doable but sometimes silly setups...
With all technical functions and gimmicks, one should never forget that habits change. Therefore, less automation in many places is often more, if you do not want to spend the saved time and gained comfort through automation repeatedly on administration. Above all, the purpose of automation is not to save the basic installation of a house but to link and expand it with a logic layer. I wrote that a system that was ONCE REASONABLY set up does not require constant administration. And that is true. After a few years at the latest, many hobby administrators and homeowners have the same goal. Namely, when they are tired of constantly changing the programming, explaining via phone on the highway to their wife how to turn off the TV, or constantly playing the light switch for the children’s friends. This usually happens when the entire circle of friends and acquaintances has been shown what the house can do and everyday life slowly sets in.
And when
It’s no better at home with my mother – when he’s not there, she’s lost.
then that is not intelligent or smart but simply just sh***y.
That does not mean it cannot be better!