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Home is where the heart is, they say. That is probably why so many of us tend to worry about what happens at home when we are away.
There are few things more nerve-wracking than the sudden realisation that you left an iron or fan on at home, or your neighbour calling to tell you that your home alarm system has been triggered.
But, the good news is that such anxieties may soon become a thing of the past.
Starfield Enhance Sdn Bhd has developed EN'HANCE, a home automation system which offers home owners the ability to wirelessly monitor their home security and electrical appliances through the use of a smart device, a PC, a single remote control or a centralised console.
For added peace of mind, home owners can also opt for add-ons including a DLNA media server, a ZigBee passive infrared motion sensor and an RFID (radio frequency identification) door access reader to further enhance security via flash card, pin code and fingerprint scanning.
Existing automatic gates and alarm systems around the home, depending on compatibility, can also be configured to interact with the EN'HANCE system.
The system, which is powered by a wireless mesh network called ZigBee, was recently introduced to the Malaysian market for the first time at the Eco-B Building and Design Exhibition 2013 held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre last month.
With the EN'HANCE mobile app, users will be able to receive instant feedback on the status of all switches and sockets around the home, even while they are not physically there. For instance, whenever a light switch is turned on or off at home, it would be immediately indicated to the user via the app.
The system also allows users to remotely control switches and sockets. Various scene modes can be programmed into the system to cater for different occasions.
For example, the system can be set so that the air conditioning is turned on for specific rooms during certain hours of the day - say, from midnight to 3am in your bedroom - to save on electricity bills, or you can choose to have your kitchen oven pre-heat even while you're still driving home from work. Up to 30 settings can be programmed within one EN'HANCE scene switch.
Besides that, EN'HANCE's ZigBee power metre provides users with information about their electricity consumption at home. The company said this would indirectly promote a greener lifestyle to Malaysians as such knowledge would encourage households to consume energy only when truly necessary.
"We reckon that it is the right time (to launch this product) for the Malaysian market," Robert Wong, managing director of Starfield Enhance, said.
"In Malaysia, there are a lot of (development) projects coming up. Home automation is still in its infant stages in the country. A lot of developers want to use a system like this."
He added that another reason for the company's decision was that many Malaysians now owned smart devices such as handphones and tablets.
According to Wong, installing the EN'HANCE system at home is a fairly straightforward process. Buyers would only need to replace existing switches and power sockets with EN'HANCE's wireless alternatives, and have technicians set up a WiFi to ZigBee gateway server and ZigBee to infrared transmitter in the home. No rewiring work would be required.
Furthermore, the EN'HANCE system can be customised to suit the needs of every household. It is entirely up to the buyer whether to have the whole home connected right away, or to gradually add one room at a time to the system.
"The flexibility is there," Wong said. "It is very user friendly. The best part is there is no hacking (of walls or ceilings)."
In order to give consumers an idea of the price range to expect when purchasing the EN'HANCE system, he offered a number of scenarios.
For an apartment with two bedrooms and an area of 1,300 square feet in which the owners opted for a full fledged EN'HANCE system, costing would come up to around RM40,000. Meanwhile, for a slightly bigger apartment with a 2,000 square feet area and three bedrooms, a full package would cost RM48,000 whereas for an apartment with 3,500 square and four bedrooms, the price would be RM56,000.
"The incremental cost per square feet is much smaller," Wong said. However, he said that if a buyer had a minimum budget of at least RM5,000, the company would still be able to work out a suitable package with that budget.
"The good thing is that whatever package you want, we can design that package for you. The message we want to give to people is that this is not a system that's only meant for rich people's homes," Wong added.
Looking ahead, Wong shared that the company has plans to introduce the EN'HANCE system to other countries as well.
Source:http://techcentral.my/news/story.aspx?
file=/2013/4/4/it_news/20130404183350&sec=IT_News
By SUSANNA KHOOfile=/2013/4/4/it_news/20130404183350&sec=IT_News
bytz@thestar.com.my
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