Turning your home into a smart home will not change its outside appearance much, but it will save you money on your electricity bills, reduce your personal carbon footprint, and bring you convenience you never knew possible. The global smart home market is booming thanks to new energy generation technologies that are allowing electricity consumers to control their devices remotely from the touch of a button. Thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT) and new technology in power generation, we are able to monitor and control our energy usage and increase our productivity at home. The start home market is projected to grow double digits in the coming decade thanks to emerging technologies that have allowed humans to be more connected to their devices than ever before.
A smart home is loosely defined as a house or living environment fitted with network-connected products that can be automated or controlled to improve aspects like security, air quality, temperature, and energy usage. This market is growing in tandem with the IoT and sensor market, which makes remote controlling of household appliances possible. A particular focus has been put on implementing energy saving technology and increasing home-life convenience. Examples can be seen in products like Nest’s self-learning thermostat, Ring’s remote controlled home security cameras, or Dyson’s self-guided vacuum. Each of these products can be controlled remotely from a smart phone, making daily household tasks simpler than ever before.
Smart homes can also inform energy consumers about which products in their home are consuming the most energy and why. Whether you turn your heat off while you are at work, or you run your dishwasher after dark, smart home delivered information allows consumers to choose a more optimal times to purchase energy from the grid, avoiding peak prices during high demand hours. An upfront investment in smart devices to save money in the long-term seems to be a winning strategy in the market on a global level. However, some market researchers are also noting that the smart home trend is even more about comfort and convenience than it is about efficiency. Consumers want to come home to a warm house (smart temperature controls) that is well protected (increased smart security) and demands minimal work to maintain (self guided cleaning appliances). The combination of money saving efforts and convenience has this market seeing large growth potential across continents.
A global forecast report released by Research and Markets found that the market for smart homes was worth nearly $55 billion in 2016 and is project to grow to more than $137 billion by 2023.This means the average growth rate of consumption will be around 13.6 percent, making this an ideal market for investors. The predicted increase in the market is based on a host of factors, most importantly the increase in IoT product consumption and the increased pressure from state and federal governments to reduce overall carbon emissions. The report found that products offering lighting control held the largest share of the smart home market. While North America held the largest share of the market in 2016, Asia Pacific is expected to generate the most growth within the next eight years.
