Our “Independent” World:
Our modern home, our private, independent World reiles on electricity, more than ever. The thermostat on the wall is using electricity to control the heating and cooling. The furnace becomes useless without the electrical fan which moves the air. Without power, there is no TV, telephone or Internet service, either. We can’t even enter our home without electricity, since the incapacitated electrical gate opening mechanism will keep us outdoors.
Smart homes then, are not smart at all?
Yes, the smart homes are smart. We just have to make sure that we are smart enough, too, when we build our smart home. We need to pay attention and spend some time and money on securing our power supply.
First step, financial considerations
When we receive the quotations from our suppliers, let’s spend some time evaluating our future home’s features. If we feel that, our budget is maxed out, leaving no room for any extra, we should be very cautious. If there is no surge protection, backup power fuctionality in the plan, we can find ourselves in a very sad situation during the first major power outage, maybe not so long after we have moved in to our new home. It is better to settle for less features, and leave some of them out or move certain features to the future option column, but we should seriously consider having proper backup power in our home.
How much backup is enough?
That depends on our budget of course. If we can afford building a small power plant in our backyard, that is of course the best. However, if we need to stay realistic, we should be able to determine our basic needs, based on the following guidelines.
Less is more:
If we need to run our home on backup power, then using less power at once, will make our backup supply to last longer. We can discuss with the electician to arrange a limited set of light circuits to be on backup power, instead of trying to supply the whole house, during power outage. Major entry and exit routes, sleeping areas are probably enough. We can also make arrangemet to keep our freezers running, so the family will not remain without food, in case of a greater emergency situation.
Alternatives:
If we make arrangements for the case of power outage, then we will most likely be able to ride it out, no matter how long it will last. A woodburning fireplace in the house can probably keep at least one room warm, if the power goes out in the middle of the winter. Our camping stove can also be a great helper in the kitchen.
Gates and doors:
If we arrange for a mechanical bypassing option for our entries, then we will not be locked out, and more importantly we would not have to leave our gates or doors open, when the power is out. Most electrical gates can be equipped with a bypass key, which lets us open and secure our gates, manually. If we have a side door which can be installed with a mechanical locks, then we have a safe entry to the house, too.
Alarm System:
Our alarm system most likely comes with its, own separate backup power. Just let’s make sure, that there is a wireless link to the monitoring station, which can be used even when there is no power in the house.
Telephones:
Most local telephone systems can be run from backup power. If the backup would run out, then the sytstem will automatically switch to no power mode. It will route the incoming telephone lines to the designated emergency telephone sets. We just need to know, which phones are set up for the emergency mode, to be able to make a call.
What happens when the power is finally back?
This is another question, which we need to ask from our suppliers, during the construction of our home. How is the power swtiching going to act, when the electricity is out, and when it comes back? Also, the automation, heating and other systems has to have their own mechanisms to handle the power outage.
