Home automation is an emerging practice among homeowners of automating their household appliances through electronic means. Typically, homes are wired for four things: power, telephone, cable TV, and a doorbell.
Rooms can be automated so that it not only senses the presence of a person but can recognize who that person is. It can then set the appropriate lighting and temperature of the room, even turn on the TV or CD player according to a pre-programmed schedule based on the day of the week, the time of day, and some other factors. Automation can even pre-program an air conditioning to an energy saving setting when the house is unoccupied; then restore the normal setting once the occupants have returned.
Automation can also be used for security purposes. In case of a fire emergency, an alarm can trigger the lights in the house to blink which then alerts the occupants.
Home automation is really not new. It began in 1893 when the first television remote was patented. In fact, a remote control was used by the Germans during the First World War to control motorboats. The evolution of controllers and automation has since grown and continues to grow to this day.
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