Applications of IoT in Building and Housing Appliances
In this article, we will go over various IoT applications in buildings and housing appliances. We shall first look at how IoT can help build better buildings, and improve their safety, followed by some of the challenges involved, and then look at ten unique applications of IoT in infrastructure. So buckle up, and read till the end of the article!
IoT Uses in Housing Appliances and Buildings
Today, IoT enables various concepts like automated buildings and connected buildings, whose whole idea is to improve functionality and facilitate the owners, users, and management.
Numerous IoT-driven concepts and applications have led to cost efficiency in automating security, smoke, lighting, ventilation, and air conditions.
There are several benefits of using IoT in buildings. For example, IoT can detect fire and other severe incidents and call the fire department if necessary. IoT also enables automation in monitoring air, water, and soil pollution.
IoT-based smart buildings have features like Predictive maintenance, where you can check on the building from remote locations to reduce dependency on manual labour. IoT can also be used in housing appliances to monitor climate control and changes in humidity, pressure, temperature, etc.
Challenges of Using IoT in Infrastructures
It goes without saying that IoT has a bright future and numerous advantages in buildings and other home appliances. But everything has its share of negatives. Let us take a look at some disadvantages of using IoT in buildings and homes:
1. High cost
IoT is no cheap technology. On the contrary, it is expensive to buy, set up and maintain. Moreover, we know IoT requires a lot of software and even more hardware. Thus the building would need a skilled team of IT officials to manage its IoT system.
2. Security
We all know that security is the only downside of IoT in general. If there is no proper IoT security, attackers can get hold of hundreds of residents’ valuable data and maybe even expose and misuse it.
3. Data Storage
IoT constantly collects and stores data. In other words, it needs large amounts of data processing information to be stored in the cloud. Unfortunately, buildings and other modern residential architectures lack data storage infrastructure. Moreover, old ways of data storage are not competent with IoT ecosystems.
Applications of IoT in Buildings and Housing
Let us now look at ten fascinating examples of IoT in housing and buildings.
1. Environment and Conditioning
In a smart building, IoT sensors can track and store data on air, water, and soil quality. Along with this, they can also monitor CO2 levels in the air and help reduce air pollution. So IoT is also playing a massive role in reducing water and soil pollution.
2. Enhancing Security
IoT devices like cameras, sensors, and smart doorbells are crucial to the safety of buildings. For example, once the motion sensors detect motions, the cameras automatically start recording to capture what is going on.
Using the app through your phone, you can arm and disarm the system from anywhere. In addition, these security devices can also be integrated as part of a smart home ecosystem and mimic household activities as if the person is at home.
3. Health and Safety
Gargantuan skyscrapers with complex structures can threaten the residents’ safety due to various factors like the use of cheaper construction materials, poor design, and defects during harsh weather.
However, with IoT devices, we can detect even minor issues and tackle them before they lead to bigger incidents. Sometimes civil solutions may miss these minor issues, and if not treated and ignored, they could lead to major incidents.
4. Enhancing Quality of Life
We all know that IoT improves the consumers’ quality of life, so much so that an entire branch of IoT is dedicated to this – CIoT (Consumer Internet of Things). The simple reason is that IoT offers simpler and more comfortable solutions to daily problems.
One perfect example of this is ‘SmartHome’, a smart IoT device connection that works together and improves the functionality of regular homes. IoT is also known to increase machines’ productivity and predict machines’ breakdowns.
5. Sound Detection
Sound detection has many applications in day-to-day activities. For example, tracking babies, turning lights on and off, robotically detecting your pet’s sound at the door and opening it up to your pet, and so many more scenarios.
IoT sound sensors can record sounds within the frequency spectrum audible to the human ear, which is stored within a specific time range in the area where they are installed.
6. Humidity Sensors
Smart IoT humidity sensors are very accurate and are capable of sensing humidity/RH levels in the air inside smart houses. However, there are a few sensors (like the DHT11 and DHT22 sensors) that sense very poorly when compared to first-rate sensors (like the Dig RH and HIH6100.)
These sensors are essentially used to sense the changes in moisture. Other uses of humidity sensors include smart agriculture, smart buildings, hotel management chains, remote asset management, and many more.
7. Maintenance
Every home comes with the burden of maintenance, and a huge skyscraper means only more maintenance. The power and fuel required for maintenance may sometimes lead to a great loss.
IoT comes to help by providing a real-time monitoring system to perform automatic routine checks in addition to field sensors that prevent serious incidents by providing real-time data.
8. Productivity
The construction industry is conditioned by deadlines and targets. It is also mandatory to avoid backlogs as they result in budget increases. This is where IoT comes to help, as it increases efficiency and productivity.
The supply is fitted with various IoT sensors that determine the quantity, make automatic orders, or raise alarms. It avoids the late supply of materials that often occurs because of poor scheduling caused by human error.
9. Monitoring Waste Management
Waste management is crucial to reduce the carbon footprint of the construction sector. Thus monitoring waste management is essential to immediately clean the trash from hundreds of households in a building. It is possible in a cost-effective method by using IoT devices.
IoT devices and sensors are also used to monitor the structural health, detecting vibrations and cracks and monitoring conditions of critical building members and civil structures during and after construction.
10. Curing Concrete
We all know that curing concrete is very common in construction, and IoT is helping even that. These sensors are immersed in concrete during casting. In addition, these sensors follow the curing of concrete in real time. It allows the construction manager to monitor and plan their schedules.
These are only a few applications of IoT in buildings and homes. There are countless more applications of IoT, like lighting management, HVAC, gardening management, clever domestic appliances, AI-driven, virtual studies, smart switches, and smart locks.
Summary
You now know ten bewildering applications of IoT in housing infrastructures like maintenance, productivity, safety, sound detection, humidity sensors, enhancing the quality of life, and so many more.