SECURE YOUR HOME DIY STYLE
You’ll get an alert to your phone if a window or door opens
Panasonic Home Monitoring & Control Kit
€319, panasonicstore.ie
★★★★ ★
Technology is disrupting more than a few businesses, and one of the sectors coming under pressure from the digital economy is the home security industry.
DIY enthusiasts are kitting their homes out with all manner of cameras and monitoring equipment to keep an eye on everything from their valuables to their pets.
But there’s more to security than just a camera.
Light up and secure windows and doors, we’re told, in order to keep burglars out – and global technology giants have introduced some DIY kits that can help you do just that.
I tested the Panasonic Home Monitoring & Control Kit which comes with the basics to get you started in securing a couple of key entry points to your home. It also enables you to keep an eye on what’s going on when you’re not there. The kit comes with two window/door sensors, an indoor camera, a smart-plug, a motion detector and a hub unit that all the devices connect to.
The various components have a stylish, stark look to them, as well as feeling well made.
The sensors screw into the windows easily and attaching the camera to the wall is simple too. Remember to look out for any internal wiring in your home before you start installing the equipment.
You’ll need to download the Panasonic Home Automation app for IOS or Android to make it all work but set-up is straightforward, despite the app looking a little rudimentary.
The Panasonic hub will find the devices you have installed and it talks to them using DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications), a wireless system usually associated with cordless phones.
It’s an unusual choice, but a secure one, as it makes the kit invisible to most con- sumer electronics and provides reliable connection over longer distances.
Once installed, the hub takes control of things and has various lights and audible alarms to tell you the status of the system.
The indoor camera is not of a particularly high quality, but the footage it records is adequate and it can also double as a useful baby or child monitor.
You’ll receive alerts on your phone from the hub, for instance when a door or window is opened, and can instantly view what’s going on in the house via the indoor camera. Arming and disarming the system using a smartphone or tablet is quick and reliable.
There are a few downsides to the Panasonic kit – with connectivity being the biggest issue for me. IFTTT, which stands for ‘If This Then That’ allows users to create formulas, or recipes, for home appliances. For instance, you could have the heating switch on automatically when the lights in the hall are turned on.
Panasonic’s lack of IFTTT integration is more than irksome for me as a consumer, and I think a missed opportunity for the company. The kit does allow some automation, but the benefits could be amplified significantly if consumers could integrate this kit with the rest of our home technology.
Notwithstanding this, the ease of installation and quality of the kit make it an attractive purchase for someone who’s comfortable with a modest bit of DIY.
It’s also fair value for a starter kit that brings a little bit of automation to your home.
You’ll get some handson experience of the sort of technology that’s likely to be in our homes over the coming years, and the price seems a modest investment for what we all seek in our homes – security.