And you don’t have to DIY

The Internet of Things could change your home and theoretically make it easier to lessen the drudgery of home ownership

The harsh passage light that hits your eyes when you stumble into the kitchen in the middle of the night is close to the worst way to have your sleep interrupted.

Think of what a difference wellplaced sensors would make. With a bit of code running in the background, you would be able to make the trip to the kitchen sink or fridge with dim lights that switch on when you need them, without you having to do a thing.

Homeowner Sean Mcleod has not taken it to that extent — yet — but he has slowly been automating his home in Melville, Johannesburg, after moving into it in January 2016.

As a software developer, he wants to minimise the “admin” that comes with running a home and has set about doing that with the help of technology.

“I say that, yet it can potentially be more admin to look after these things. Still, I wanted to try this out,” he says.

Mcleod began his project outside the house. He bought a rainwater tank and installed a sensor that sends a message to his phone when the tank’s water levels are low, so he knows when to top it up during the winter months.

He also installed an irrigation system to water his herbs and vegetables, and introduced sensors to measure the level of moisture in the soil so the system is aware of when to water.

He has ensured that the cupboard used to house the solar batteries — which he uses to store electricity generated from the solar panels from his roof — is kept cool, with an extraction fan triggered by a temperature sensor, to minimise damage to the batteries, which can overheat. Should the cupboard get too hot, a notification alert is sent to his phone.

Mcleod looked for an off-theshelf system that would suit his lifestyle and his plans for his home. When he couldn’t find what he was looking for, he chose to build a system himself.

He bought basic sensors and microcontrollers to build what he needed. That took some time as he grappled with the electronics.

The components, he says, are relatively cheap.

He then built a back-end system to collect and store the data he was gathering, such as temperature and soil moisture levels, and also sends out the notifications.

“I managed to mess up a lot of sensors with the wrong voltage and fried them,” he says.

But he has pulled it off. Mcleod has not hand-watered his plants at all over the past six months, and he says they are doing just fine.

“I could go away for a month and not have to worry about my herbs and vegetables, which is great,” he says.

He plans to extend his irrigation system over the entire garden and will install sensors to measure rainfall and wind speed.

He isn’t sure how far to take automation and is still toying with that. He does not want the system to become a burden if it stops working, especially since the original idea was to reduce daily chores.

For Mcleod, a technical background makes it easy to design solutions for himself. For the rest of us, off-the-shelf products are becoming available that offer the convenience of home automation.

Apple has introduced Homekit, which apparently gives you the power to control your home from your phone. Samsung, Google and Amazon have similar products. Most major tech firms are moving into this space by creating hubs to control automation.

In the US, revenue from home automation products is expected to be $4.9bn this year and to reach $9.2bn by 2021.

Mcleod’s system is limited for the most part to the outside of his home.

Reshaad Sha, CEO for Sqwidnet, has automated the inside of his house. His home has lights that shine at a particular brightness at different times of the day. They are programmed to provide soft light as the natural light fades in the afternoon.

His automated systems offer