Micro Mart - 10 March 2016_

Issue 1404 45

ON

TEST

Reviews

A slick IoT home control

solution

9

7

Quality

Value

88

Overall

them, because this is an
IoT (Internet of Things)
solution, and you can builda
complex web of interactions
through rules, schedules and
device interactions.
Therefore you can make
the smart meter switch off
whatever is plugged into it at
9pm each day, or when the
door that the contact sensor
is attached opens, or any
more elaborate scheme that
you can come up with.
Equally, you can ask
to be informed when the
temperature in any location
hits a certain point, or
whenever someone comes into
the house. The possibilities are,
quite literally, endless.
Along with this starter
kit, Devolo also supplieda
room thermostat, radiator
thermostat, key fob switch,
wall switch, motion sensor

and smoke detector. These

are all easily integrated into

the environment, and you can

buy additional items of each,

depending on your needs.

The only thingreally

missing here is a control

system for a boiler, though

I’m sure Devolo is going

to add that or enablea

connection to Hive ora

similar device.

Depending on the direction

you want take this solution

in, you can have it make your

home as energy efficient or

secure as you need, or any

combination of those.

Comparing this with other

IoT collections I’ve seen, this

is by far the slickest yet and

not especially expensive. Each

of the devices is generally

well made and designed, and

getting them to work as part

of a bigger setup isn’t overly

complicated or challenging

to manage.

What’s great about this

hardware is that it starts the

user off in the shallow end

of IoT control, yet you can

build something much more

sophisticated once you’re

ready to. This is exactly the

right approach, because

overwhelming people early

on with smart devices is very

likely to alienate them.

The onlyreservation I have

is that most people will want

the central unit not necessarily

with the smart metering

plug and the door/window

contact sensor. Devolo needs

to release it as a stand-alone

item, so those wishing to

use a particular facet of the

solution can focus their initial

investment better.

mmMark Pickavance





You can build something

much more sophisticated

once you’re ready to