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We sat down with Energenie’s Business Development Manager, Adam Smith a few weeks ago for a good chat on where the UK smart home company is headed.
Two Tribes
The Energenie system uses 2 carriers with their implementation of the OpenThings protocol. On-off keying (OOK) is used in the basic modules which keeps prices incredibly keen. For example a simple plugin module costs less than £10.
Although there’s no status reporting with these units Energenie say the commands are blasted for several seconds in an effort to make sure they get through.
Their fully featured modules use Frequency-shift keying (FSK) and these transceiver units have full status reporting so you can be sure your commands are carried out.
The Mi|Home gateway has both protocols on board as Energenie don’t want to force people that have bought the basic modules to scrap them. Good plan as they’ve sold over half a million of the things to date!
Now with Added Amazon
Today brings the announcement that the Mi|Home system now ‘Works with Alexia’. So if you fancy some voice control of your lights and appliances for with Amazon Echo, suddenly those £8 plugin appliance modules are looking more interesting aren’t they.
Nest
The Energenie range also includes Smart Radiator Valves and these TRVs are compatible with the Nest learning thermostat. They can be set to follow the temperature target of your Nest system, or you can set them to an independent temperature too if you prefer.
While we were on the subject of heating we asked about boiler relay control and Adam confirmed a Boiler Control Switch is on the roadmap too.
IFTTT & API
Add that to the existing MiHome IFTTT compatibility and it’s easy to see why this system is really going places. Interestingly Adam told us that they have also completed the integration with SmartThings (through IFTTT) but they are still waiting for Samsung to ‘flip the switch’ and turn it on at their end. Hmmmm.
In addition, you can apply for access to the MiHome Cloud API if you’re ready to roll your own code and integrate with your DIY systems.
The Future
It’s only 18 months ago that the system was launched, but it’s clear from our chat that Mi|Home is forging ahead. In just the last six months they’ve seen the average devices per system increase from a 3 to almost a 6.
Their road map for 2017 will focus on two areas. Firstly ‘Monitoring’ with CCTV integration and the addition of a new multi-sensor coming around Q2 that will measure Light, Temperature and have an onboard Accelerometer. Their second target is the ‘Care Sector’ and we’ll be watching them with interest over the coming months.
energenie4u.co.uk : Available from Amazon
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