Many new homes are being built with the additional wiring and controls which are required to run advanced home automation systems. Retro-fitting (adding smart home technologies to an existing property) a house to make it a smart home is obviously significantly more costly than adding the required technologies to a new home due to the complications of routing wires and placing sensors in appropriate places.
The range of different smart home technologies available is expanding rapidly along with developments in computer controls and sensors. This has inevitably led to compatibility issues and there is therefore a drive to standardise home automation technologies and protocols. In Europe, Installation Bus, or Instabus is becoming a recognised smart home technology protocol for digital communication between smart devices.
It consists of a two-wire bus line that is installed along with normal electrical wiring. Instabus lines links appliances to a decentralised communication system and functions like a telephone line over which appliances can be controlled.
The European Installation Bus Association is part of Konnex, an association that aims to standardise home and building networks in Europe.
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