Luxembourg Households Joining The Smarthome Revolution

Bernhard Franco, pictured, is an Austrian national, who founded his smarthome tech and consulting startup in 2018 (Photo © Stephanie Jabardo / Silicon Luxembourg)

Smart sensors are rapidly catching on in Luxembourg households, a momentum that is partly driven by surging wholesale energy and gas costs in Europe.

“For now the most interesting application for IoT is energy management,” says Franco, an Austrian national, who founded his smarthome tech and consulting startup in 2018. “You can not only track your total energy consumption but you can also see your consumption per device […] enabling people to adapt and learn.”

The second most popular application for SecSelS’ IoT systems is security systems such as digital lights, which simulate the presence of a person inside the home. The device looks back, “to the last seven days and repeats how you, the resident, switched on the lights. From the outside, it looks as if someone is really turning on the lights,” Franco says. Staying within the burglary prevention theme, is the automatic shutter function, opening or closing shutters based on the sun’s position, and making it look as though a home is inhabited. “We see a particular trend for these applications in vacation houses,” the founder explains. 

Driving down costs

Franco developed an obsession with IoT systems when, while still in Austria, the smarthome alarm system he bought for his home malfunctioned. “I took the system apart and programmed my own one with my own hardware. The guy who built the alarm said ‘we can possibly sell this.’” 

The first full system was integrated into a Luxembourg home and included locks, lights, shutters, plugs and switches, heating systems, air conditioning and voice assistants. Wireless configurations enabled Franco to dramatically reduce costs compared to providers using wired systems. Since then, Franco has been constantly developing and adapting IoT solutions, which are installed by local engineers and plumbers.

Retrofit devices

He is passionate about helping households reduce their consumption, be it of water, gas or energy. What is attractive for owners of old buildings is the devices can be retrofitted, so you don’t necessarily need to rip out existing fittings to make a home smart. “We digitised a very old system by using a smart meter that regulates the heating. You can control it from anywhere in the world,” the founder explained. 

The most recent innovation is an open source smart meter capable of connecting to and tracking electricity, gas and water consumption, allowing anyone with the skills to programme their own interface and monitor their daily consumption. It can be connected to devices in any building, from a apartment to a skyscraper.

Limitless applications

The goal is to empower households, but also to help them make smart choices or even install automated responses, such as switching off devices or sending notifications when consumption is high, or switching them on based on needs. “I think that in the future, smart systems will be built in every home, because not only do you get convenience, you also get some lower maintainence,” Franco says, adding: “Because you will be able to predict when something is about to break. I think the applications of it are limitless.”

Starting January 2023, the open source dongle will be on sale at the online shop shop.secsels.com

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