Smart technology is making its way around the house, right down to the tree. Controlling lights (and their power consumption) remotely has become a snap.
“Home automation is no longer inaccessible, as was the case in the early 2000s,” notes Maxime Caron-Labonté, sales director at Sinopé Technologies, a Quebec company specializing in the design of smart devices and in the management of electricity. energy, established in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu.
“There is a democratization of connected devices,” he explains. People are more and more comfortable with their phones and they are looking to consume in an environmentally responsible and intelligent way. ”
A device as simple as a smart socket is one of the ecosystems designed by the manufacturer, which has just won the Grand Prize in the “Integrated Home” competition, organized by the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, which brings together program administrators from energy efficiency in Canada and the United States.
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY SINOPÉ TECHNOLOGIES
In the Sinopé Technologies application, all you have to do is choose the times when the tree turns on or off automatically. The programming varies according to the wishes and the schedule of the users.
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PHOTO PROVIDED BY SINOPÉ TECHNOLOGIES
Sinopé Technologies’ smart socket monitors the energy consumption of the device that is plugged in. It is thus easy to know how much the lighting of the Christmas tree costs during its period of use.
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This socket allows you to control any type of device, and even the lights of a tree, using the app Neviweb. “Myself, I have one at home,” says Mr. Caron-Labonté. Thanks to her, my tree turns on and off by itself. Our smart plug also monitors the energy consumption of the device that is connected. We will know at the end of December how much our tree will have cost us! ”
By means of the application, the moment when the tree turns on or off automatically can vary according to the wishes and the schedule of the users. The programming can therefore vary on weekends and weekdays.
“My tree is not lit when I’m not there,” explains Désirée Larocque, communications advisor at Sinopé Technologies. This allows me to avoid the risk of fire, which could arise if I left the lights on the tree on all the time, in the event of a short circuit or if my cat decides to nibble on the tree. [et les lumières], as it often happens to him! ”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY GLOBE ELECTRIC
Globe Electric’s smart light strips change color at will, depending on the desired mood.
Technological shift
Globe Electric, founded in 1932 in Montreal, made a technological shift ten years ago. It also has an outlet in its smart product line, which includes power strips, LED bulbs and light strips.
Thanks to the smart socket, people no longer have to crawl under their Christmas tree. We can plug in the lights of an ordinary tree and control this outlet with our smartphone on the application Globe Suite.
Julie Pinard, Globe Electric Vice President of Sales
“Those with smart assistants, like Google Home, Alexa, and Siri, can also do voice commands,” she adds. In our range of smart sockets there is one for the outdoors. You can control the lights no matter where you are. ”
Same bulb, different colors
Smart outlets have no effect on the colors of the lights on the tree, says Mme Pinard. Some types of smart LED bulbs, on the other hand, can change color outright, if desired, through the app.
“Smart bulbs, in lights, can for example alternate from red to green during festive evenings,” emphasizes Mme Pinard. And when we return to our normal tasks, we go back to the app and put the bulbs back in a nice white. Outside, you can also be creative and adapt to the seasons, if you put smart bulbs outside the house. They can turn red during the Holidays, blue for Saint-Jean-Baptiste and orange for Halloween, without having to change them. ”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY LOWE’S CANADA
The Twinkly company offers smart LED string lights, the colors and sparkle of which can be customized.
Twinkly, meanwhile, catches the attention of Christmas buffs with its smart LED string lights, whose colors and sparkle can be personalized and even synced to music. Everything is managed by means of an application, which offers various ways of animating a tree and its surroundings.
“It’s for those who want to show off,” says Lydia Thammavong, Marketing, Design, Styles and Trends Manager, Lowe’s Canada (Réno-Dépôt and Rona). But there are also several choices. You can make the tree sparkle or choose a warm light, which becomes more classic. It all depends on the atmosphere you want to create. ”
Thinking about eco-responsibility
By professional reflex, the industrial designer Patrick Messier observes the different products offered on the market from the angle of their eco-responsibility, taking into account their life cycle. The designers at his agency and he made the choice not to design any disposable product. As the holiday season approaches, some types of items find more favor in her eyes than others.
He therefore finds the smart socket interesting. “It reduces energy consumption by having the tree lit only when it is needed,” he emphasizes. By having programmed it in advance with an application, we arrive at the house and the tree is lit. It’s more welcoming, it’s pleasant. The application also allows the control of other types of electrical products.
I would no longer have a conscience issue with purchasing a smart Christmas tree that has built-in lights. You always have to question yourself. What will happen when lights are burned in my tree five, six or seven years from now?
Patrick Messier, president of the Messier Designers agency
“Either I’m going to have a big hole or I’m going to tell myself that I have to change it.” In this case, environmentally and economically, it is not worth it. ”
Leaning clearly in favor of natural trees, the president of the Messier Designers agency takes a critical look at Christmas lights. “What’s boring is that when an LED bulb burns out, you often have to replace the entire string of lights,” he says. It’s something that tires me out. Then it is not true that these products last 25 years. It takes quality LED bulbs to have a long life. This is not the kind of product you find in Christmas string lights. ”
Using them intelligently therefore makes even more sense.