Make the trees smart | Press

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.

Danielle Bonneau
Press

“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.

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 of the tree on at all times, in the event of a short circuit or if my cat decides to munch on the tree. [et les lumières], as it often happens to him! ”

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.

“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 M^me 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 M^me 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. ”

Twinkly, meanwhile, catches the attention of Christmas enthusiasts 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.

“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.