Plan for Failure
One of the biggest failures you can have in your smart home system is when you loose power to your home. As you begin to rely on your smart home devices, having a reliable power source becomes more important.
There are also provisions you can make for when an individual device fails. Smart lightbulbs, sensors, switches, etc. are not going to all last forever or be immune to damage, so some sort of spares collection will be sensible.
If you use a smart home company to create your system then they should offer some sort of warranty and then optional service and maintenance contracts.
Protected Network Power
For most modern households that experience a power outage the first complaint is "what has happened to the Internet?"
The fibre box, router and additional Wifi points use a relatively low amount of power and so to include a small UPS system could keep your internet connection working even during a power cut. Even a small UPS could keep you smart home network running for many hours.
Security Systems
Most security systems have some sort of battery power for when the mains power fails but if they use the internet for any notifications and alerts there could be problems if the internet delivery and network routers do not have a protected power source.
Door Locks
Electronic door locks are one example of smart devices that are generally ok when there is no mains power because they are powered by batteries. So, this won't affect your general access through the door with the pin, key, RF tag, fingerprint etc., but they won't be able to be open from an app or voice command (until the home internet connection and network are restored.)
Other battery powered smart devices will be the same, like motion sensors, some cameras, blinds controls etc.. But many are powered directly by the mains electricity and so you will have to wait for the restoration of power.
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
There are many choices these days for home use UPS systems. There is a huge range of prices and capabilities. This is discussed further on the Backup Power page.
If you have a good size solar and battery system for your home then this can act as your UPS system, and depending on the size of your battery, you could have power for not only your internet network connection but the majority of your every day smart home devices.
Just Part of Your Plan!
Right at the very beginning as you planned your smart home and the technology and features it was going to contain, the provision for power and how to provide all or some of the normal operation is part of the plan.
If you are reading this before you start to build your smart home, then take note and include power protection in your plan.
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