"Smart" water heater: A useful device in all modern homes

The warmth we want to feel in our home, especially in winter, is related to many factors that have to do with more than just heating our home. The term 'warmth' includes comfort, functionality, safety, and, in general, the quality of life in our home, which is usually described as our personal 'refuge'.

One of the appliances we use in our home is the water heater, which regulates the amount of hot water we need. In older homes, the water heater was - sort of - a 'necessary evil': bulky, energy-intensive, difficult to use. Sometimes we even had to have more than one such device in the same house, for example, one in the bathroom, another in the kitchen. But the above picture is completely in the past. It has nothing to do with the current possibilities of a 'new generation' or 'smart' water heater, which we can very simply, easily, and directly install in our home - in any room we want.

By smart home automation, we refer to any set of devices or systems that can be controlled independently and remotely from a common network and a touch screen device. If, for example, the technology in our homework is a single system to control the TV, speakers, fridge, and so on, this is considered a 'smart home'.

The most widespread, on a global scale, solar thermal systems are solar hot water systems for domestic hot water production. These systems typically cover 60-90% of the energy a household needs to heat water. Most of them are equipped with an electrical resistance to meet the user's needs when solar energy is insufficient. Solar water heaters help to achieve the Energy and Climate targets of both Greece and the European Union. In the achievement of the European goal of decentralized, decarbonized, and digitalized energy, as far as the application of solar water heaters is concerned, only their digitalization is required, as the first two are met. In Greece, 33% of households use a solar water heater compared to 50% using an electric water heater. Many devices, including water heaters, are available on the global market equipped with IoT capabilities, allowing for operational data collection and remote control, usually via WiFi.

In general, smart home technology gives an air of luxury to its users as everything becomes easier.  Smart appliances collect data on their usage and then adjust to help reduce consumption. For example, a smart solar water heater can identify the times of day when you don't need it to be on, as well as the times of day and weather conditions where it can perform at its maximum potential.