Power Supply Requirements for Smart Home Appliances
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Power supplies appear everywhere, even in the comfort of our homes. Homes are becoming increasingly smarter, with IoT technology applied to every aspect of a person’s daily life (from entertainment to security and more).
Smart homes allow homeowners to have greater control of their energy use, allowing for higher automation and saving energy. Smart home appliances are one of the many applications of smart home technology in a home environment. The number of active households employing smart appliances is expected to grow from 5.5% in 2022 to 14.8% by 2026. For companies in the smart appliances segment, revenue is projected to reach US$48 billion by the end of 2022.
With a growing need for smarter appliances, power supplies need to keep up with this ever-growing trend of smarter power efficiency. For this reason, we will review some of the latest power supply requirements for smart home appliances.
The Power Supply Requirements for Smart Home Appliances
Smart homes connect various household appliances through central point access. In most cases, smart appliances are incremental innovations that add new features to existing products rather than creating totally new devices. For manufacturers, smart appliances tend to be more lucrative product collections because of their relatively higher product prices compared to more traditional home appliances.
In fact, many customers will tend to buy cheap small appliances at first, such as smart coffee machines or vacuum cleaners. Customers who already own these small appliances may have a greater chance to buy larger appliances with higher prices, such as refrigerators and televisions. As a result, because of the high price of these appliances, consumers expect them to provide more energy-efficient performance, making life more convenient.
In terms of power consumption, smart home appliances require reliable, continuous power 24/7. This power usage characteristic is even more prominent when smart home appliances are used for smart security. Examples of smart security appliances include but are not limited to locks, security systems, cameras, smoke, and carbon monoxide detectors. In addition, standby consumption is another problem that smart home appliances need to solve. Most home appliances are plugged in for a long time, but they are not used all the time with plenty of time on standby. Therefore, home appliances and control systems with low standby power consumption are more conducive to environmental protection and energy-saving.
To provide real benefits for homeowners, smart home appliances need to provide real-time monitoring and control over every aspect of a property. In particular, as resources become scarcer and electric costs continue to rise, families are becoming more aware and concerned with how to use their energy most efficiently. One of the ways they can do this is by installing a smart energy management system, which helps the user understand when they use the most energy and the best techniques they can implement to conserve energy.
In terms of power supplies, a smart energy management system needs to operate even in complex IoT networks where multiple appliances are constantly interconnected. In such intricate smart home systems, every home appliance’s operation relies on the data shared by another appliance. Any power failure or malfunction can tamper with the operations of the whole network by impeding the real-time data collection and transmission by the sensors involved in a smart home system.
These sensors need to be powered by a reliable power source. First, the power supply must be extremely compact; otherwise, it would be impossible to integrate them into devices. Second, they should be affordable because of their wide range of applications available. Third, they must meet several highly specific requirements of smart home applications. For example, they should own the ability to withstand frequently changing load conditions as the application switches between active and idle modes termly. Last but not least, the power supply should be fully certified for use in industrial, commercial, and household systems. The common standard for industry and communications is IEC 62368, and the required standards for home appliances are IEC60335 and IEC 60558.
Compact power supplies must be as safe and reliable as possible. That is why they should come with proper protection against short circuits and overvoltage and also conform to the EMC standards for residential areas. Power supplies for smart home applications are also exposed to frequently changing load conditions. Therefore, the power supply must be able to handle sudden load changes without causing extreme voltage peaks.
In conclusion, it is obvious that the smart home technology of the future will pose new challenges when it comes to power supplies. Developers, therefore, need to carefully scrutinize the datasheets of converters they consider for their designs. Engineers should also employ power modules and electrical components from reliable manufacturers like MORNSUN.
MORNSUN's Power Supply Solutions
Smart homes require control systems with many low-power nodes and sensors that are “always-on” and require continuous power. To meet the emerging demands of smart building applications, MORNSUN has developed a series of compact AC/DC converters that represent a cost-effective power module option for applications with space limitations, like electric circuits in smart home appliances. MORNSUN’s series of 3-90W ultra-compact cost-effective AC/DC converters LD-R2 is also a safe option, as they are 62368/60335/61558-certified.
We also provide LS-R3 Series, 1-15W AC/DC Converter LS-R3 Series can simplify complex power supply design through flexible peripheral circuits. They can be applied in almost all scenarios. It improves performance and productivity with excellent compatibility while saving costs from design to maintenance.
The LSF01-K5BXX Series is also an excellent choice. This series' supply is a single live wire power supply, featuring ultra-compact size and ultra-low no-load power consumption (<5.2mW), which is widely utilized in smart home applications.
MORNSUN has over 23 years of experience in providing reliable, cost-effective, safe power supply solutions for a wide range of applications. MORNSUN’s AC/DC converters are already employed in EV charging stations, photovoltaic systems, BEM systems, telecommunications networks, energy storage systems, and - of course - smart home systems and smart home appliances.
Contact us if you have any questions or would like to receive a sample of our reliable power supplies.
