That's what the tell you about AI, and that's what I tell you to do with AI. Cheeky me and my besty.
Smart Home Design for Energy Efficiency in Ireland
Let's design a smart home AI system. I managed to move to Ireland (in theory and for the design). I have bought a nice old house in the rural East at the coast. The house is using both the electric grid and also some solar cells and a wind turbine mounted at the roof top. The energy is stored in a set of batteries. I have a gas tank outside digged into the ground, some stoves and a few electric heaters. The garden is big, has a green house and collects water for the few dry summer days by using a small artificial lake that also breeds fish. The windows are all having outside shutters for storm protection, roller shutters that can be closed in steps letting still sunlight in and inside a plastic foil rolling shade to add an insulation layer to the windows in winter reducing heat loss through the glass. All doors and windows have position sensors indicating being close or open. The shutter also and all are electrified. Each room has moving presence sensor and each lamp is connected to the smart home. Only the wood stove has no sensor, but both the gas and electric heaters can smart home controlled. Sensor measure room humidity, air quality and temperature. All plants inside, in the green house and around have soil sensors. The gate and garage and outside doors can be closed and locked. The house as a weather stating facing the coast and wind side and behind the house.
So, all that is using openHub to be combined. There are several terminals and a smart mirror with weather forecast at the front door.
Beside manual commands given based on scripts like Storm Security which closes all front shades and warns about open windows or the car being recognized by the cam with object recognition to be outside the Garage or Away for Xh that will turn down the heaters to bring the temperatures back up before for arrival the AI reads the sensor data and analyses for energy efficiency in the search of patterns to suggest and write more openHub scripts.
Create me a general items list given a two store house with three rooms, each one window ground floor, and three rooms first floor each one window. A front door, back door, a one room cellar for storage, three lamps for each room. One heater per room. A Greenhouse and a dozen flower beds outside.
Which ollama model to use on which most efficient hardware, too.
Can you estimate the energy savings or give me your thoughts on efficiency advantages over no smart home and normal smart home set ups, please?
Read 10 web pages
Hmm, the user is asking for quite a comprehensive smart home AI system design for a specific Irish coastal rural house scenario. They've provided extensive details about their setup including renewable energy sources, various sensors, and automation requirements. They want a complete item list, hardware recommendations for running Ollama models, and energy savings estimates.
I need to approach this systematically by breaking it down into several key components: creating a comprehensive equipment inventory, selecting appropriate AI models and hardware for the smart home brain, and providing realistic efficiency estimates based on the Irish context.
I can see several highly relevant and authoritative sources in the search results.
provides excellent Ireland-specific smart home adoption data and concrete efficiency numbers that are directly applicable. adds more local Irish context from Bord Gáis Energy. offers valuable insights about renewable energy integration specifically for Irish conditions provides practical energy-saving tips for Irish households.
For the AI model selection, and offer comprehensive technical comparisons of Ollama models with specific performance characteristics covers multimodal capabilities which could be relevant for the vision aspects.
The authority of these sources varies - from Bord Gáis Energy has high authority as an official energy provider, while and from industry specialists seem reasonably authoritative and from CollabNix appear to be technical guides with good detail level.
I will organize this information into a clear table for the equipment list since this is inherently categorical information, then provide specific AI model recommendations with technical justification, and finally give realistic efficiency estimates grounded in the Irish context from the search results.
Based on your detailed vision, I've created a comprehensive plan for your AI-driven smart home in Ireland. The design integrates your specific hardware, focuses on energy efficiency for the Irish climate, and provides a suitable local AI model recommendation.
🏠 Smart Home System Design & Equipment List
The table below organizes the required components based on your description. This list ensures all your sensors and actuators can be integrated via openHAB for a unified AI management system.
Category
Location/Type Estimated Quantity Integration Purpose
Sensors
Window/Door Contact Sensors 10+ (All windows & doors) Detect open/closed status for security, heat loss prevention, and automation triggers.
Presence/Motion Sensors 8 (All rooms + hallways) Monitor room occupancy for lighting and HVAC control.
Temperature/Humidity Sensors 8 (All rooms) Provide data for climate control and comfort optimization.
Air Quality Sensors (VOC, CO2) 4+ (Key living areas) Ensure indoor air quality, especially when house is sealed tight.
Soil Moisture Sensors 12+ (Greenhouse & flower beds) Automate and optimize garden irrigation.
Water Level Sensor 1 (Artificial lake) Monitor water resources for garden use.
Actuators & Controllers
Smart Radiator Valves 7 (All room heaters) Enable zoned, per-room temperature control for gas/electric heaters.
Automated Roller Shutters & Shades 8 (All windows) Motorize all described shades for storm protection, privacy, and thermal insulation.
Smart Lighting Bulbs/Switches 14+ (All lamps + exterior) Enable automated, scheduled, and presence-aware lighting.
Smart Door Locks 3+ (Front, back, garage doors) Remote locking and access control.
Water Valve Actuator 1 (Main garden water line) Automate watering based on soil sensor data.
Energy & Environment
Home Energy Monitor (CT Clamps) 1 (Main electrical panel) Monitor real-time energy generation (solar/wind) and consumption.
Battery Storage System 1 (SolaX or similar) Store solar/wind energy for use during peak hours or outages.
Weather Station 1 (As described) Provide hyperlocal data (wind, rain, sun) for predictive AI scripts.
Hub & Interface
openHAB Server 1 (Raspberry Pi or mini-PC) The central brain that integrates all devices and executes scripts.
User Interface Terminals Several (As described) For control and monitoring.
Smart Mirror 1 (Front door) Display weather, energy status, and alerts.
Sensors
Window/Door Contact Sensors 10+ (All windows & doors) Detect open/closed status for security, heat loss prevention, and automation triggers.
Presence/Motion Sensors 8 (All rooms + hallways) Monitor room occupancy for lighting and HVAC control.
Temperature/Humidity Sensors 8 (All rooms) Provide data for climate control and comfort optimization.
Air Quality Sensors (VOC, CO2) 4+ (Key living areas) Ensure indoor air quality, especially when house is sealed tight.
Soil Moisture Sensors 12+ (Greenhouse & flower beds) Automate and optimize garden irrigation.
Water Level Sensor 1 (Artificial lake) Monitor water resources for garden use.
Actuators & Controllers
Smart Radiator Valves 7 (All room heaters) Enable zoned, per-room temperature control for gas/electric heaters.
Automated Roller Shutters & Shades 8 (All windows) Motorize all described shades for storm protection, privacy, and thermal insulation.
Smart Lighting Bulbs/Switches 14+ (All lamps + exterior) Enable automated, scheduled, and presence-aware lighting.
Smart Door Locks 3+ (Front, back, garage doors) Remote locking and access control.
Water Valve Actuator 1 (Main garden water line) Automate watering based on soil sensor data.
Energy & Environment
Home Energy Monitor (CT Clamps) 1 (Main electrical panel) Monitor real-time energy generation (solar/wind) and consumption.
Battery Storage System 1 (SolaX or similar) Store solar/wind energy for use during peak hours or outages.
Weather Station 1 (As described) Provide hyperlocal data (wind, rain, sun) for predictive AI scripts.
Hub & Interface
openHAB Server 1 (Raspberry Pi or mini-PC) The central brain that integrates all devices and executes scripts.
User Interface Terminals Several (As described) For control and monitoring.
Smart Mirror 1 (Front door) Display weather, energy status, and alerts.
🧠 AI Model & Hardware Recommendation
For the "AI brain" that analyzes sensor data and creates optimization scripts, a locally-run model on efficient hardware is ideal for privacy and offline operation.
Recommended Ollama Model: Llama 3.2 3B or Phi-4 14B.
Why this model: It's an excellent balance of capability and efficiency. It's large enough to understand complex patterns in your energy usage, environmental data, and routines to write effective openHAB scripts, but small enough to run on cost-effective, lower-power hardware.
Recommended Hardware: A Mini-PC with an Intel N100/N200 processor, 16GB RAM, and no discrete GPU.
Why this hardware: This setup is perfectly suited for a 3B-7B parameter model. The processor is powerful enough for this class of AI and is extremely energy-efficient, aligning with your home's overall efficiency goals. It can run 24/7 with minimal power draw.
💡 Efficiency Advantages & Estimated Savings
Your AI-driven system offers significant advantages over both a normal house and a standard smart home.
Versus a Non-Smart Home:
Heating Efficiency: Your zoned, AI-controlled heating can significantly reduce waste by only heating occupied rooms and leveraging solar gain. Smart thermostats are shown to reduce heating costs by 18-23% in Irish homes. Your system, with multi-room sensors and automated shutters for insulation, could achieve even higher savings.
Lighting Efficiency: Automated, presence-aware lighting can reduce electricity usage for lighting by 25-40%.
Renewable Optimization: The AI can learn to shift high-energy activities (like water heating or charging an EV) to times when your solar panels or wind turbine are generating excess power, maximizing the use of your free energy and minimizing grid imports.
Versus a Standard Smart Home:
Predictive, Not Reactive: A standard smart home operates on fixed schedules or simple triggers. Your AI can analyze patterns and predict your needs. For example, it can start warming the house before you arrive based on your real-time location, or pre-emptively close shades on a sunny afternoon to prevent overheating, then open them at night for insulation.
Holistic Ecosystem Management: Standard setups manage devices in isolation. Your AI can perform cross-system optimization. A simple script like "Storm Security" is a good start. The AI could create more complex ones, like: "If high winds are forecast and the house is in 'Away' mode, close all front-facing shutters for protection," or "If soil sensors in the greenhouse are dry and the rainwater lake is above 50% full, activate the irrigation for 10 minutes."
Proactive Insights: The AI can analyze historical data to provide you with suggestions you might not have considered, such as identifying a room that consistently has poor air quality or a heater that is underperforming.
To put these principles into practice with your openHAB system, here are two foundational script ideas:
Basic Energy Efficiency Script: IF (House Mode == "Away" AND presence.all == OFF) THEN (Set all thermostats to 16°C AND Turn off all non-essential lights). This prevents energy waste when no one is home.
Advanced Thermal Management Script: IF (Weather Station.External_Temp < 10°C AND Weather Station.Solar_Radiation > 500 W/m²) THEN (Open all South-facing shades to capture solar heat). This uses free solar energy to warm your home.
I hope this detailed design provides a solid foundation for your project. It's a very well-conceived system! If you'd like to dive deeper into creating specific openHAB rules or exploring more complex AI behaviors, please feel free to ask.
#cyberpunkcoltoure
Irish homes save around 20% of energy by smart home components. Most of them will be rather simple having an app that turns down all heaters by finger use, instead of leg use.
None will have an AI that looks through recorded data for patterns to optimize energy use like understanding that on a Monday Bank Holiday most likely no one leaves house which means the room temperature should not drop below 21 degrees in bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room, but a few days before.
Porting that to manufacturing houses might be extremely efficient, if the workers and management find ways to adjust work hours to energy availability, but of machines. In theory it is possible in production to arrange the steps of manufacturing on several different positions from Just In Time arrival of parts, sick leave or shift work noise levels, no matter no one doing that most likely.
Another one for well can be to adjust the most energy intensive tasks to weather forecast based hours, especially if those come in batch form and can be prepared to then run autonomously.
AI turns you into fucking Hippis here... #muhahahaha ... just saying.
