Building automation vs home automation: what are the differences?

Having smart devices is something more and more common. We can see it in many areas of daily life and the truth is that they are increasing. But you have to differentiate between two terms that can sometimes seem confusing. In this article we are going to talk about the differences between building automation and home automation . We are going to explain what each term is and what they are used for.

What is home automation?

Building automation vs home automation

Home automation can be said to be all the smart devices that we use at home. For example, light bulbs with Wi-Fi, plugs, smart appliances… The range of options is very wide, but we are always talking about devices that we use for our home and not for other places.

However, this term is sometimes used for other sites outside of a private residence . But if we are strict with the meaning, it refers to all the smart devices that we have in the house. They can be specific devices or devices that can be linked together.

The key to home automation is to be able to control these devices remotely , in addition to being connected to the network or to a home automation controller. In some cases, home devices connect directly to the router and you can access them from a mobile application, no matter where you are. You can turn them off, turn them on, consult information, make them work in some way… On other occasions, these devices will be in communication with a home automation center and generally use the Z-Wave protocol.

Casa conectada con domótica

What is immotics

On the other hand we can find the term immotic . Sometimes for this we can see that they use the word home automation, but it is not exactly the same. Inmotics are all the smart devices that we can use for automation, but in this case of buildings that are not homes.

It is basically the same as home automation in terms of operation and possibilities, but it is not used in homes. These devices can be used in public buildings , hospitals, schools, hotels, offices… A wide variety of places where we can take advantage of all their possibilities and automate tasks, optimize resources or even save energy.

Although in a certain way we can say that it is similar, in many cases building automation is more advanced than home automation . In a home we usually take advantage of technology for simpler things, such as automating lights, appliances, smart plugs… But on the other hand, in real estate we can use more sophisticated devices.

An example is in industry. In these cases we can use very advanced and complex intelligent devices to carry out tasks of all kinds. In a home we really do not need such sophisticated devices, nor large ones. Building automation is going to have more powerful and also more diverse devices, since they are used in very varied fields.

In short, as you can see home automation and building automation may seem like similar terms, but as you can see they are used in different fields. The first is used in homes, in more everyday devices such as light bulbs or plugs. On the other hand, building automation is used in industries and buildings of all kinds, but not in private homes.