Domestic technology

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A kitchen with various types of domestic technology, including an oven, a microwave oven and a refrigerator Ponderosa kitchen.JPG
A kitchen with various types of domestic technology, including an oven, a microwave oven and a refrigerator

Domestic technology is the incorporation of applied science into the home. There are multiple aspects of domestic technology. On one level, there are home appliances, home automation and other devices commonly used in the home, such as clothes dryers and washing machines.

Contents

On another level, domestic technology recognizes the use of applied science to construct homes to achieve a particular goal, such as energy efficiency or self-sufficiency. For more information, read about self-sufficient homes. It has been claimed that domestic technology has led to decreases in the time people spend on household work, although the factual basis of this claim is disputed. [1]

Types of domestic technology

Many technologies are now routinely used around the home. For example, microwave ovens and washing machines, [2] among others.

Cleaning equipment

For many, washing machines form an indispensable part of modern household laundry Cam 2020-07-23 09-06-55 (50146234051).jpg
For many, washing machines form an indispensable part of modern household laundry

Electric lighting

Air Conditioners Panasonic AIR CONDITIONER OUTDOOR UNIT & National AIR CONDITIONER OUTDOOR UNIT.jpg
Air Conditioners

Cooking appliances

Food storage and preservation

Home maintenance

Air conditioning

Computer systems

Power generation

Home security

Home automation

In the 21st century, especially by the 2010s, home automation has increasingly [3] been introduced into the modern household, colloquially referred to as smart home technology.

While the technology was already in development in the 1990s, [4] only in the next two decades was local area networking ubiquitous in the home, thanks to the introduction of computer networking.

Since modern home networks often make use of wireless networking (e.g. Wi-Fi), modern automation can easily be set up without having to run wires through the building. Alternatively, they can be connected to wired networks.

Types of home automation

A robotic vacuum cleaner is an example of a domestic robot IFA2012 IMG 4573.JPG
A robotic vacuum cleaner is an example of a domestic robot

Concerns towards home automation

Unlike older forms of domestic technology, smart appliances are Internet-facing, and there have been many concerns that cyberattacks may be conducted on insecure home appliances. A kind of attack is to deploy malware on smart home appliances known as botnets, which can be controlled by a remote attacker. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homemaking</span> Act of overseeing the organizational, financial, day-to-day operations of a house or estate

Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a house or estate, and the managing of other domestic concerns. A person in charge of the homemaking, who is not employed outside the home, in the US and Canada, is called a homemaker, a term for a housewife or a househusband. Historically the role of homemaker was often assumed by women. The term "homemaker", however, may also refer to a social worker who manages a household during the incapacity of the housewife or househusband. Home health workers assume the role of homemakers when caring for elderly individuals. This includes preparing meals, giving baths, and any duties the person in need cannot perform for themselves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microwave oven</span> Kitchen cooking appliance

A microwave oven or simply microwave is an electric oven that heats and cooks food by exposing it to electromagnetic radiation in the microwave frequency range. This induces polar molecules in the food to rotate and produce thermal energy in a process known as dielectric heating. Microwave ovens heat foods quickly and efficiently because excitation is fairly uniform in the outer 25–38 mm(1–1.5 inches) of a homogeneous, high-water-content food item.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washing machine</span> Machine that washes clothes automatically

A washing machine is a home appliance used to wash laundry. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water as opposed to dry cleaning or ultrasonic cleaners. The user adds laundry detergent, which is sold in liquid, powder, or dehydrated sheet form, to the wash water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Small appliance</span> Portable or semi-portable machine in use to accomplish household task

A small domestic appliance, also known as a small electric appliance or minor appliance or simply a small appliance, small domestic or small electric, is a portable or semi-portable machine, generally used on table-tops, counter-tops or other platforms, to accomplish a household task. Examples include microwave ovens, kettles, toasters, humidifiers, food processors and coffeemakers. They contrast with major appliances, such as the refrigerators and washing machines, which cannot be easily moved and are generally placed on the floor. Small appliances also contrast with consumer electronics which are for leisure and entertainment rather than purely practical tasks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Major appliance</span> Large machine which accomplishes routine housekeeping

A major appliance, also known as a large domestic appliance or large electric appliance or simply a large appliance, large domestic, or large electric, is a non-portable or semi-portable machine used for routine housekeeping tasks such as cooking, washing laundry, or food preservation. Such appliances are sometimes collectively known as white goods, as the products were traditionally white in colour, although a variety of colours are now available. An appliance is different from a plumbing fixture because it uses electricity or fuel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Home automation</span> Building automation for a home

Home automation or domotics is building automation for a home. A home automation system will monitor and/or control home attributes such as lighting, climate, entertainment systems, and appliances. It may also include home security such as access control and alarm systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Home appliance</span> Machine for household uses

A home appliance, also referred to as a domestic appliance, an electric appliance or a household appliance, is a machine which assists in household functions such as cooking, cleaning and food preservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clothes dryer</span> Appliance used for drying wet clothes

A clothes dryer, also known as tumble dryer, is a powered household appliance that is used to remove moisture from a load of clothing, bedding and other textiles, usually after they are washed in a washing machine.

The Japanese kitchen is the place where food is prepared in a Japanese house. Until the Meiji era, a kitchen was also called kamado and there are many sayings in the Japanese language that involve kamado as it was considered the symbol of a house. The term could even be used to mean "family" or "household". Separating a family was called kamado wo wakeru, or "divide the stove". Kamado wo yaburu means that the family was broken.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Union energy label</span> Energy consumption labelling scheme

EU Directive 92/75/EC (1992) established an energy consumption labelling scheme. The directive was implemented by several other directives thus most white goods, light bulb packaging and cars must have an EU Energy Label clearly displayed when offered for sale or rent. The energy efficiency of the appliance is rated in terms of a set of energy efficiency classes from A to G on the label, A being the most energy efficient, G the least efficient. The labels also give other useful information to the customer as they choose between various models. The information should also be given in catalogues and included by internet retailers on their websites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miele</span> German home appliance manufacturer

Miele is a German manufacturer of high-end domestic appliances and commercial equipment, headquartered in Gütersloh, Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The company was founded in 1899 by Carl Miele and Reinhard Zinkann, and has always been a family-owned and family-run company.

Housekeeping is the management and routine support activities of running and maintaining an organized physical institution occupied or used by people, like a house, ship, hospital or factory, such as cleaning, tidying/organizing, cooking, shopping, and bill payment. These tasks may be performed by members of the household, or by persons hired for the purpose. This is a more broad role than a cleaner, who is focused only on the cleaning aspect. The term is also used to refer to the money allocated for such use. By extension, it may also refer to an office or a corporation, as well as the maintenance of computer storage systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grundig</span> Turkish consumer electronics manufacturer

Grundig is a consumer electronics manufacturer owned by Arçelik A.Ş., the white goods manufacturer of Turkish conglomerate Koç Holding. The company makes domestic appliances and personal-care products.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Limited is a major appliance manufacturer founded in 1934. It is a subsidiary of Chinese multinational home appliances company Haier and is based in East Tāmaki, New Zealand.

Orion Electronics Ltd is a consumer electronics company headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. Orion supplies a wide range of brown and white goods including televisions, DVD players/recorders/with HDD, home theatre systems, Navigation Systems, Portable DVD Players, active speaker systems, computer monitors, MP3/MP4 players, washing machines, dishwashers, cooking ranges, microwave ovens and the full range of small domestic appliances. The company is owned and managed by the Thakral Corporation of Singapore.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to electronics:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index of home automation articles</span>

This is a list of home automation topics on Wikipedia. Home automation is the residential extension of building automation. It is automation of the home, housework or household activity. Home automation may include centralized control of lighting, HVAC, appliances, security locks of gates and doors and other systems, to provide improved convenience, comfort, energy efficiency and security.

The Living Standards Measure or LSM is a marketing and research tool used in South Africa to classify standard of living and disposable income. It segments the population into ten deciles based on their relative means, with LSM 1 being the decile with the least means and 10 being the decile with the greatest means. It does this by ranking people based on ownership of the components of a standard basket of goods. For instance, those people who owned a television set would rank higher in the LSM than those who did not.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amica (manufacturing company)</span>

Amica is a global manufacturer of household appliances headquartered in Wronki in western-central Poland. The company produces refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, microwave ovens, electric stoves and kettles for kitchens under the brands Hansa, CDA, Gram.

References

  1. Bittman, Michael; Rice, James Mahmud; Wajcman, Judy (2004). "Appliances and their impact: The ownership of domestic technology and time spent on household work". British Journal of Sociology. 55 (3): 401–423. doi:10.1111/j.1468-4446.2004.00026.x. hdl: 1959.4/34267 . PMID   15383094.
  2. "New technologies in washing machine smartphone Apps". Edmonton Maple Leaf Appliance Repair. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  3. "The Rise of the Smart Home, Apartment or Condominium". 30 August 2019.
  4. "The History of Smart Homes".
  5. "IoT botnets: Smart homes ripe for a new type of cyberattack".

Further reading