“Hon, did you turn off the oven”, he says. “I think so!”, she responds. “Believing is not knowing!”, he then scolds. In the modern house, disputes such as these can be avoided because figuratively speaking, the front door deactivates the oven. The house is intelligent. It reminds, remembers and can do much more.

Ein über Touchscreen gesteuerter Elektro-Herd (Image)This clever house will assume two functions: It will make our lives more pleasant, or change it at the very least. And it will play an important role in the energy transformation.

The pleasantries begin with brushing your teeth. The morning magazine will be displayed on the bathroom mirror and show a video image of a colleague in China. The goal isn’t to have you shave and cut yourself in shock, but to tread on territory of breakfast table briefings. It’s here already.

The house is always online. Occupants can regulate their heater remotely, which can be used, for example, if you’re on a ski vacation and you want your house to be cozy and warm when you arrive. It’s here already, controlled with tablets and phones (attention Samsung users, perhaps your rooms will have stay cold soon because the Koreans lost the patent infringement lawsuit with Apple in the U.S.). The house won’t water your flowers though, you’ll still need to network with your neighbors to care for your plants.

You can skype with your front door. The refrigerator knows what you’ve eaten and will write a shopping list. The house will even call a doctor if it suspects something, like if an occupant doesn’t move for an unusually long period of time. It’s here already.

The house helps with climate reversal in that in it requires less electricity that the current standard or ideally would produce electricity. Solar panels on the roof, a mini power station in the basement (perhaps to the chagrin of neighbors), windmills in the yard, and a sophisticated control – it’s here already and just gets better.

Within the fabled Smart Grid – the clever electricity network, the smart house does even more: – what’s the right word? – hotwiring with other clever things. Washing machines in Southern Germany spring into action when wind blasts through windmills in Northern Germany and electricity is cheap. Wind power will pump electric car batteries and suck it back out when it’s calm. Of course, only to the point where free citizens can continue to have a clear run. We’re really on our way.

How exactly is being shown at the IFA. “Networked Living and Life” is the name of the presentation from three electrical associations which shows these and other smart E-domesticities which illustrate to us that life in a smart house is not a distant dream.