In France, the connected home is increasingly popular

• The connected home is becoming more and more part of the design of our interiors.

• For Laurent Glaser, expert at Leroy Merlin, the French are equipping themselves more and more, with connected lighting as a gateway.

• Faced with Google Home and Amazon Alexa, the DIY chain has launched Enki, its own solution for the connected home and is counting on the interoperability of objects for the 2.0 home to develop even more strongly.

The connected home: dream or reality?

While so-called “connected” objects have been flocking to the shelves for years, and for almost five years now Google Home and Amazon Alexa have been inviting themselves into our homes to control them by voice, what are the contours of this market?

Who gets equipped, how, what works, what doesn't, what are the new promises of the

?

To find out, the editorial staff of

interviewed Laurent Glaser, director of connected home strategy and foresight at Leroy Merlin, a brand which, with more than 140 stores, is at the forefront of taking the pulse of our habitat.

How is the concept of “connected home” evolving in France?

Consumers begin by testing according to their own needs.

And with several entries: the need for security, automation, reduction of the energy bill.

Then, people discover things, find them practical.

Thus, we can enter the connected house with a simple Wifi bulb at 10 euros!

Is lighting still the basics of the connected home?

It is in any case the first use.

At first, people found it amusing, gimmicky, rather than useful.

However, connected bulbs make it possible to imagine atmospheres, to create the right tone in the house, to control its lighting.

They can also avoid heavy renovation work or the displacement of poorly placed switches.

Finally, they can be synonymous with serenity, by simulating a presence at home.

Why did Leroy Merlin launch Enki, his own connected home solution?

Google Home and Alexa weren't enough?

Google Home and Amazon's Alexa are great connected home accelerators.

Voice control is very popular, but its adoption does not yet reach all habitats for various reasons.

And the applications of these two giants are not necessarily ergonomic.

With the free Enki application and for all uses, we wanted a solution that would allow us to address as many things as possible in the house, but in a homogeneous way, and consistent with our brand.

Like being multi-protocol?

A box is a constraint for customers.

Getting locked into closed protocols is another.

Hence the need for interoperability between products.

We can also say that with the ZigBee* protocol, things are changing for the better.

With the Enki box, we carry out a work of simplification, democratization, in the same way as companies like Legrand, Somfy or Ikea.

The

is not an exact science.

You have to arrive at something that is problem-free, think “solution”, before thinking “product”.

Precisely, faced with rising energy prices, can the connected home reduce the bill?

Many radiators are now connectable.

I want to say: have fun connecting yours with a small module to see the difference!

This allows everyone to get started quickly, for a reasonable budget, without necessarily compromising on the quality of the design which is also a purchase criterion.

And to make real savings, by programming specific scenarios, by heating only the rooms that need it, by controlling it remotely...

A natively connected radiator costs around 400 euros.

Otherwise, count 45 euros per module per compatible radiator.

For its part, our box costs 119 euros.

A box at 119 euros, isn't that a bit expensive for basic uses?

If we want to democratize and embark more and more consumers on simple uses with a box at 119 euros and a bulb at 20 euros, we are bordering on the absurd, indeed.

We therefore released the Enki Connect box at 29 euros for the simplest uses, such as lighting.

Even if we are convinced that some of the people who have entered the connected home through lighting will not go any further, it is up to us to show them the range of possibilities, especially around sustainable habitat.

Examples ?

Heating, we said.

But also automation, as with rolling shutters that are a hit!

I am also convinced that the

will help people stay at home longer.

Shutters that close and open on their own are a real benefit for the elderly!

And children will be prescribers for their parents.

Have you seen connected home products that didn't work?

What is and remains a gadget in the public eye does not work, such as the connected shower head.

Otherwise, I would rather say that what doesn't work… hasn't worked yet!

Although we are a big seller of kitchens, we have not yet gone to connected household appliances, for example.

We have yet to see the “

” for these products… let alone meet the “

demand” from the public!

And personally, I'm not really comfortable with a connected oven...

And conversely, what is “trendy”?

The exterior of the house, the world of the garden are shifting into the connected.

The big revolution will be in the

, as with connected irrigation, which is coming in force.

The exploding market is also that of mowers.

Then will come the turn of e-mobility.

We will have to manage the energy of the habitat with the presence of electric cars on charging stations...

* The ZigBee protocol allows communication between different equipment at short distances (from 75 to 100 meters indoors and up to 300 meters outdoors, with a mesh that extends the range of devices.

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