Abstract

With the rapid expansion in population growth, advancement in the building and an associated increase in the energy consumption of energy-demanding appliances in residential building, there is a crucial need for energy conservation measures. Lack of remote access and control of household appliances has been identified as one of the main factors of energy wastage in Nigeria. This study presents the development of a global system for mobile communication (GSM) based home automation system (HAS). GSM SIM900 module was used as short message service gateway to switch ON or OFF the home appliances such as Fans, Fridge, Bulbs, Air-conditioner, Television set, DVD, DSTV, Speakers, etc via Arduino Uno microcontroller. Contrary to the wireless communication-based home automation that is prone to connectivity issues, limited coverage areas and security threat, the GSM based HAS is ubiquitous, accessible and also allows the homeowner to gain full remote control of household appliances and prevents imposter access via a password-protected system. The designed prototype was tested and further evaluated via questionnaire and the result show satisfactory performance in terms of network accessibility, usability, communication, functionality, interactivity, control and SMS notification schemes. Hence, this GSM-based home automation is recommended for household implementation which can serve as dual benefits in minimizing energy wastage and optimizing the energy consumption of electrical appliances in residential building