Australian energy provider Origin Energy has announced its plans to enter the smart home market with the introduction of an affordable starter kit, called Home HQ, that includes many of the essential smart home components.
The kit contains a gateway, smart plug, smart light bulb, temperature and humidity sensor, motion sensor, and two entry sensors. That’s a fair bit of gadgetry for only $199, and Origin’s hoping it’ll make for an excellent gateway drug (pardon the pun) into the world of smart home technology.
In a public statement, Origin’s Executive General Manager Jon Briskin explained that, “Home HQ uses open-source technology, which means that it will be able to connect many different smart devices over time,” and added that it would run through a single app, indicating that it would be a simple process to expand your collection with third-party smart devices once you’ve installed the kit.
Home HQ is currently only available to Victorian customers for $199, although Origin has stated that it will “announce details of product availability in other states and territories in 2018”.
