Glossary
Smart-home terms in plain words.
42 terms from the lessons, each with the lesson that explains it in full.
A.
- AMC
- Annual maintenance contract: a recurring service you sell after handover. It should say what is covered, what is not, how a fault is reported, which equipment is included and how it renews.
- Explained in How to Quote a Smart-Home Project: Bill of Materials, Labour, Margin and AMC
- As-built drawings
- Drawings that show what was actually built, not what was designed.
- Explained in Commissioning and Handover Checklist for Smart-Home Projects
B.
- Backset
- The distance from the door edge to the centre of the handle spindle. Measure it and compare it with the lock's drawing instead of assuming a figure.
- Explained in How to Install a Smart Lock on Indian Doors
- Bill of materials
- The room-by-room list of every item in a quote, with quantity, cost and price. Include shared items such as hubs, deeper boxes and backup power.
- Explained in How to Quote a Smart-Home Project: Bill of Materials, Labour, Margin and AMC
- Border router
- Forwards traffic between a Thread mesh and your Wi-Fi or Ethernet network. It is not automatically a Matter controller or a bridge.
- Explained in Wi-Fi, Zigbee, Thread and Matter: A Visual Guide for Indian Homes
- Bridge
- Makes devices from another system, such as a Zigbee hub, visible to Matter controllers. It exposes only the functions it chooses to map.
- Explained in Matter for Installers: Controllers, Border Routers, Bridges and What to Promise a Client
- Bypass
- A part wired in parallel with the load that some live-only modules need to control small LED loads. Use only the part the maker supplies for that exact module.
- Explained in Smart Switches Without a Neutral Wire: What Works in Indian Switchboards
C.
- Commissioning
- The last stage of a job, where you prove that every function and failure case works and hand the system over. In Matter it also means adding a device to a controller.
- Explained in Commissioning and Handover Checklist for Smart-Home Projects
- Contactor
- A heavy-duty switch that carries a large or motor load. The smart module drives its coil, and its contacts carry the load.
- Explained in Load Planning for Smart Homes: Relay Ratings, Motors, Pumps, Geysers and AC
- Coordinator
- The one device that forms a Zigbee network. In a consumer hub it is built in; in a DIY setup it is a USB radio on a small computer.
- Explained in How to Design a Zigbee Network for an Indian Home
D.
- Dead zone
- A place in the home where a wireless device cannot be reached reliably. Test for it room by room, then fix it with routers and placement.
- Explained in Signal Range in RCC Homes: Gateway Placement, Testing and Fixing Dead Zones
- Distribution board
- The board where the home's circuits are fed and protected, each by its own MCB.
- Explained in Smart Switches Without a Neutral Wire: What Works in Indian Switchboards
E.
- End device
- Usually a battery-powered Zigbee device that talks to a parent and sleeps. It does not relay, so battery sensors do not extend the network.
- Explained in How to Design a Zigbee Network for an Indian Home
- ETS
- The engineering software used to design, program and diagnose KNX installations. The project file it produces is the system's design record.
- Explained in KNX Basics for Indian Residential Projects: Topology, ETS, Group Addresses and Power Supply
F.
- Fabric
- One controller's Matter network. A device can belong to several fabrics at once, which is how it can be used in more than one app.
- Explained in Matter for Installers: Controllers, Border Routers, Bridges and What to Promise a Client
G.
- Ghosting
- Flicker, a faint glow or flashing from an LED lamp that is switched off, usually because a live-only module leaks standby current through it.
- Explained in Smart Switches Without a Neutral Wire: What Works in Indian Switchboards
- Group address
- A logical KNX address that links a sender to receivers, for example a button and a lamp actuator. The usual three-level form is main/middle/sub.
- Explained in KNX Basics for Indian Residential Projects: Topology, ETS, Group Addresses and Power Supply
H.
- Handing
- Which side the hinges are on and which way the door opens. Some locks are handed out of the box; others can be reversed.
- Explained in How to Install a Smart Lock on Indian Doors
I.
- Inductive load
- A load such as a motor, pump, fan or contactor coil. It draws far more current at start-up than when running and is hard on relay contacts when they open.
- Explained in Load Planning for Smart Homes: Relay Ratings, Motors, Pumps, Geysers and AC
L.
- Line coupler
- Joins a KNX line to the main line and filters telegrams so that local traffic stays local.
- Explained in KNX Basics for Indian Residential Projects: Topology, ETS, Group Addresses and Power Supply
- Live-only module
- A switch or relay module that needs no neutral. It takes its standby power through the load, so it has a minimum load, and some LED lamps flicker or glow with it.
- Explained in Smart Switches Without a Neutral Wire: What Works in Indian Switchboards
- Load schedule
- A list with one line per load: its circuit, nameplate rating, type and behaviour at switch-on, and the module chosen. You check each module against it before you price.
- Explained in Load Planning for Smart Homes: Relay Ratings, Motors, Pumps, Geysers and AC
M.
- Margin
- The share of the selling price that you keep. A product that costs 100 and sells for 150 has a 50% markup and a margin of about 33%.
- Explained in How to Quote a Smart-Home Project: Bill of Materials, Labour, Margin and AMC
- Markup
- What you add to your cost to set the selling price, as a percentage of cost. It is not the same as margin.
- Explained in How to Quote a Smart-Home Project: Bill of Materials, Labour, Margin and AMC
- Matter controller
- The role that commissions Matter devices and sends them commands. A hub, speaker, TV box or server can provide it.
- Explained in Matter for Installers: Controllers, Border Routers, Bridges and What to Promise a Client
- MCB
- Miniature circuit breaker, the protection device for one circuit on the distribution board. Isolate a circuit at its MCB, not just at the wall switch.
- Explained in Smart Switches Without a Neutral Wire: What Works in Indian Switchboards
- Mesh
- A network in which always-powered devices relay messages for one another, so adding routers makes it bigger and sturdier.
- Explained in How to Design a Zigbee Network for an Indian Home
- Minimum load
- The smallest load a live-only module will drive reliably, stated by its maker. Below it, lamps can flicker or glow.
- Explained in Smart Switches Without a Neutral Wire: What Works in Indian Switchboards
- Mortise lock
- A lock whose body is sunk into a pocket cut in the door edge.
- Explained in How to Install a Smart Lock on Indian Doors
N.
- Neutral
- The wire that gives current its return path to the supply. A smart switch needs one in its box, because its radio and small power supply must stay alive when the light is off.
- Explained in Smart Switches Without a Neutral Wire: What Works in Indian Switchboards
P.
- Physical address
- Where a KNX device sits in the topology, written area.line.device, for example 1.1.12. ETS uses it to find the device to program.
- Explained in KNX Basics for Indian Residential Projects: Topology, ETS, Group Addresses and Power Supply
R.
- RCC
- Reinforced cement concrete, the usual construction for floor slabs and many walls in Indian buildings. Concrete and the steel in it weaken 2.4 GHz signals.
- Explained in Signal Range in RCC Homes: Gateway Placement, Testing and Fixing Dead Zones
- Resistive load
- A load such as a geyser element or an incandescent lamp that draws steady current with little surge at switch-on.
- Explained in Load Planning for Smart Homes: Relay Ratings, Motors, Pumps, Geysers and AC
- Rim lock
- A box that mounts on the face of the door. It needs the least drilling and is the easiest to reverse.
- Explained in How to Install a Smart Lock on Indian Doors
- Router (Zigbee)
- A mains-powered Zigbee device that relays messages for others and extends range. Many plugs and bulbs act as routers, and they should stay powered.
- Explained in How to Design a Zigbee Network for an Indian Home
S.
- Setup code
- The QR code or numeric code printed on a Matter device. You need it to commission the device again after a reset, so photograph it at installation.
- Explained in Matter for Installers: Controllers, Border Routers, Bridges and What to Promise a Client
- Snag list
- The record of what remains after handover testing. Every item has an owner, a target date and a status.
- Explained in Commissioning and Handover Checklist for Smart-Home Projects
- Starting current
- The surge a motor draws for a moment at start-up. One engineering article puts it at about 5 to 8 times the full-load current for a general-purpose motor started directly. Use the nameplate or the maker's data.
- Explained in Load Planning for Smart Homes: Relay Ratings, Motors, Pumps, Geysers and AC
- Switch loop
- A wiring arrangement where the live goes to the switch box and a switched live goes on to the light, while the neutral runs from the supply straight to the light and never enters the box. A mechanical switch works fine this way; a smart one does not.
- Explained in Smart Switches Without a Neutral Wire: What Works in Indian Switchboards
T.
- Telegram
- A small data message sent on the KNX bus. Sensors send telegrams, and actuators act on the ones addressed to them.
- Explained in KNX Basics for Indian Residential Projects: Topology, ETS, Group Addresses and Power Supply
- Travel limit
- The fully open and fully closed positions a curtain or blind motor stops at. Makers set them in different ways, so follow the manual for that motor.
- Explained in Curtain and Blind Motor Installation: Track Types, Torque and Limit Setting
- Two-way wiring
- Two switches in different places controlling one light, common in corridors and bedrooms. Some modules support it, some do not, so trace it before you quote.
- Explained in Retrofitting Existing Switchboards: Relay Modules vs Replacing Switches, and Fixing LED Flicker and Ghosting