The Austrian population is very open to smart homes, but there is still a lot of catching up to do in the garden.
While smart helpers have long been operating lights, heating and blinds, there is at most one robotic lawnmower in use in the greenery in front of your own front door. This is most clearly visible during the holiday season: sophisticated sequences switch the lights in the house on and off using a timer in order to make potential burglars believe that the house is inhabited. At the same time, the drying plants in the garden reveal that there is no one there to take care of them
Eva Weigl
Vienna (OTS) – According to current forecasts, sales in the smart home market in Austria are expected to reach an impressive 829.5 million euros in 2024. This number reflects the growing acceptance and demand for smart technologies for living. Looking into the future, experts predict a market volume of an impressive 1,210 million euros by 2028. This corresponds to annual sales growth of 9.90% and indicates continued dynamism and innovative strength in the smart home sector. The penetration rate, i.e. the proportion of households with smart home technology, is expected to be 35.1% in 2024. This number is expected to rise to 61.4% by 2028, reflecting the continued integration of smart home solutions into more and more households.*
„While smart helpers have long been operating lights, heating and blinds, there is at most one robotic lawnmower in use in the greenery in front of your own front door. This is most clearly visible during the holiday season: sophisticated sequences switch the lights in the house on and off using a timer in order to make potential burglars believe that the house is inhabited. At the same time, the drying plants in the garden reveal that there is no one there to take care of them
,” says Eva Weigl, marketing manager at GARDENA in Austria. According to a current survey commissioned by GARDENA**, just 8% of Austrian garden owners have installed an irrigation system. While more and more smart technology is being used in houses and apartments, the owners of the garden, balcony or terrace outside still rely on the good old garden hose (59%) and the even older watering can (60%) for time-consuming watering – and preferably in the evening, although the optimal time to water the plants is the early morning hours, before the hot sun causes a large part of the water to simply evaporate.
Most Europeans, including Austrians, are generally also open to new technology in the garden, especially if it relieves them of tedious work. In a representative survey***, at least one in seven people said they would use a robotic lawnmower (14%) and 40% said they would buy a robotic lawnmower. Especially in the hot summer months, clever irrigation solutions can not only save water but also a lot of time and, for example, use timed irrigation control to ensure that the plants get their water while everyone in the house is still sleeping – or is actually on vacation. One irrigation solution is the micro-drip system, which can also be coupled with smart technologies – just like the house. With the GARDENA smart system, the flexible irrigation solution can also be operated on the go using a smartphone, for example. This means that the watering of the plants can be monitored or optimized directly from the deck chair. An integrated sensor can be used to measure the actual moisture of the soil and the watering of the plants can be adjusted accordingly. This not only saves water, but also protects the green favorites from overwatering.
Current weather forecasts such as temperature and rainfall amounts as well as sunrise and sunset times can also be taken into account when planning optimal irrigation. With the GARDENA smart system, in addition to the water supply to the plants, other areas in the garden can also be automated and also integrated into various smart home systems. Another positive side effect: In contrast to the smartest technology used to date – the neighbors who come to water – the Micro-Drip system does not expect any (holiday) souvenirs in return.
*Those: https://de.statista.com/outlook/dmo/smart-home/oesterreich
**Representative study by the IMAS Institute in November 2023 among 900 garden, terrace and balcony owners between the ages of 16 and 69
***Representative online survey commissioned by Husqvarna among 500 Europeans who own a garden between the ages of 20 and 60 in 2023.
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