House Away: A home management system

There is a direct correlation between the chances of a devastating failure occurring within one of the home's systems as spending increased time away from home becomes the norm. Heating systems, air conditioning units, water heaters, sump pumps, and plumbing can fail and cause destruction before the home's occupant notices. The increased reliance on smartphones is another trendy norm in today's fast-paced world. Smartphones check weather, news, surf the web, allow online purchases, play music, and provide a communication platform among users. Smarter phone software, such as blood pressure cuffs which link to the phone and store the measured blood pressure, are constantly evolving. People rely on smartphones more today than ever before, and this presents a unique opportunity to merge smartphone software with home security protocols. The House Away system provides a link between household appliances and the resident via his or her smartphone, providing instant notification of any failures before they cause devastating results. The system provides control from the smartphone to elements within the house such as temperature and lighting. Competitive systems are either costly or require a monthly service fee. House Away is affordable and only requires a broadband Internet connection, which means it is a viable option for at least 66% of American homes.