It's all about the Millennials

It's the Millennials who are the biggest DIY buyers, according to ESX 2015 panelists at a “DIY Security—Competition or Opportunity” discussion.

Icontrol's 2015 State of the Smart Home Report, a nationwide survey which Security System News conducted and has reported on earlier, also found that the Millennial generation, loosely defined as those born in the early 1980s to the early 2000s, are big consumers of home automation. You can read more about the survey at the above link, but here a few new tidbits from it from its recent official release.

The report said, “U.S. consumers aged 25-34 express a higher level of excitement around the following benefits of the smart home:

• Greater productivity and ability to manage work-life balance, 40 percent vs. 23 percent of consumers overall.
• Making it easier to enjoy music, movies and web surfing anywhere in the house, 26 percent vs. 18 percent.
• Helping anticipate the needs, such as shopping lists and minor repairs, 24 percent vs. 18 percent.
• More interactive features that help me connect with the people in my life, 21 percent vs. 13 percent.”

Entertainment has emerged as a smart home driver, icontrol found. Interest in the entertainment link has grown to 55 percent since last year's report. Consumers want their entertainment rooms connected to their smart home, followed by their kitchens and bedrooms.

A challenge is getting that younger generation to move from DIY to traditional security providers, according to Brian Leland of Interlogix and Sterling Barnes of Melaleuca Security, the panelists at the ESX discussion. You'll be able to read more about the ESX DIY panel later, so stay tuned, please.

The icontrol report had some other great factoids as well, so stay tuned for more info on that as well.