Smart home technology has been in our homes ever since the invention of the remote controller. It is only now that it has moved way beyond remotely controlling television and audio systems, to more diverse household operations including mundane tasks like drawing curtains, brewing coffee and turning on lawn sprayer systems. While most people are still stuck at the fundamental smart house technologies limited to entertainment gadgets, some have designed their homes in such a way that everything and anything they want is at their reach, just at the touch, click or press of a button. So, how do you achieve such level of automaticity at home? Well, here are the seven tested and proven ways to make your smart house system smarter, and get everyone desiring your home.
1. Light Up Your Home With Smart Lights.
While they may have the physical appearance of an ordinary light bulb, smart bulbs have much more to offer smart homeowners. Rather than sticking to the annoying lights, smart bulbs will give you the convenience of automatically adjustable brightness according to the time of the day and your home’s lighting needs. Some can also change color depending on the mood you desire. When connected to their hub, smart hubs can be set to dim, brighten, change color, turn on or switch off at particular times. They can be controlled remotely via their hub or smartphone app, which is an incredibly convenient way to light up your home.
2. Use Smart Switches to Control Your Gadgets.
Instead of controlling the operation of a single electrical gadget at a go, you can quickly do this to multiple devices using a single smart switch system. These smart switches are mostly used for lighting up outdoor lights including security lights, pool lights, and lawn lights. However, they can also be used to turn on water heaters, pool pumps, fans, cooling systems and any gadget you can think of. All it takes is your creativity as you can easily attach these smart switches to different devices and control them from your smartphone. The best part about using smart switches is that you can schedule them to turn on or off later, or you can choreograph precisely when specific devices are switched on or off, thus giving you some peace of mind.
3. Invest in a Robotic Vacuum Cleaner.
Do you dread the moment when you have to pull out your full-sized vacuum to clean your floors? Well, you are actually among the millions of homeowners that feel the same way about cleaning chores. A robotic vacuum cleaner is one significant addition to any smart house, as it will vacuum your floors spotless without you having to lift a finger. With the help of strong suction, reliable filtration system, robotic technology and navigation sensors, a robotic vacuum cleaner will move around your house, avoiding obstacles, detecting dirt and inhaling any debris that is in the vicinity. These robotic floor cleaners will automatically move to their charging dock whenever they detect a low battery level without human intervention. With countless models of robotic vacuums in the market, it proves quite challenging to choose the best, but the Neato and Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners are the most trusted brands to invest in. For more information about their best features, the comparison battle between the two is shown here.
4. Protect Your Home With Smart Door Locks.
A smart doorknob or lock may be mistaken for a regular one at first glance, but within these, come great technological improvements that will change your entire home’s security. These doorknobs or locks are Wi-Fi enabled and had touch and movement sensors that will let you know when you have a visitor or intruder. They can be easily controlled remotely via a smartphone app or the different virtual smart home assistants. Together with a home security system and smart cameras, you will be able to monitor your home fully from wherever you are, thus keeping intruders off your property. Apart from warning you about the encroachment of intruders, some of these smart locks or doorknobs combined with home security systems are designed to warn you of other dangers such as fire and floods. They are quite costly, but since your security is paramount, it is an ideal investment for you.
5. Get Smart TV and Audio Systems.
For most households, entertainment is what brings family and friends together, and music and television top the list here. While it is easy to stand up and physically turn your television or music system on, the whole idea of having a smart TV and audio system is for you to enjoy the convenience and even easier experience. In addition to being able to switch on, turn the volume up or down, change the sound and screen settings remotely, smart TVs and audio systems will give you access to downloadable apps, music, and videos over a Wi-Fi connection, thus a very large playlist just for you. These smart gadgets quell the need for expensive storage and streaming accessories as you can do all these over the internet. Since both a smart television and smart audio system are Wi-Fi enabled, with the right control platform, they can be controlled simultaneously from the same hub, which is a plus to the user regarding convenience.
6. Get a Thermostat to Control Your Home’s Temperature.
With different weather conditions and periods of the day, come rapid temperature changes that may affect your comfort at home. With such conditions, you may be forced to keep standing from time to time to adjust your fan, AC or heater settings to keep temperatures regular. This could be easily solved by investing in a high-quality smart thermostat, which is connected to your heating and cooling systems. Unlike the ordinary thermostat, a smart thermostat allows you to control your home’s temperature remotely. You can turn on some heat to warm up your house before leaving the office after a long day of work. In addition to being able to control temperatures remotely, you can observe and adjust temperatures and energy consumption in real time, thus efficient and cost saving in the long run. Some of these thermostats can even learn your heating and cooling schedules so you won’t have to worry about reminding it to turn the heat up whenever it gets cold, as all is done automatically on the schedule.
7. Secure Your Family’s Well Being With Smoke Detectors.
With all the cooking and burning done at home, there is always the risk of inhaling smoke and Carbon monoxide. This is unhealthy especially for children as it affects their respiratory health. For this reason, it is best to have smoke detectors installed in your home, particularly in rooms that are more prone to smoke such as the kitchen. With a smart smoke or Carbon monoxide detector, you can get a warning signal whenever smoke or Carbon monoxide is detected in your home, even if you are away from home. Rather than making almost similar beeps when warning about smoke or low battery like the conventional smoke detectors, smart smoke detectors have apps that will use a voice signal that tells you exactly what you should know. For instance, instead of just beeping, it will say “Battery low” to indicate a low battery or “Smoke detected” to indicate that there is smoke in the house. Not only is this reliable and convenient, but also safer for users.
Final Advice.
For any smart home system to work flawlessly and seamlessly, there are some factors you need to be keen about. First, there is device compatibility. For the most effective remote control of gadgets, you will need network connectivity that covers a wider radius. In this case, Wi-Fi is preferred over Bluetooth as it allows you to manage your devices over the internet while away from home. You also need to make sure that the connected devices are compatible with each other and can be controlled from the same hub or control panel. When it comes to choosing the perfect virtual assistant, you have the choice between Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple Siri. You can choose the idyllic virtual assistant for your needs depending on the model of your gadgets as well as your preferences.
