According to thesmarthomer.com, turning your home into a smart home will save you 15% on your electricity bill each month and it is estimated that the world will have 73 million smart homes by 2021.
Smart Home Assistant (speaker) vs. Smart Hub
The first thing you should do when you are turning your home into a smart home is to decide whether you want a “smart home assistant” (smart speaker) or a smart hub. Smart home assistants such as Alexa, Google Home, and Apple HomePod are examples of speakers that have built-in smart hubs. The disadvantage to buying the speaker rather than a smart hub device itself is that it will not be compatible with all smart products you choose to buy, and a stand-alone smart hub will. A smart hub will control all of your smart products with just one app. If you are going to go with a smart hub some of the best products to consider buying are the SmartThings HUB or the Hubitat Elevation Home Automation Hub.
Smart Lighting
Modern technology has revolutionized LED lighting so that you can set up your daily lighting schedule, control the lights from outside your house, customize the colour of your lighting, and more. These bulbs are extremely energy efficient and last much longer than a regular bulb. Refer to this article for a list of the best smart light bulbs for 2020 in a range of prices. One thing to keep in mind is that if you are using bulbs that connect to your phone, wifi, or Bluetooth directly, you will not be able to control your lights out of range. If you have a smart hub like the ones mentioned in the previous paragraph, you can control your lighting from anywhere.
Smart Thermostat
Installing a smart thermostat is very popular because of the amount of energy it saves. It can be programmed to control the temperatures from your phone at any time of the day. This is especially beneficial in the winter because you can turn your heat on an hour or two before you get home to avoid walking into a freezing home or running your heat all day. Some smart thermostats like “Nest” can determine when to shut off the heat or air conditioning because they detect that you are not home to preserve energy.
Smart Security
Using smart security systems not only protects you and your family, but it also saves the hassle of bringing your keys everywhere or losing them. Smart door locks allow you to unlock your doors by using a fingerprint, entering a pin, or by the touch of a button on your phone. You can also set up an alarm system where you can arm or disarm your home from a single app. You can program your smart locks to notify you if it looks like there is a problem in your home or something is out of the ordinary. Other smart home security systems you can purchase are indoor and outdoor cameras that you can monitor from wherever you are. Samsung’s Smartthings allows you to set up an entire security system including all of the systems mentioned above.
Smart Plugs
Smart plugs are extremely resourceful because each room in your home has an outlet in it. These devices allow you to turn off or “unplug” appliances from your smartphone. You can also schedule these plugs to do different things at different times, for example, if you want to make your home look “lived-in” while you are on vacation. Kasa Smart Wi-Fi Outdoor Plug has extended the range outdoors as well. It is the only device that allows you to control two electrical outlets independently.
In Conclusion
Turning your home into a smart home can be resourceful and beneficial in many ways. It is important to protect your smart system from possible online hackers looking to get into your security system. Research is crucial when looking into products so that what you purchase is compatible with your schedule and lifestyle.
