Smart homes are becoming more and more popular with better technology. A smart home is a house or apartment that has centralized control of heating, air conditioning, appliances and other comfort systems like entertainment that are all controlled through a central automated system. Here is a list of 10 things that can make your house a smart home.
Let’s look at what you can do.
HVAC – Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning or “HVAC” can be a complete solution. You can remotely control the temperature and humidity. Internet controlled thermostats allow homeowners to remotely operate the systems heat or cool the air maximizing efficiency and saving on energy costs.
LIGHTING – The next thing you’ll want is the ability to control lighting. It’s much more than simply turning off and on the lights remotely. Using motion detectors to automatically turn off and on lights when people enter or leave the room can bring electricity bills down. Smart lighting also gives the opportunity to change the brightness according to the need in the room creating nice ambient lighting and saving on energy costs. No more just simply on and off.
SHADING – A big part of lighting is shading. Having control over the blinds and curtains can be very advantageous for privacy and also simulating that you are home when you’re not. You see if the blinds open and close regularly thieves will be likely to pass your homebody if you’re gone for extended periods. Shading allow for automated use of ambient light further driving down energy costs.
ENTERTAINMENT – Multiple room entertainment systems allow you to enjoy music or video in any room. This usually involves the central entertainment hub remotely and wirelessly sending signals to receivers in the room of your choice. The entertainment hub can contain movies and music that can be piped anywhere.
LOCKS – Remotely controlling access to doors with a touchpad or smart phone can be very safe. A traditional key can be copied BY UNWANTED INTRUDERS. Keypads can lock and unlocked by entering a key code or using a smart phone making breaking in much harder. The key code can be changed daily if necessary preventing babysitters or technicians from regaining home access. Codes can be sent to member of the house via text or email automatically.
MOTION DETECTORS -Motion sensors can send alerts to your phone when his moving around in the house. The technology is so good that it can tell the difference between pets and people.
VIDEO SURVEILLANCE – If you want more than just a message to your phone and motion is detected inside perhaps you need surveillance equipment. Surveillance cameras can be coupled motion detectors and come in a variety of styles. Nanny and doorbell cameras are just the beginning. Night vision cameras can be used to maintain observation around your entire property at all times of the day. Want to know what your kids are up to when you’re gone, simply pull up the video on your phone.
APPLIANCES – Appliances are getting just as smart as the other systems in your home. Even simple appliances like your coffee maker can be activated remotely using your Smartphone. Other appliances like a washer and dryer can send Wi-Fi information to your phone to remind you that the load is done.
THERMOSTATS – Smart thermostats communicate via Wi-Fi your phone and learn the pattern of your household to adjust temperature settings accordingly saving lots of money.
IDENTITY – Another really cool feature of home automation simply knows who is in your house and what room they are in. You can receive e-mails or text messages when people leave or enter the home. Knowing who is home, what room they are in and how long they have been there is well… very cool. There are many more cool little gadgets and gizmos which offer features to make your home very smart. The best solution is to find a company which offers a package and can retrofit all of your old outdated home fixtures to the new and centrally controlled system of home living. Just a few years ago complete home automation for something that only the rich can afford but today it’s more very accessible and affordable than you might think. As new technology becomes even more available better home automation innovations will come to the marketplace.
CONCLUSION
Before you decide to make your home smart you’ll probably need a company that can bring everything together in a clever way. This is a much better idea than trying to retrofit all your current air and security systems.
Companies like Vivint integrate all of your home’s systems into programs that can be controlled by a smart phone or computer. These companies give a comprehensive way to connect all the technology in your home and run it through an efficient packaged system.
Author bio: Rick Delgado loves writing about both internet and personal security and the advancements provided by new technology that improve our living standards.
