The Evolution of Smart Homes
Smart homes are an emerging technology that has become more popular due to home automation and the Internet of Things (IoT). Due to this reason, many people are coming around to the idea of using smart home devices in their homes, and new homes are constructed with innovative technology embedded in them, such as smart speakers, thermostats, and much more.
If you are also planning to get your home redone and make it smarter, there are a lot of things you can do, such as installing smart locks, smart doorbells, smart security systems, and many other helpful devices. In today’s world, making your home smart is not as difficult as it used to be. All it requires is a few smart home devices and an experienced and competent electrician in Vancouver to install them for you.
It may sound a bit challenging, but nowadays, nothing is impossible at all. Through home automation, you will be able to control of the lighting, thermostat, locks, and everything else with your smartphone, and you won't even have to be present in the house to do it.
Let’s talk more about how you can redefine your home to make it smart.
Smart Lighting
Smart lighting is one of the best ways to start when you are planning to automate your home. The simplest way to go about it is to use smart plugs that can be controlled with an app. You can plug in your lamps and lighting devices into these plugs so that you can turn them on and off with your smartphone.
However, the best way to do this is through smart lights and bulbs, which can be installed into lighting sockets and controlled with an app. This is the most basic way for anyone to start their journey into smart homes. They come in all types of colors and can be installed without the help of an electrician. It can be a little costly to replace every bulb in the house.
Another way you can make your existing lighting smart is by installing smart switches, which you can use to turn on and off normal lighting through the app. You can find a number of great brands for smart switches out there, such as the Lutron Caseta. If you are looking for dimmable lights, a smart dimmer switch would do the trick.
So, if you are looking to revamp your home’s lighting setup, you can choose between a few options: choosing smart bulbs, buying smart plugs, or making use of smart switches and dimmers. Either way, you will be able to use an app to control the lighting in your home, and smart lighting is a great introductory step to setting up a smart home.
Smart Speakers
Another excellent way to set up a smart home system is to get yourself some smart speakers that can be used to control everything around your smart home. These speakers are not only loud and powerful, but they also come with powerful microphones, so you can easily give commands from a distance. These speakers are typically used to run smart assistants, such as Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.
Smart assistants can be used to do a lot of things around the house – tell the time, set reminders, dim the lights, play music, and also interact with other smart home devices around the house. While Google Assistant and Alexa are the most popular and user-friendly options, you can also go for Microsoft Cortana, Bixby, or Apply HomeKit.
There are hundreds of different options for smart speakers that you can find in the market, so you won’t have any trouble in this step. They can be quite expensive at first, but they have value for money since they help you control your home without having to fiddle with switches and dimmers. This way, you can even monitor your home while you are out of the house.
Through smart speakers, you won't even have to touch your smartphone or open your smart home apps to take control of your home's devices. Rather, you just have to say a command and the smart assistant will catch it through the smart speaker and act accordingly. Some smart speakers even recognize multiple commands at the same time, making them a useful resource for your home.
Whether or not you add any other device for home automation, you can use smart assistants and smart speakers to control most things around the house.
Smart Doorbells
The next smart upgrade to your home would be installing smart doorbells, which are Wi-Fi-enabled doorbells with cameras that show you who is at your front door and record all of your outdoor activity. Smart doorbells have become hugely popular in the past few years, and they also add an extra layer of security to your home, even when you are not around.
There are lots of smart doorbells that you can find out there, and they are specially equipped with software that allows you to quickly pair them with an app on your smartphone so that you can monitor all the activity through it. Smart doorbells aren’t difficult to install and set up, and you can even get them up and running on your own.
Most smart doorbells offer a live feed of the area outside your door, up to a considerable distance. Most doorbells also come with two-way audio, so that you can easily communicate with the person at your door, even if you are away and somebody has come to deliver a parcel or for any other purpose. Some of the smart doorbells these days require a paid subscription to offer you the complete features that come with it, and the cost isn't something that would scare you off. Plus, the benefits always justify the costs.
The best thing is that most of the smart doorbells you find also work with Google Assistant or Alexa, so if you have these smart home devices at home already, you can easily monitor who comes to your house every day.
Smart Thermostat
Since you are looking forward to an innovative home system, why don't you change the thermostat too? Controlling a thermostat with your smartphone is one of the best uses for a smart home system since you won’t have to get up every now and then to fiddle with your thermostat when you feel hot or cold. Moreover, smart thermostats have sensors that can automatically adjust themselves according to the temperature range that you have defined.
Most thermostats, like the Honeywell thermostat, can be easily paired with your smart home devices, as well as the smartphone app, so that you can easily control the heating or cooling inside your home in every season, without any difficulty. Getting a smart thermostat is also an energy-efficient option, and it would bring about a lot of savings in your energy bill. Through its sensors, it can also detect when you are at home and when you are not so that the cooling or heating doesn't keep running at full blast in your absence.
Smart Home Appliances
Manufacturers of electrical and home appliances have also caught on to the trend of smart home solutions, resulting in the creation of smart home appliances. These appliances are now safer, efficient, and easier to use through home automation and smart technology. Smart home appliances do more than just their basic intended function.
Smart home technology is now installed in refrigerators, oven ranges, microwaves, washing machines, and much more. They optimize their operation in such a way that it becomes more convenient for you, while also saving you more energy in the process. Apart from this, if there is an error in their operation, smart home appliances will be able to instantly notify you, so that you can take the corrective measures needed to fix the problem.
Now, you can even find smart slow cookers that you can operate from your smartphone, even when you are not at home. So, if you have left it plugged in when you leave for work, you can set it to pre-heat before you leave the office so that it warms up to the perfect temperature by the time you reach home. You can easily control all your smart home appliances through their respective apps, increasing utility and convenience tenfold.
Smart Home Utilities
With smart home technology, you can also automate everyday tasks, such as watering the plants or turning off the water pump on time to avoid overflowing. Now, all you need to do is install smart home utilities with each system and just control them with a smartphone. Moreover, you can even program them to turn on and off at a fixed time, so that they do their job even if you forget.
An excellent example of this is a watering controller, which you can install with the sprinklers in your garden. You can operate this control through an app on your smartphone, so when it is time to water the plants, you can simply tap a button and see the magic happen, even if you are thousands of miles away. It also enables you to control the water usage, so you don't waste too much.
You can see smart home utilities in various homes, and you can also see them installed with air conditioners to maximize their performance and minimize energy usage. Apart from this, you can also find smart water valves in the market, which people also use to conserve water and prevent overflowing.
Smart Blinds
If you have blinds in your home, it can be pretty tedious for you to open and close them throughout the day, and they often get stuck when you are pulling on the lever that controls them. Instead of holding on to the traditional mechanism, you can opt for smart blinds, which utilize a highly efficient automated mechanism.
Smart blinds feature the same blinds you have, but they have an entire motor and sensor connected to your smartphone through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. As soon as you pair them with the smartphone app and press the button, they will open and close smoothly, controlling how much light you want in your home.
Installing smart blinds also brings about energy savings, as they can prevent too much heat from coming into your home in the daytime. If you are at work and you forgot to close the blinds before leaving, your home’s indoor temperature will rise because of the exposure to sunlight and heat. However, if you have smart blinds, you can simply close them with a tap.
Therefore, smart blinds aren’t just for vanity, but they also play a major role in maintaining a smart ecosystem in your home.
Smart Home Surveillance
Another primary application of home automation technology is the use of smart home surveillance solutions, which feature cameras that can be used to monitor the house. Smart home cameras do more than just record videos or output them live to your smartphone. They are equipped with advanced features such as facial recognition technology and motion sensors, which can detect and identify each and every person that walks into your home.
When you are at work, or even when you are in another city or country, your smartphone app will give you an alert that a person has entered your home. Not only will you get an alert, but it will also show you the name and photo of that person so that you know that your parents, spouse, kids, siblings, or any other family members have reached home safely.
Smart home surveillance devices go a long way towards keeping homes safer and making lives easier for people who worry about the safety and security of their house and loved ones when they are not around. For instance, if someone walks into your house and the camera doesn’t recognize the person, it will instantly alert all of the registered members about the unknown person, even if it is a friend or acquaintance who has come for the first time.
Moreover, you can also use it to keep an eye on the babysitter or nanny when both of you are out for a dinner or social event. Therefore, your house will be well taken care of when you are not there.
Smart Door Locks
If you install all of the above and skip out on smart door locks, then your home will not be completely smart. Smart door locks are much more advanced and secure than traditional locks, and they are built to be opened by fingerprints, PIN codes, voice/facial recognition, or through the smartphone app.
With smart door locks, you get the ability to go out without grabbing the keys, which is highly beneficial for people who often forget their keys at home. Moreover, you can also authorize specific individuals through their fingerprints or PIN codes, which goes a long way in preventing unauthorized access to your home.
Moreover, you can also set timed authorizations for certain people to be able to enter at certain timings only. For instance, your housekeeper needs to come in during the day, so they won’t be able to unlock the door during the night. Also, if your nanny comes in between 5 pm and 7 pm, then they won’t be able to enter at any other time of day.
Most smart door locks allow you to create up to 100 different keys for people to enter without using a key, and they also maintain an activity log that makes it easier for you to know who entered your home at what time. In today’s world, having smart door locks is a necessity, no matter how smart or traditional your home is.
Smart Garage Door Openers
Gone are the days when you used a clicker or manual level to open and close your garage door. Now, your smart garage door opener does it for you. Like all other smart home devices, this is also run with a smart controller connected to a smartphone application. Through these, you can easily open up and close your garage door without any manual or tedious effort.
Like all of the aforementioned smart home devices, a smart garage door opener also provides you with alerts and notifications, i.e. if you haven’t closed the door before driving away, or there is an obstacle in its path, it will notify you immediately.
This brings us to the end of our article on smart home devices and how you can convert your home into one. All you need is to find the right type of devices and appliances that fulfill your requirements and make your life easier by automating daily and recurring processes and keeping your home safe and monitored throughout the day, even when you aren't home.
No matter which smart home device you buy, get it installed from an experienced and competent electrician in Vancouver who knows their way around such devices and is well-versed in their proper installation. After installing any smart home devices, you will instantly begin to experience their benefits in your life.