Everything is becoming “smart” these days; from smart TVs and refrigerators to washers and thermostats, many different appliances and other devices can now connect to the internet or be controlled from your phone. When considering utilizing smart technology in your home, it’s important to make decisions based off what you consider useful moving forward. Living in a smart home seems to be the trend, but is it really necessary? If you fully understand what a smart home can do for you, you’ll likely say yes. A smart home can do everything from making common tasks easier to saving you money.
What Is Included in a Smart Home?
If you have a few smart switches, an Alexa, and a smart TV, do you have a smart home? Some define a smart home as one that you can still connect to in some way while you’re gone. You can control the temperature, turn lights on and off, and see what’s going on in the home while you’re away.
Smart homes can be great for many different people. If you travel, you can monitor your home while you’re away and make it look like someone’s home. If you live by yourself, you’re able to control your home easily without getting up to do everything. If you have a large family, you’re able to keep an eye on your kids when they’re home alone.
In short, a smart home is efficient, helpful, and can even be fun. Now let’s look at a few features of a smart home that will make you see why you really need one.
Set the Alarm and See What’s Going on
Have you left the house without setting your security system? If so, you either have to decide it’s fine for the day or turn around and go back home. With a smart security system, that’s no longer an issue. It’s possible to arm or disarm the system from anywhere, using your phone. You can also access your security cameras to view your home whenever you need to. If the alarm goes off, you can see what’s going on and let the monitoring company know if it was a mistake or not.
Beyond controlling the alarm, you can install exterior cameras or a doorbell with a built-in camera to see who is outside your home at any time. This can be especially helpful for those who live alone and are concerned about opening the door to people they don’t know. Many of these cameras and smart doorbells have a built-in microphone and speaker, too, so you can talk to people using your phone. You never have to open the door if you don’t feel comfortable doing so.
Let Someone In without Leaving a Key
Smart door locks now allow you to let people in and out of your home remotely. If your children are likely to get home before you do, you can remotely unlock the door for them. This is also very useful if someone needs to pick something up from your house while you’re at work or if a utility service needs to get into your home while you’re away. You don’t have to worry about leaving a spare key somewhere that can be found or, worse, stolen.
You can also purchase smart locks that have built-in fingerprint scanners. This way, your children don’t have to worry about losing their keys. You can even set temporary fingerprints or access codes for people who need to get into your house for something but don’t need access after that. Of course, if you’ve forgotten to lock your door or aren’t sure if you locked it, you can check the app at any point.
Another smart device that’s becoming more and more popular are smart garage door openers. You can remotely open and close the door or check to make sure it’s closed.
Saving Money the Smart Way
Smart homes can save you money. You can program your thermostat to turn on at certain times or cut back when you’re not at home. Some thermostats even “learn” your routines over time, so they know when there’s no one home. You can adjust the temperature from your phone or other smart device when needed, so everything is customizable to you. You may be surprised at how much money you can save simply by installing one of these devices.
But the savings don’t end there. With smart washers and dryers, you can fill them and then set the time for them to come on. This means you can prepare your load of laundry in the afternoon, then have the washer start washing later in the evening. This often lets you save money because some electric companies provide discounts for energy usage in the evenings and early mornings during the hot summer months.
These are just a few of the reasons how you could benefit from a smart home. There are many other smart devices that can make your life easier, but a smart lock, security system, and thermostat are three of the biggest reasons why investing in a smart home is an excellent idea.
