Home automation promises to bring new abilities and greater simplicity to our homes and lives. Although it sounds complicated, using this new technology is actually easier than ever. Let’s look at how home automation works and all the ways it can improve your life.
What Is Home Automation?
Home automation refers to using internet-connected devices—or smart devices—to automate household functions. Homes with a lot of automation are sometimes called smart homes. Examples of smart devices include automated lightbulbs, thermostats that learn your preferences and adjust themselves accordingly, and security cameras that detect motion and send the video feed straight to your phone.
In the past, home automation tended to be complicated and gimmicky. But these days, if you have a smartphone and home internet, you can turn your house into a smart home with little fuss.
Automate Everyday Basics
With a few easy-to-use devices, you can have your whole home running itself, leaving you free to worry about more important things. Everyday basics like catching up on the news and weather, finding your favorite music to listen to, and controlling your other home automation devices are just a spoken command away with voice assistants and smart home hubs.
Smart light bulbs are a great intro to home automation. Smartbulb systems, like Philips Hue, allow you to schedule when lights will turn on or off or manually control them from your smartphone. You can also adjust their brightness and color. These options save energy by helping you never forget to turn off your lights again, and you can even use them to make your house appear occupied when you’re traveling.
Smart thermostats like the Nest Learning Thermostat allow you to easily adjust the temperature in your home even when you’re not there, so it always feels perfect. The best part, though, is that the thermostat can learn your preferences and adjust the climate automatically, which is both convenient and energy efficient.
Digital assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant bring a lot of convenience to your home. You can ask them to read you the weather and top news headlines for the day, give you reminders of important items on your to-do list, and play your favorite songs. You can also connect them to your other home automation devices and then control them with just your voice. It doesn’t get much simpler than, “Alexa, turn on the lights!” or “Alexa, turn down the AC!” These assistants are available on smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home.
Make Your Home Safer
Smart home security systems give you all the benefits of a standard system and so much more. For example, you can arm and disarm your system from your smartphone at any time. The best part is it’s often easier to operate a smart system than a traditional control panel—you can use digital assistants and voice commands with newer home security systems to arm your system right from your bedroom at night or turn on and off security cameras.
Smart smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, like the Onelink, send you smartphone alerts to pinpoint which room the smoke is coming from so you know of any trouble even when you’re not home. You can also silence them from your phone in the event of a false alarm, saving you from hunting around for the right unit to reset.
Smart door locks mean you never have to worry if you forgot to lock your doors! These smart locks connect to an app on your smartphone, so if you forget to lock up, you can fix it with just a tap. And they can automatically unlock your doors as you approach, so no more fumbling with your arms full of groceries. These gadgets even let you give out temporary keycodes for visitors staying with you or to your dog sitter while you’re gone on vacation
Whether you’re just dipping your toes in the water or you’re ready to go full speed on the home automation train, there’s never been a better time to get started. Don’t miss out on all the exciting possibilities a smart home can bring to your life.
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