Smart Home Products Can Change Your Life
Smart Home Devices are Raising the Bar
Today’s smart home products are game-changers. They range from motion sensor lighting control to smart thermostats and everything in between, making it simple to complete everyday tasks, save on energy costs and provide convenience across the board. Smart home technology is a trend that isn’t going anywhere!
In fact, according to Statista, 33 million North American homes rely on smart thermostats for temperature control. Popularity is also growing worldwide, particularly in Europe and Asia.
According to findings from InnoTech Today, “63% of homebuyers want smart locks and alarms, 63% want smart fans and thermostats, 58% want smart lights and 56% want smart carbon monoxide detectors.”
These stats show that even though the smart home market began with a surge of popularity in fun smart home gadgets like cheaper smart speakers and colour-changing lightbulbs from Amazon, homeowners are recognizing the incredible value that smart home products hold.
This benefit goes far beyond the initial entertainment value. In fact, a home that’s outfitted with smart locks, cameras and sensor systems on a Wi-Fi network are more likely to have a reduced insurance rate.
Not only do you get to enjoy the peace of mind knowing your whole family is protected, but you save on your premiums at the same time. For more information on this, talk to your insurance provider.
Popular Smart Home Products
Smart Home Automation
Automated Smart Home devices are individual appliances that are designed to make life simpler. Early examples of these would be dishwashers with a setting to delay the wash by 2 or 4 hours. Today, these automated devices have gotten much more advanced. Smart dishwashers and washing machines automatically adjust the amount of water usage and energy usage depending on the size of the load. They even “know” when energy consumption is lower in your area and automatically run during those times. Small appliances have joined the party too. Now you can find things like:
An automated pet feeder- An automated vacuum that runs on a regular schedule, or on command
- An automated coffee maker that starts making your coffee when your alarm goes off in the morning
- A Wi-Fi enabled Instant Pot that you can set from your smart phone
Smart Home Lighting
Since the days of the Clapper in the 80’s and 90’s, homeowners have really liked having the option for hands-free lighting control.
Motion sensor lighting in hallways, in bathrooms and in walk-in closets are becoming extremely popular for the convenience they provide. Lights are automatically turned on and off, providing plenty of visibility and saving on energy costs.
Today’s smart bulbs can also change hues automatically when music is playing, by voice command or based on the time of day. Whether you want to set the stage for a party or dim the lights to settle in with a book and a cup of tea, smart lighting takes care of this, hands free. Is it possible the Clapper paved the way for Google’s Alexa and other smart control devices we know and love today?
Smart Home Thermostats and Fans
It was warm all day, so you turned the heat down to save some energy. But you forgot to turn the heat back up before you went to bed and now the whole house is cold. The heating system needs to work twice as hard to warm the house up and this causes a spike in your power usage. One of many solutions here is to program a smart thermostat to lower the temperature as the family sleeps and increase the temperature by breakfast time so that everyone will be warm and toasty.
When you head to work, you can control the smart thermostat from your phone via Wi-Fi or have it pre-programmed to turn the temperature down again while no one is home. You can also remotely turn the air conditioner on to cool the house down on a hot day. No more cooking dinner in a stuffy, baking hot kitchen after a long day.
If you don’t quite need A/C, you could also program smart fans to get air circulating before everyone gets home. These devices use machine learning as well, to learn your habits. Once they’re programmed, you’re good to go!
Smart thermostats and fans are wildly popular because this convenience increases your home’s value, increases energy efficiency and makes climate control so simple.
Smart Home Locks
Smart locks are a smart home product that protect your house and family. They also let you go hands-free (no more dumping groceries on the ground while you fumble for keys.)
If you’ve gone out for the day and realized you forgot to lock your door, just choose the “lock” option from your mobile phone and your home will be secured.
It’s another of those small but extremely useful conveniences that saves time and gives homeowners peace of mind. Plus, no more running back to the house to double check that you locked the doors.
These devices can also be programmed with individual codes for each family member or regular visitors, ending the need to have multiple keys cut.
Many smart locks also come with tablets or monitors that let you check the status of your doors and lock/unlock the doors with the touch of a button from wherever you are in the house. Smart locks are one of the most affordable advances in smart technology and provide a great starting point for a whole home security system.
Smart Home Security Cameras
On the subject of security systems, smart cameras make it easy to monitor the activity in and around your home. You’ll receive alerts and notifications in real time and be able to view videos in real time via Wi-Fi or data on your mobile app.
You also have the choice to self-monitor or to connect your system to a response centre for immediate emergency response. The latter option often means a reduction in home insurance rates and is ideal if you’re away from home often. You can also choose a device like a doorbell with built-in camera for another method of smart home security.
Smart Home Sensing Systems
Gas leaks, smoke/fires, floods and even electric surges are no match for advanced smart home technology. Detecting and sending alerts to your mobile device, sensing systems prevent disaster.
In the event or a fire or a carbon monoxide leak, an alarm will sound and alerts will go out to the phones and devices set up to receive them. If you’re set up for third-party monitoring, emergency services will be contacted immediately if no response is received. A leak or flood sensor will alert you to the problem, letting you take care of it before it gets out of control.
An electric surge sensor is one of the newer products on the market. In the event of a power surge, it will actually power down the appliances in the house. No more fried computers or ruined microwaves.
At Kobalt Systems, we are full-service electrical contractors, home automation and security experts. Are you ready to add smart solutions to your home or business? We’ll take care of automation designs, lighting control, climate control and anything else you need to make these exciting new technologies work for you, on time and on budget. Contact our team at (250) 213-3788 or email us to start designing your ideal smart system today.
