We’re all bringing more and more smart devices into our homes, from speakers to voice assistants. Working with residential architects, you can build the technology right into your home too, to make your life more straightforward. A smart home can be great for entertainment, security and just making life a bit easier. If you’re building a smart home, here are some ideas for the best smart tech to invest in.
- Smart home hubs. The hub you choose will make a difference to the other technology you buy. Whether you choose an Amazon Echo or Google Home, you’ll need to find smart tech that is compatible with it. These home hubs have lots of great built-in skills, but can also work well with everything from bluetooth speakers to a smart doorbell.
- Surveillance cameras. If you’re security conscious, a smart surveillance camera can give you peace of mind. Depending on which one you choose, you can get features like emergency services connectivity, spotlights, sirens, motion tracking and cloud storage.
- Smart doorbell. A smart doorbell can be a great device. You can use it to check who is at the door without having to go towards it (great if you want to pretend to be out). Many have motion sensors in and will start recording if someone approaches the house, which can be great for security. If you’re out, you can also use these to grant access to delivery people to a secure porch or side room, so you don’t miss your parcels anymore.
- Smart locks. These are a great security device, especially if you’re a forgetful sort. You can connect your locks to your home hub, so you can lock up automatically as you leave the house with a simple voice command. You can even build routines with Alea for leaving the house, that turns off the lights, the appliances and finally locks all the doors.
- Smart heating. A smart thermostat can keep your home at an ideal temperature. Use voice commands to adjust the heating or connect it to WiFi so you can adjust the heating from a PC or phone wherever you are. This could be great for coming home on a cold night, as you can turn the heating on from your phone, so the house is nice and warm ready for you when you get back. You can do the same with smart air-conditioning options too.
- Smart lighting. Turn the lights on in the morning without getting out of bed. Turn the lights off from bed without having to navigate to bed in the dark. Program the lights to change as the evening goes on to help you relax. Change the colors of your light for different moods. Do it all with your home hub to keep things incredibly simple to manage.
- Smart plugs. A smart plug will go into your regular sockets and allow your home hub to turn the power on and off to whatever you plug into it. You could use these to control lamps without smart bulbs, turn the coffee machine on or turn off phone chargers that you might have forgotten about.
