It’s easier than ever these days to turn your house into a smart home, thanks to technology that doesn’t have to be built-in. You have plenty of options now to make everything in your house easier to use and smarter, too. It’s just a matter of deciding what you need to incorporate.
A smart house should work for you and make your life easier. Ignore any ideas you’ve heard about what must be included and focus on what your needs are. You can then build it up from there.
It does take time and effort to set up a smart home. You’ll have to learn new technology and get it set the way you want it (there are companies that specialise in helping you with this). It’s worth having the experts manage it for you since they’ll just need to come in and get everything installed and programmed and then the system will either work from an app, voice activation, or you can use sensors so it learns your routines and begins to work with them.
Set Up Your Lights
Imagine having your lights turn on automatically when you walk into the room? Or, maybe just when you ask them to. That’s the beauty of having a smart home; setting it up to create the perfect environment for you to thrive in. This can be easily connected to your Google Home or similar products so you can simply voice activate your lighting. There’s not a lot to it, but there’s a certain luxury to having your lighting systems come on automatically for you.
The smart plugs that can be used for lighting and such can also be used to plug in other electronics, which you can then voice activate, as well. This is a great opportunity to get creative and have things like your television, microwave and other useful appliances come on when you need them, just by speaking. You’ll need something like Google Home to make it all work, but it’s a relatively easy system to learn and you can program it to do just about anything you might need it to do.
Secure Your Home
A good alarm system is a must-have if you want to keep your home safe. Today you can set up a security system that includes cameras so you can check from anywhere in the world and see what’s going on in your home. This has the advantage of working as a nanny cam, as well. Cameras may be set up inside and outside the home, to allow you the best view of your property.
Doorbell cameras have gained a lot of publicity lately, thanks to the interesting scenes they can capture. They’re also very handy as you can talk to the person ringing the doorbell from anywhere. If you’re not home, just instruct them on where to leave your package or when to return. It’s technology like this that makes life much simpler in the long run. Most of these doorbell cameras don’t even need a doorbell. They can turn on as soon as they sense motion and then your phone picks up the live camera feed.
Adding smart smoke alarms is another advantage that allows you to monitor your home and potential dangers from your smartphone. Everyone needs to have alarms for smoke and for carbon monoxide, so if you can choose ones that work intelligently, you’ll be in a much better place. These types of alarms can save your life and the smart ones allow you to adapt them to your cooking or to call for help when it’s a real emergency.
Automate Chores
If you really want to create a helpful home, look into smart rubbish bins that can open without being touched, or even suction up whatever you sweep toward them at the bottom. These bins are particularly useful if you dislike touching the rubbish.
Laundry, dishwashing, and more can be automatically done and set to work on a timer if you like. Smart machines are now available to receive simple commands so you can ensure that your chores are finished even if you’re not home. You can also purchase vacuums that will automatically clean your floors for you, so you have no need to look after this part of your home.
Imagine making all of your chores happen without even thinking about it! When you set up cycles and routines, it can actually become possible. You’ll just have to put dishes in the dishwasher and clothes in the washer, but everything else is taken care of for you. The joy of having a smart home is not having to spend hours a day cleaning and looking after housework.
Upgrade Your Sound
Speakers are a simple upgrade that can be quite enjoyable. You just walk through your home and have the music follow you or voice activate the type of music or sounds you wish to listen to. There are so many options available for smart sound systems that you can easily have this set up in your home.
If you have a pool, you can even have speakers activate underwater when you’re in the pool and switch to the pool house once you’re out. Essentially, it’s possible to have a soundtrack to your life and that makes it all the more exciting to have this sound system functioning in your home.
It’s even possible to set playlists so you don’t need to think about what you want to listen to and the sound system will simply select it for you.
Smart Irrigation
Water conservation is a big deal and it’s a concern when you have a garden you need to irrigate. Fortunately, you can invest in an automatic watering system that will carefully measure how much water is used and place it in the correct spots to ensure your lawn and plants grow. However, the system is also designed to use minimal water.
If you’re interested in efficiency, then these are the things you need to consider installing. The watering systems are great for saving water and money, but they’ll also keep your plants alive.
Improve Your Temperature Control
Everything we’ve looked at so far has been easily automated to make your life simpler. What if you could also control the temperature in your home with an intelligent heating system?
A system like Nest will allow you to set up sensors and will heat your home as needed. The best part about this is that the heating system actually learns your schedule by noticing when you’re home and will only heat the space when you’re there. It can anticipate when you’ll be home and will heat the place so it’s warm when you walk in the door.
In addition to learning your schedule, the smart thermometer will pick up on your preferences. For example, if you like to sleep with the temperature considerably lower than during the day, the system will learn this and automatically drop the temperature for the evening. This means your home actually learns what you like best and then adjusts itself for you. There’s nothing like having your space at the perfect temperature at any given time because it knows just what you like.
Smart controls for your home are also useful because they will monitor the amount of energy being used. In fact, it can be a great way to audit your energy use and ensure that you are as efficient as possible. There will also be records kept and you can check these to see how much energy is used at each step of the way. If you notice an increase in energy, you may need to check into the heating system or other system to find out if they’re working properly. Sometimes, a poorly functioning system will siphon off more electricity than it should be using and the changes in the logs will alert you to something being wrong. This is a great way to note that you are due for an inspection or maintenance.
Smart homes can change the way you live. Depending on which systems you decide to integrate, you will be able to manage many chores, command your home to do things like turn lights on and off, and basically manage everything in a more efficient manner. It’s easy to keep track of security, as well.
Are you interested in learning more about smart thermostats? Contact West London Gas today to find out how we can help you automate your home temperature.