Imagine a day when you open your door and the lights turn on, an alarm system receives a notification of suspicious activity. While you’re away from home, security cameras detect that someone is inside or outside your house. In short, imagine a home that’s aware of its occupants and their patterns in life to become more comfortable, safer, and more energy-efficient.
When we talk about the Smart Home, we’re really talking about devices that connect to the Internet and share information with other devices, sometimes without human intervention. The objective is to capture information about our everyday lives and take automated action based on those insights; for example: “If I leave home at this time each weekday, turn off my kitchen lights.”
Automated devices are all around us. Our smartphones connect to the Internet and so do our TV and laptop. But, these days even objects like fridges are getting connected to wirelessly share information with other devices in your home. Here are some of the biggest reasons to automate your home:
Energy efficiency
If you could save energy in the places you spend the most time, wouldn’t you do it? From your living room to your baby’s nursery, lights can go on when rooms are occupied and off when they’re empty. Programmed to follow a schedule specific for each room, smart plugs can activate or deactivate electronic devices without any effort on your part.
The best way to immediately do this is with a smart thermostat, which you can automate to adjust room temperatures based on the time of the day and who’s home. For example, your thermostat could detect that everyone is out for work or school by comparing geolocation data from smartphones with the time you typically leave in the morning. When it senses that no one is at home, it turns down heating or cooling. When everyone’s headed home, it can be set to restore temperatures to normal levels for maximum energy efficiency while saving you money.
Added security
Are front and back doors locked? Did you close the garage door? Is your alarm system armed? You can easily check these things whenever you want with free apps, but there’s no reason to worry when connected devices send alerts if something changes. For example, if the motion detector is activated, a camera on your phone captures a snapshot of what’s happening and sends it to you. The best home security even allows you to control things like locks, lights, and other things remotely from your mobile devices.
Enjoy a more comfortable home
What if your air filter could order itself when the air quality was low? Or, what if your heating or cooling system adjusted itself before you got home from work based on weather forecasts for the day? In addition to convenience, your home could save energy by running efficiently, which means lower utility bills and a longer-lasting structure.
These are just a few ideas of how automation works with your daily routine to make life simpler. But the truth is that you have many options for automating tasks at home – from light switches to thermostats, home security to air quality.
The possibilities are endless because automation takes advantage of wireless communication technology to connect devices, adapt to situations, and even make decisions without your input. The opportunities for smart homes are there; you just need the know-how and access to the right devices.