Now is the time to make your home a smart home. We look at technology and everything you need to know about smart home systems.
Many years have passed us but finally, we are seeing the rise of smart home devices. Forecasts from a tech firm Gartner Research have already indicated over 500 smart devices to be available by 2022.
Practically everywhere you look nowadays there is some sort of smart home system in place. Whether you live in a thousand square-foot bungalow or your dwelling is on the 15th floor of a high-rise block, smart home technology can really add value at home and affect your life in a positive manner.
You wouldn’t believe the number of applications that smart devices can have.
So what exactly is holding you back from the addition of smart home systems? Perhaps you are wondering about the cost or the reliability of smart technology? Our guide will help put an end to all qualms. Let’s find out more.
DIY versus professionally installed
You will be pleased to know that there are several basic solutions for smart home systems that will not break the bank, nor will they require any professional installation.
Examples of these are devices that can connect to a smart hub, which is a bit like the brain of the system. The vast majority of these can be easily set up and all they require is a Wi-Fi connection.
The only thing you need to ensure is that this connection is decent because you won’t want any glitches and communication problems leading to errors such as not being able to turn on the lights when you tell them.
However, if you are slightly nervous about tackling installation on your own, it wouldn’t hurt to have someone do the work for you. Professional installers can also help tweak systems to meet your needs in a more advanced fashion, helping you to get the most out of your product.
In general, we would recommend getting a professional to do the job because this could save you a lot of aggravation and in some cases, a lot of money. If you were to connect your DIY system incorrectly, you could spend a lot more than your original investment on fixing costs.
Example technology
When smart home tech comes to mind, there is so much that can be done for you at home. Here are some examples both of different technology and different uses of it:
Buttons on tablets, keypads or phones can be used to activate certain lighting in your house.
You could take advantage of voice control in order to play certain songs or playlists in any room of the home.
When it comes to home security smart tech, you could view real-time footage captured using security cameras from a remote location, as well as monitor every aspect of your home remotely.
The garden can be automated, with lawn sprinklers setting off jets of water at appropriate times during the day.
Your phone could become the best garage door opener, allowing you to open the door with an easy voice command.
You can effectively supervise, monitor, manage and control any appliance that is integrated with a smart home hub.
Scalability and capability
Getting things right often involves sizing systems, considering expectations and keeping an eye on your budget. You need to consider all of these things in great detail before considering any system.
If you live in a 1000 square-foot house, you could get by with a far less sophisticated and expensive system than one installed for a family of five in a 5,000-square-foot building.
Think about what you want the smart technology to do, because you won’t need to automate absolutely everything. If you’re not keen on cooking, why when you need to have the kitchen sink integrated with your home hub technology?
As technology advances at an alarming rate, make sure that you can easily update your smart home system. You will also want your system to be able to expand and handle any new technology or features as they come along.
It is important to research systems expandability and the friendliness of integration. Your life will not stand still either, so neither should the capability of your home system. Think about any changes that will come to your lifestyle in the future, for instance getting older or having children.
How will these things affect your initial design? You will want to be able to have the choice of incorporating several different products from different manufacturers into one system, so look for products with the highest level of integration possible. As a rule of thumb, DIY solutions are a lot more limited in this regard.
User interfaces
One important consideration to bear is how easily you can control devices remotely. You wouldn’t believe how easy technology such as smart home light control or any other technology can be controlled using an ordinary android or iPad, but you will need to think about how everything feels and looks.
Which technology will you find most intuitive to you? The vast majority of companies allow you to sample a user interface by downloading an app remotely from their website or an app store.
This is a great way of getting a virtual test drive. You will be engaging with your smart home system on a daily basis, you will need to feel as comfortable as possible using it. Whatever tools are on offer, from voice control to far-field technology, it will need to work for you.
Smart home tech for you
We hope that you have a much more comprehensive understanding of smart home control systems and before you read this article. It can be relatively simple to set up smart technology and as technology increases in efficiency, the future will see many more smart devices available for cheap. All the best!
Do you own any smart home things? Tell us about them in the comment section below.
About the author: Kevin Nelson spends most of his time writing articles on a freelance basis, however, is also a tech whizz and DIY enthusiast. One of his pet projects has been revamping old cars which he does in his garage at home. When he’s not writing or working on revamps, Kevin loves to play football and cycle around the hills in his hometown of Bristol.
