In recent years, the concept of a smart home has become more and more popular. Many homeowners have started making their homes ‘smarter’ by installing new smart appliances and devices, improving efficiency and convenience within the home.
In order to create a smart home, all you need is a strong and stable internet connection, a smartphone and some smart devices.
What is a Smart Home?
A smart home is a house that is equipped with connected devices and appliances that can be programmed, controlled, monitored and accessed remotely via. a smartphone, tablet or computer.
These devices and appliances can range from simple smart lightbulbs to complex security systems.
Smart homes allow homeowners to be more efficient and sustainable. They can control energy usage levels and costs, among many other advantages that we will discuss below.
Advantages of a Smart Home
Smart homes give us an opportunity to improve the way we live and work by allowing us to manage and control devices and appliances remotely through an app on our smartphones.
Smart homes offer many advantages over traditional homes, like energy efficiency, convenience and security.
There are many advantages to having smart devices and appliances in your home:
Energy Efficiency
Smart devices and appliances will make your home more energy efficient as you will have greater control over your energy usage levels. You will be able to automate high-energy-consuming appliances within your home, like your heating and lights.
Smart heating systems or smart lights allow you to be more energy efficient as you can automate your settings so your heating or lights only come on at specific times or when the temperature in your house drops below a certain level. Automating appliances like these will help you to reduce the energy consumption levels within your home as they aren’t being used when they’re not needed or at unnecessary times.
Having devices and appliances that work based on motion detection also helps you to reduce your energy usage levels as they will only activate when motion is detected.
Security
Smart home security systems allow you to monitor your home remotely through different smart devices, like cameras, making you feel more secure and giving you peace of mind that your home is safe and secure while you’re out of home or away on holidays etc.
Motion detectors and cameras can trigger alerts when certain events occur, e.g. if someone approaches the front door of your house a camera or doorbell can trigger and allow you to view and speak to the person.
These security features can deter burglars and help to keep your home safe and secure.
Convenience
Smart devices are extremely convenient as you can manage and control all of your home devices from your smartphone while you’re on the go. So, if you’re on the way home you can easily turn your heating on through your smartphone so your house is nice and warm when you arrive home!
Smart devices and appliances are also highly customisable. You can set bespoke customisations so that with the click of one button you can turn the customisations on. For example, you could have your lights set to a certain dim setting for when you’re watching TV and you’ll be able to easily dim your lights from the comfort of your couch by pressing a button on an app on your phone!
Devices that have intelligent controls and the ability to be interconnected with other devices are also convenient as they can be activated by voice or can be triggered by specific conditions. Interconnected devices improve the overall functionality of each device and deliver coordinated results.
Stats and Insights
Smart devices and appliances can provide us with key stats and insights to help us monitor our energy usage. You can buy a smart energy monitor that will provide insight into the times you use the most energy etc. and how you could optimise your usage timings to reduce the amount of energy consumed.
You can also get some home management insights from smart devices which can help you to optimise the way you use different appliances within your home for the most efficient and optimal results.
Smart fridges can also provide you with a report of what stock you have in your fridge. So if you’re on your way home and plan to stop into the shop to pick up ingredients for dinner, you can check on an app on your phone what ingredients you already have in your fridge. Overall, this can help with food wastage and efficiency within the home.
Creating a Smart Home
There are a number of different smart devices and appliances available on the market at the moment. So, when you are beginning to create your smart home, you will have a wide variety of devices and appliances to choose from to create a bespoke smart home to suit your needs.
Check out our blog post on ‘How to Create a Smart Home’ to find out more about the ways that you can create a smart home.
