With consumer products available since the late 90s, smart homes are hardly a new concept. Yet with increasingly more affordable, reliable and varied smart appliances on the market, the Internet of Things has brought home automation to the mainstream.
With a little tech savviness, smartphones and smart hubs can be connected to nearly anything in your house, and it’s getting more intuitive to automate and monitor household tasks. Home security, heating, lighting, power, kitchen, cleaning and household appliances can all be controlled remotely, with a touch of a button or a simple voice command.
Smart homes
are here to stay,
so let’s look at
what they can do
for us :
Smart doorbells with integrated high resolution cameras, motion sensors, facial recognition and two-way talk can alert you, and let you converse remotely with anyone at your door.
Smart deadbolts can lock doors and windows remotely, alert you to attempted instructions, and automatically lock/unlock doors based on your location.
Smoke detector can now not only wake you up, but also tell you where the fire is, sync with your smart lighting to guide you out of the house, and help alert emergencies.
Smart thermostats, heat pumps, underfloor heating and other heating solutions can all be monitored with advanced sensors to keep various rooms at just the right temperature.
Motion sensors and geofencing can sync to dynamically adjust lighting and heating conditions based on your family’s location.
Along with smart water heaters and power points, you can monitor in detail the power usage of everything in your house, and remotely or automatically disable unnecessary appliances.
Voice commands make it easy and intuitive for even less tech savy individuals to interact with various smart devices and systems.
Many domestic tasks can be automated, rather than depend on the availability or affordability of an aide.
Smart motion sensors and passive infrared sensors can be set up to monitor the health of an inhabitant and alert family or local health services in case of an accident.
Smart technologies can help users keep track of their daily schedule, and remind them of important tasks.
Integrated entertainment and communication applications make it easier for those with reduced mobility to stay in touch and engaged with their friends and community.