Smart technology refers to a network of internet-connected devices designed to help you remotely control and monitor key aspects of your house. The number of smart homes in the United States is growing. Even the less technologically savvy have become curious enough to know what items are available and how they work.
If you’re late to the party, learn about the seven most common ways people use smart devices to bring yourself up to speed.
Reduce Energy Consumption
Smart devices log energy usage data, letting you know how much electricity they consume.
For example, smart plugs with an energy monitoring feature help you identify which gadgets and appliances are too power-hungry. They can also open your eyes to phantom loads — electric power consumed by wired devices on standby mode — which account for 5%-10% of an average house’s annual energy use.
Smart thermostats can also significantly minimize your power usage. These devices are programmable and consider external factors — such as air pollutants, humidity and weather — to efficiently run your heating and cooling equipment.
Conserve Water
A smart irrigation controller can help you avoid overwatering your lawn. This technology uses sensors to collect weather or soil moisture data. This information tells the device how much to sprinkle, marrying water conservation and plant health.
On the other hand, smart toilets provide more than personal hygiene benefits. They have water-saving features, allowing you to use fewer gallons per flush and giving you various flushing options.
Control Lighting
Smart devices can help you maximize natural and artificial light sources to keep your living spaces airy and healthy in an energy-efficient way.
Smart blinds can automate their movements to maximize daylighting or block the sun as you please. On the other hand, smart lights brighten up your rooms using minimal energy and even change their colors based on your desired mood.
Do Tasks Hands-Free
Smart speakers and displays do more than blast music as background noise, lull you to sleep and act like alarm clock radios. They house voice assistants that can give you company and help you carry out everyday tasks.
These bots use speech recognition, natural language processing and other artificial intelligence-powered capabilities to interact with you meaningfully.
You can instruct them to do things for you through voice commands. Like human secretaries, they can call your contacts, set timers and reminders, and manage your other smart devices at home to maintain your desired daily routine.
This technology is also making its way into the kitchen through voice-activated faucets and appliances. Smart faucets foster personal hygiene. Touchless models initiate and stop water flow through motion detection or voice commands, allowing you to stay germ-free after washing. One-tap faucets are less hygienic, but you can activate them with your foot or elbow.
These smart plumbing fixtures also promote water conservation. Hands-free operation helps minimize water waste.
The companion app for your smart faucets can monitor your usage. You can also set them to discharge the right amount when filling cups, mugs and pitchers. This app has water temperature control functionality, which can prevent frozen pipes.
Improve Indoor Air Quality
Smart range hoods spring to life when they smell pollutants and return to slumber after removing the detected contaminants. They mitigate particle pollution and are particularly useful for reducing your risk of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.
CO is a silent killer, claiming the lives of over 400 Americans yearly. This gas is odorless and colorless. You need a smart range hood to have a reliable means to detect and handle this sneaky health threat.
Minimize Food Waste
Smart refrigerators work similarly to traditional fridges, except they have built-in cameras to show you their contents remotely via a mobile app. This capability allows you to track food items from anywhere.
These advanced kitchen appliances have temperature control algorithms designed to optimize cooling based on when you open and close the door. This functionality ensures the refrigerator cabinets are cold enough — 40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower — to inhibit bacterial and fungal growth, preventing your raw supplies and leftovers from spoiling.
Your smart fridge can learn your preferences and habits. It uses this data to recommend spot-on recipes, which gives you creative ideas to turn items nearing expiration into tasty dishes and snacks.
Reinforce Home Security
Smart devices can keep intruders at bay in various ways.
Smart doorbells double as surveillance cameras, alerting you and recording footage upon detecting motion. They use different types of access, including biometric data, to lock unauthorized parties out. These doorbells let you remotely speak to whoever shows up at your front door so you can keep a safe distance from them.
Smart locks support keyless entry through fingerprint scans or voice recognition to verify your identity. You can lock and unlock your doors using a mobile app via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and set a personal PIN code. Some of these sophisticated locks still accept traditional keys.
You can create temporary codes to let authorized parties in. These codes can expire and be active only for specific times of day or dates. Alternatively, you can share one-time virtual keys accessible only through the smart lock’s companion app, which are subject to revocation after use.
Smart garage door openers go beyond programmability. These devices share many desirable features of smart doorbells and locks — including remote access.
If you expect a package, you can open your garage door from anywhere to let the courier bring the delivery inside and close it afterward.
If you go out of town, being able to open and close your garage door remotely will keep your mail from piling up outside. The sight of unclaimed mail indicates that nobody’s home, which may embolden criminals to break into your house.
If someone opens your garage door without your permission, this smart device can immediately alert you or the authorities.
Make Your Home Smarter One Device at a Time
You don’t need a complex setup to live in a smart home. You can initially start with a few devices and upgrade as you get the hang of it. What matters is you buy interoperable gadgets and appliances to ensure they can talk with each other and achieve seamless interconnectedness.
