Smart Homes: Where To Get Started

Our homes are our sanctuary. We retreat to them to rest, relax, eat, drink, and disconnect from the outside world. Our homes have our beds, our food, and everything else that we hold dear. For a long time, our homes have followed a general template of how things were. This template was a foolproof system of appliances, furniture, fittings, and decorations that added form and function to our lives. But what if that wasn’t the end of the road? What is that being where you stop when it comes to your home? Enter smart homes.

Smart Home – What is It?

A smart home is a name given to a house where there is a slew of connected products and services which elevate the living experience. In a smart home, you have a collection of different smart home technologies in different places, each automating that would require physical effort.

By having smart home technology in your home, life becomes a little bit easier. It becomes a bit more streamlined and you have more control over how things work. It all started with smart lightbulbs and wall sockets. You could control these with your mobile phone on a companion application. However, we have come a long way from this with a wide variety of products and services that can change the way you live.

Smart Home Tech in 2022

In 2022, technology is at its most powerful. It has never been easier to start building your smart home. Understandably, it can sometimes get a bit daunting to some since there are so many different ways to set it all up. There is a lot of smart home tech out there and before you get into it, you need to know and decide what you want.

Do you want it to be scarcely scattered around the place, subtly existing in the background, or do you want it to be more profound and comprehensive? This is important because depending on what you want; your choices will differ. This article will walk you through the different ways to get into smart tech and the different considerations you need to make along the way.

Security System

Ensuring your home is safe should be paramount for anyone. You want to keep your friends, family, and personal belongings in and unwanted visitors and the weather out.

Smart Lights

For starters, you need smart lights to illuminate the place. Ring Smart Lighting is an option that works well in this regard. It allows you to form an entire network of lights around your home which includes step lights, flood lights, spotlights, and pathway lights. These battery-powered lights are easy to install and are motion sensitive so if someone or something goes where it shouldn’t, a bright light will illuminate them for everyone to see. Using Amazon Alexa or the Ring app, you can create different combinations of lights that illuminate depending on where the unwanted admission is from.

Smart Cameras

No security system is complete without cameras. You want to keep an eye on everything happening. Smart cameras are incredibly easy to install. They offer a high-resolution image while also being weather-resistant. Smart cameras allow you to watch what is going on from anywhere in the world. All you need to do is connect the smart camera to an internet connection and you’re good to go. Smart cameras allow you to designate different areas that you want to be protected. Any time the camera detects movement where it shouldn’t, it will alert you. Parents can use this to keep an eye on their children if they have a babysitter or if they aren’t immediately around.

Smart Locks

A smart lock is a device that replaces or is installed on top of a regular door lock. You can use a smart lock to remotely or automatically ensure your door is locked or unlocked. Using a service such as IFTTT can also create a system where your movement can constantly trigger it into action. For example, you can program it to automatically lock whenever you leave the vicinity of your home. Smart locks also allow you to give people access if you aren’t there. You can generate a unique password or key that people can use to unlock the door if you aren’t there.

The Living Space

Inside, there are many different options to choose from when it comes to smart home tech. Let’s take a look at them!

Smart Plugs

Unbeknownst to many, smart plugs solve a simple problem. Using a smart plug, you can control the way you use your appliance around the house. For example, you can use Apple Homekit, Google Home, or Amazon Alexa to create a system where certain prompts turn the plug on or off. When you wake up in the morning, the smart plug could instantly turn on your coffee machine or water heater. In the evening, smart plugs can automatically turn on conventional lights, removing the need for you to do it yourself.

Smart Speakers

Smart speakers such as Google Home Mini or Amazon Echo Dot are more than just ways for you to listen to music. These smart speakers allow you to dictate voice commands to Siri, Google Assistant, or Alexa. They can act as sound alarms and most offerings come in different sizes to choose from.

Smart Lightbulbs

One of the original smart home products, smart lightbulbs are more than just a way to change the color of your lights. Once you’ve connected your lightbulbs, you can adjust color temperature, set schedules, and automate them turning on or off. Using IFTTT, you can program your smart lights to turn off when you leave the house, turn on at a certain time, and tone down the temperature as the night progresses before finally turning off when you go to sleep.

Thermostats

Be it toasty or be it chilly, your thermostat is an incredibly underappreciated part of your home. It allows you to set a temperature to your liking which can make the world of a difference. A smart thermostat does all of that, but it is automated. The Nest learning thermostat not only manages the temperature in your home, but it also has geofencing support, furnace monitoring, and a slew of other features. It can be controlled remotely and similar to other smart tech, it can also be preprogrammed to follow certain prompts from time to time.

Conclusion

Smart home tech is an ingenious innovation that has changed the way we live our lives. It is now possible for you to automate the things you do in your home to save you time, effort, and money in the process. It sounds too good to be true but you best believe that it exists and works as advertised.

For your smart home to operate seamlessly, it needs to have a strong and stable internet connection. The offering from AT&T is an ideal candidate for the job and you can learn more about their packages by visiting their website. Finally, Mediacom has got you covered across the board.