Looking to make your home just a little smarter? While still in its infancy, the number of smart home products—devices that let you control your lighting, thermostat, or even your coffee pot from your smartphone—is rapidly growing. From Harvey Norman to Belkin to Home Depot, tons of products and whole ecosystems want to help you control your home via a single iOS or Android app. You can pick and choose your favourite gadgets to assemble an affordable intelligent abode on your own terms, or opt for an entire smart home system that does all the work for you. Here are some of our favourite smart home systems and individual gadgets.
What is a smart home?
A smart home is one in which the various electric and electronic appliances are wired up to a central computer control system so they can either be switched on and off at certain times (for example, heating can be set to come on automatically at 6:00AM on winter mornings) or if certain events happen (lights can be set to come on only when a photoelectric sensor detects that it’s dark)
Technology Leaders
The emergence of Apple Home on iPhone home screens, the launch of Google Home, and a line expansion of Amazon Echo, bringing together smart home devices into a cohesive ecosystems. Partnerships that expand these ecosystems will be the short-term focus, but the strength of each company’s AI will ultimately determine the connected home winner. Amazon Echo shows advantage in the short term, but we’ll be looking for strong improvements in Google Echo and an Apple Home device launch.
The link down below shows what amazon have achieved in such short space of time really gives you on idea of what can be achieved down the line. This area of technology is still in its infancy which makes it al the more important
Amazon Alexa
Security & Safety
Traditional smoke alarms can be plenty loud when they detect a problem, but beeping noises aren’t very descriptive, or helpful if you’re outside. Smart home smoke detectors — like the Nest Protect — can send specific messages to your phone, instantly letting you know if the problem is burnt toast or a dangerous carbon monoxide leak. The Nest can even call 911 for you.
Smart locking doors can allow you to control your locks from anywhere you can connect online, perhaps by setting up virtual guests when the in-laws are in town, or letting the kids in from school before you leave work. More advanced smart homes can even have remote video cameras so you can keep an eye on things no matter what the circumstance.
Convenience & Connectivity
Controlling your lights from your smartphone is one of the more sought after features of smart homes because of their ease of use and affordability. Not only can you turn your lights on or off from the road, allowing you to save energy or increase security at night when necessary, but many affordable systems like vanity lighting and dimming to be controlled remotely as well.
A good Wi-Fi router is the heart of any smart home, and larger homes with more devices may even want to opt for an extender to accommodate their system or install a more advanced, voice-controlled Wi-Fi router.
Affordability & Value
Wireless control of the thermostat can save an enormous amount of energy and money, either by allowing you to cut off heat or air conditioning when you’re not home, or even by letting a smart thermostat like the Nest Learning Thermostat use data and sensors to regulate and save energy for you. You don’t even have to program the Nest, just turn it on and it does the rest.
says smart bulbs can last three to 25 times longer and use 25 to 80 percent less energy than standard bulbs, and Nest reports their users save an average of 10 to 15 percent on their heating and cooling bills each year. This isn’t just great news for homeowners, but potential home sellers as well, as smart homes show increasing market value.
TECHstance 