A smart home may be quickly becoming a must-have for current and future homeowners, but what actually does living in a smart home look like for you? Is the future here with the introduction of smart home integration?
If you want to learn more about smart homes and complete home automation solutions, then tag along as we dive deeper into smart home integration – looking at the benefits, disadvantages, components and technology.
What is a Smart Home?
A smart house may look the same as the standard properties you see when you take a look down your neighbourhood, but a smart home has a lot going on behind the scenes.
On the other hand, a smart home isn’t such a difficult concept to wrap your head around.
A smart home is a home that utilises smart home technology, meaning that certain appliances and features of the home can be controlled remotely using a device, such as a mobile phone, that is connected to the internet.
The result of adding smart features to your home is creating a wireless home automation system that can completely take over your household tasks, creating an easier, more accommodating home life.
In short, a smart home will serve you. Not the other way around.
Key Components of a Smart Home & Top Smart Home Products
Smart homes are still a relatively new idea, which means the possibilities of what more a smart home can achieve are constantly being explored.
As of writing this blog, smart home technology has come a long way and offers key components that provide complete home automation. Let’s explore some of these:
- Smart home lighting – as well as manually switching your lights on and off, you can also do this with your smartphone.
- Smart home security – with the introduction of video doorbells, smart locks and cameras, your home can be turned into an impregnable fortress.
- Smart home heating – the heating in your home can be turned on, off, up or down completely remotely
- Smart home entertainment – your TV, speakers and other entertainment features are controlled by themselves.
You may have heard of some of the top smart home products, like the Ring Video Doorbell. This is an example of a smart home product – something that is installed into your home that makes your life easier by allowing you to answer the door when you’re not even home. A neat feature that can go towards a full home automation system.
Voice Control: Wireless Home Automation
If you own a smartphone, you are likely no stranger to the voice control function. Thanks to Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and other voice control assistants, voice control is something commonly associated with a smart home.
If you want voice control in your home, you can use popular smart voice assistants or smart speakers like the ones mentioned above. These pieces of tech can play music, remind you of tasks on your to-do list, and so much more.
Plus, as you purchase more smart home devices like a smart lock for your front door, you can link these to your assistant.
So instead of physically using your hand to lock the door, you can use smart home automation solutions to do it for you using a voice command.
Smart Home Hub and Devices
By this point, you may be racking your brain trying to figure out how all of this works – how do all of these appliances, devices and products link to one another?
The answer is with a device that is connected to the internet, which is usually a smartphone.
Typically, a smartphone is all you need to control a smart home. Smart home devices will usually come with their own app which controls them. And these can be easily downloaded onto your phone.
But if you want to create a smooth and easy-to-use complete home automation solution, you probably don’t want to have to use different apps to control different things, so a multi-purpose hub may be your best bet.
Having a smart home hub acts as the nervous system of a smart house; it will connect all of your devices to one controllable point. But you need to know what devices you want, how many, and from what provider to get the right compatible hub for your needs.
Benefits of a Smart Home
- With the advancement of smart home security, your property and family may be better protected in a smart house rather than a normal one.
- In the long run, smart technology may save you money on heating and electricity bills by automating your usage.
- Smart technology can make a home more accessible for people with disabilities or old age.
- Can create a more convenient and comfortable home life where household tasks are taken care of.
Disadvantages of a Smart Home
- Smart home integration can be very expensive.
- If you are someone who isn’t the most tech-savvy, you may struggle with the steep learning curve that comes with smart technology.
- Smart devices, including the top smart home products, are connected to networks and could possibly be hacked.
- Some argue that living in a smart home with home automation solutions that complete household tasks for you will make people lazy.
Final Thoughts
The first step to smart home integration is first deciding if a smart home is right for you – is it something you really need/want?
If you do think a smart home would improve your life, you can then think about your unique needs and see if there are devices out there that can help you fulfil those needs.
As a high-quality home construction company, we’re clued up on smart homes, allowing us to advise our customers on the best practices and help them in any way we can to create their very own smart homes. If you’re interested in our help, speak to our team today.