Every homeowner dreams of a home that can be described as a haven. A place where you rest and have everything done for you.
As much as a house help may do this, most homeowners love being in control of their living space. Thanks to the smart house technologies, we can now enjoy this dream. At just the touch of a button, you will get whatever you want instantly.
Can we call it a heavenly experience on earth?
Well, with the rapid technological advancements, the standards of a smart home have risen so high that you must keep tabs with whatever latest gadget or app has been released into the market.
In fact, every owner of a smart home wants to make his or her home even smarter, and we are going to tell you just how you can achieve this.
1. Robotic Vacuum Cleaner.
No one enjoys cleaning, not even those clean freaks. Everyone has a secret wish that the floors would just clean themselves, and a robotic vacuum cleaner will give you a way out of floor vacuuming.
With the right robotic vacuum, your floors will be kept spotless as you can now afford regular vacuuming. With major manufacturers such as iRobot and Ecovacs venturing into this field, the intelligence of these machines keeps increasing every single day.
The robotic vacuum is a necessity for any smart home as it can be controlled remotely via Wi-Fi, smartphone apps and by voice commands.
They have geo-mapping technologies with sensors that set up virtual walls around the area to be cleaned, avoiding obstacles and edges. Apparently, Ecovacs has now come up with a robotic window cleaner that squeegees your glass panels spotless while iRobot has a robotic mop.
The robotic vacuum is a definite must-have for any smart house.
2. Smart Home Locks.
Security is paramount to every household, and strong door locks are the first step to safeguarding your home. In this modern era, you should consider installing smart locks on your doors.
These locks provide a keyed or keyless operation and you will be needed to input a passcode for it to be unlocked. Some of the best models feature a burglar protection system with automatic relocking after every 30 seconds and a security alert to your smartphone.
You can also operate these smart locks via your smartphone app, which is an incredible addition to any smart home.
3. Smart Light Bulbs.
Have you ever thought that a bulb could sense your moods and needs?
I guess not.
Well, there are bulbs that can do that, and that is why they are smart.
These bulbs are designed to detect the lighting of a room, identify the lighting needs of the environment and either transition from dimmer to brighter when the lighting is low, or from brighter, to dimmer if there is enough ambient light.
Some of them even give you the liberty to mimic particular environments such as a sunrise or sunset. Others can be programmed to change color at specific instances and even turn themselves on when you walk into the room, and off when you leave.
These lights can also be controlled via your smartphone or tablet remotely.
4. Smart Thermostat.
Given the constant temperature changes in our households, it is quite difficult to know instantly when and to what temperature level you need to set your thermostat.
However, with a smart thermostat like the Ecobee3 or Nest, this can be controlled via the phone, PC or tablet so that even when you are at work, you can turn up the thermostat’s temperature immediately and come back to a warm cozy house.
Even more amazing is that the smart thermostat keeps a history of your patterns and with time, it will automatically turn on or off, and even increase or decrease in temperature without any intervention from you.
This thermostat can be scheduled via an app. All these add up to reduced energy bills and more comfort at home.
5. Smart Bathroom.
Who doesn’t enjoy soaking into the bath or feeling the shower spray water onto their skin?
While this experience may not be luxurious in your normal bathroom, a smart bathroom does revamp it by a great deal. It combines all the necessary functions to ensure that you enjoy every second inside your bathroom.
From a smartphone or tablet app, you can set the temperature of the water in the tub or shower, and its spray power/speed, as well as the bathroom’s audio and lighting.
You may even have an option for drawing curtains to let in some outdoor ambiance. Other functions include self-closing toilet seats, different bidet functions, self-flushing toilets and faucets that automatically turn off when you are done with washing your hands.
If you desire total relaxation in the bathroom for those stress-free days, then this is the way to go.
6. Smart Refrigerators.
Intelligent technology has also made its way into the kitchen. From coffee makers that can be scheduled to brew coffee at a particular time, refrigerators have now become cleverer.
The latest smart refrigerators will let you know whenever you run out of kitchen supplies by snapping pictures of its interior and emailing them to you.
They can even sense subtle fluctuations in temperature and adjust it to optimal levels to ensure your food stays fresh.