Uncategorized – Trusted Smart Homes

Smart homes are at their peak of popularity nowadays. However, there is a perfect reason for that. First, let us understand what a smart home is. A smart home allows you to control all the devices in your home like thermostats, lights, TVs, security cameras, locks, audio speakers, appliances, etc., through your smartphone or tablet through the internet. This technology allows your home to become connected as one as all your appliances are connected into a common system. Such smart home technology features are convenient and cost-saving too. Smart homes are the ultimate in comfort, technology, convenience, and security. With each passing day, new technological developments are coming up for smart homes. For example, a few decades back, we used to have corded phones to communicate with each other. Look at us now; we all have a mini-computer in our pockets, which allows us to communicate and simultaneously do dozens of different functions. The possibilities and functionality of a smart home are expanding at a fast rate, which makes planning for a smart home somewhat of a Herculean (strenuous) experience. In this article, we will look into the top features of a smart home system as well as their advantages, which will give you an idea of what features to choose from and whatnot. Top 10 Features of a Smart Home System Smart Lighting System Lighting is the most integral part of your smart home, and this is the one feature you would want. An automated lighting system reduces the need for excessive light switches and gives a chic look to your smart home. It offers a wide range of functions to control the lights of your whole home from one spot. These network-controlled lighting systems feature smart programming to automate your lights such that you can dim, turn on, turn off, or brighten whenever you want. You can use it to customize the timings when you want your lights to switch on, say at around 6-7 pm when it starts to get dark. You can also program them to turn off when no one is at home. Further customizations include motion detection, which will allow the lights to be activated when someone is actually in the room. This can be done for a specific room or the whole house, as per your requirements. Moreover, outdoor light activation is also possible, allowing you to see anyone who is trespassing. It is pretty amazing what technology allows you to do! Advanced Security With technological advancements, an advanced security feature is the need of the hour in your smart home system. Sitting anywhere in the world, you will be able to control the arming and disarming of the alarm system as well as edit its settings. You will also have the option to configure options to detect any intrusion. With advanced security features, in case of a break-in, the outdoor lights of your home would be activated, and then the system will warn you or the security personnel of anyone trying to force their way in. Temperature Control Struggling to set a perfect room climate is very common. Thanks to the temperature control feature of smart home technology, now you can easily control the heating and cooling of your room. A smart thermostat can be programmed to learn your schedule and temperature preferences. You can have heating and cooling in your rooms as and when you need them. Moreover, you can program to have weather-sensitive sensors placed outside, which will allow the temperature control system to detect outside conditions and adjust accordingly. Easily controlled by smart apps or virtual assistants, this modern technology also focuses on energy conservation and saves a lot of energy. Appliance Control Our homes are full of smart appliances these days. Some of the common appliances are the oven, refrigerator, coffee maker, washing machine, dishwasher, etc. It is now possible to control these appliances using a home automation system. This saves a lot of energy as well as saves you from any hazard as you can turn any appliance on or off from a smart home app. This appliance control technology can even tell you how much power or energy you use on your appliances and gives you an insight into where and how this energy can be saved. Entertainment and Audio Control Entertainment feature is a good and exciting thing to have in your smart home. You can control every aspect of your entertainment, from TV to radio and music, with just your smart home app. Listen to music whether you are cooking or having a bath. Watch recorded TV shows, movies whenever you feel like it. Audio control is an excellent sub-feature of an entertainment system of a smart home. Surely you all would agree! Everyone loves music, and getting to play music anywhere, anytime in your home without any effort is sheer heaven. Distributed audio control in your smart home makes this a reality. It connects multiple rooms to your home network, and you can listen to music anytime, anywhere. With control over your lighting and music, you can turn your home into a club and have a blast! Irrigation Controller On vacation, do you worry about who is going to water your precious plants? Not to worry, this irrigation control feature is going to blow all your worries away. This home automation technology will take care of your garden. There are various plant watering and sprinkler-controlled systems that you can install in your smart home and leave for your vacation without a worry in the world. You can easily control these irrigation systems from a remote location using a dedicated mobile app. Moreover, these smart irrigation controllers can simplify your garden care and save lots of water. Smart Lock system This is another excellent feature to have in your smart home. Many times you must also have been anxious and worried about whether you have locked your doors or not. With a smart lock system, you can easily control your locks from your smartphone. This home automation technology will give you a virtual spare key, giving you the liberty to control your home locks from your phone without any worry of theft or robbery. The best part of smart locks, which use electronic systems, is that you can configure them easily and change the access in a moment. Moreover, you can generate different keys for a single lock and record electronically when a door is opened. Due to their great utility, guesthouse owners and hospitality service providers are upgrading to smart locks. Also read: How to Secure Your Smart Door Lock Real Safe Video Doorbell Camera Video doorbell cameras can be your first line of defense to safeguard your house from porch pirates and undesirable people. In addition, to see and talk to the person at the door, you can pre-instruct these devices to record visitor’s footage. Also, smart video doorbell cameras come with motion detection sensors, and when activated, these devices can send security warning messages on your phone or email if any unwanted human activity is recorded. When you are away from home, and someone comes ringing your doorbell expecting to meet you, what do you do? This smart video doorbell camera is the solution; it will allow you to chat with your visitors through your smartphone. With this video doorbell camera, you can talk to anyone and reschedule your plans. A great feature to have in your smartphone, isn’t it? Also read: How To Set Up Your Smart Home Aquarium Controller This smart technology is great for your pet fishes. When you are outside your home, and it is their feeding time, not to worry! You can do it easily from your smartphone. This aquarium controlling system will give you complete control over the aquarium, from automated feeding to ozone control. No need for a sitter for your fishes now! Wake up Another great feature to add to your smart home system is to control your alarm clocks for waking up at the right time. You will be able to choose the sounds you want to wake up to. Imagine waking up to your favorite sound or music- it will make your mornings so much more pleasant and refreshing. These are some of the top features to add to your smart home. Besides these, there are many more features and technologies you can add to your home. Associated companies are continuously developing new smart home features that can significantly enhance your experience. However, to enjoy advanced features, your smart home must have some essential components: Must-Have Components of a Smart Home System Uninterrupted High-speed Internet An advanced network facility is one of the essential components of a smart home system. It points to the network of devices connected through a wireless system, the central point of any smart home system. A simple wireless router or a Wi-Fi system just will not do. It needs advanced class networking equipment and many wireless access points throughout your smart home for seamless integration of all facilities. An advanced network facility is like the central nervous system of your home, making all the facilities work together effortlessly and efficiently. Overall, this is the most important and critical aspect of your smart home. Comprehensive Security System A smart home has an advanced home security system. It is considerably different from a traditional home security system. It not only alerts authorities in case of a fire or break-in, but it can also differentiate between guests and strangers. It is fully customizable according to your specific security needs. It will allow you to look after the safety and security of your home even when you are not present and alert authorities or your family in case of emergency. Remote Access Applications A smart home system allows you remote access to your home system and lets you operate it from anywhere. There are various customizations available, which will enable you to check in on your home through video surveillance, turn on your entertainment system for your family or even allow you to unlock the door to let your staff inside. There are many more things you can do with remote access. It will give you a sense of peace and security when you are away from home and are able to look after your home and family’s well-being. Expandability and Upgradability To meet our varying needs, a smart home system must be easy to expand. There are two main reasons which make this feature essential. First, your home will probably not remain the same after a few years. Second, due to continuously evolving and changing technology, new products are introduced to the markets. Moreover, your requirement might be much basic now and will eventually rise in the future. So, an ideal smart home system should be easy to expand, such that it allows connectivity to added spaces/rooms in your renovated home as well as integration of additional devices to fulfill future demands. In addition to expandability, upgradability is also an essential feature of a smart home system. Software is the central component of any automation system, which controls its functions. To function properly and for optimum utility, your automation system software should be updated periodically. Before you invest in purchasing a system, make sure that an automatic software update is available for that particular system. User Interface A well-developed user interface makes things easier for a smart home system owner and enhances your capability to control connected devices. Different electronic devices are controlled in various ways, from pressing buttons to remotes and touchscreens. Similarly, home automation systems also come with a wide range of user interfaces. You can choose one that suits your family’s preference and budget. Though touchscreens are one of the most used, voice-command-based virtual assistants such as Alexa and Google Assistants are also widely used. Smart homes will greatly add to your convenience and comfort. So, choose well and have fun!