Hearing the term ‘smart home’ itself makes us wonder whether smart homes are affordable? And even if affordable, is it worth investing in building a smart home? Sure, smart homes have become the new trend in recent times but do they offer any convenience or is it just another ‘show-off expense’? Let’s find out! 

With the rise of smart appliances & gadgets being released by various companies, most homes are now adapting the smart home technology in their homes. Earlier, families would discuss amongst themselves about how their rooms will look and now, it’s all about what smart gadgets my room will have. 

What are smart gadgets?

In simplest terms, smart gadgets are nothing but gadgets designed to suit your needs. These gadgets or appliances learn your commands to offer you better convenience. For example, smart bulbs have built-in motion sensors. These detect your presence and switch on automatically and similarly switch-off when no one is around. Because let’s all agree that, we at some point tend to forget switching-off our bedroom lights and then really don’t care to make an effort to go back and switch it off. This is where smart bulbs help us save energy.

Let’s take another example. Suppose, you’ve had a long & tiring day at work and once you reach home you’ve decided to sleep early. You’re just about to sleep and suddenly you realise that you forgot to switch off the kitchen lights. The first thought that comes to your mind is, ‘I don’t care!!’ but then reality kicks-in and you’re reminded of your sky-rocketing electricity bills. But what if you had smart lighting? You could have simply asked Siri or Google voice assistant to ‘switch off kitchen lights’ or manually turn it off using a smartphone all from the comfort of your bed.

Smart Security

Though there are numerous benefits that one can achieve from smart home technology, the one that offers the greatest relief is, ‘smart security solutions’. With smart security, comes peace of mind. One can train their smart home to ensure maximum safety at all times. For example, smart door locks, doorbells or camera surveillance can alert you of suspicious activity by sending you instant notifications on your smartphone. You can also configure the system to send the same alert to the police and other security services. In case you’re away on a vacation, and you have a visitor at your place, you will receive an instant notification on your phone & you can answer your door from anywhere in the world. Smart security offers the convenience of keeping your kingdom guarded at all times.

Automatic triggers & Personalised Scenes

Imagine as soon as you wake up, the window shades open automatically, the water heater switches on, your favorite podcast starts playing & the coffee maker starts brewing some coffee to give you the perfect kick-start for the day. Or what if it’s ‘movie night’, and just with a few taps on your smartphone or using simple voice commands, your house creates the perfect scene for you by draping the curtains, dimming the lights, cooling the climate & switching on the TV to start Netflix? With home automation, you have the power to control things around you just the way YOU want to. All you gotta do is order a few commands and let your house do the work for you! 

Health & Well-Being
Now you wonder, how do smart homes promote health & wellness! Let’s take a look at a few examples.

Circadian Lighting
Medical research over the last few years has shown that ambient lighting scenes have a tangible effect on a person’s mood, productivity, quality of sleep and therefore overall health, especially when our exposure to natural light has reduced considerably over the last decade. With smart lighting solutions, one can set different mood lighting for different times of the day. Bright lights can be set during the day for work-mode to help you stay focused & productive, while warm lighting can help you relax & settle-in nicely during late evenings. Basically, the idea is based on the concept of natural lighting that we see around us and smart lighting creates a similar environment in our homes mimicking natural lighting. 

Automated Air Purifying System

With the rising levels of water & air pollution these days, smart air purifiers play a vital role in promoting health & wellness. These smart sensors regularly monitor the quality of air in our homes throughout the day and alert us in case the air quality decreases. It enables us to monitor & measure invisible contaminants, identifies & detects toxic gas release, pest infestation, and so on.

Smart refrigerators track & analyse the nutritional information of the stored products. Embedded sensors in the fridge will suggest more nutritional alternatives in case you’re consuming more sugary products like cola, candies, chocolates, etc. Smart refrigerators can also analyse & sync the quantity of your grocery list in real-time and will place an order for you automatically if you’re running low on them.

Other than these, there are various other innovations in smart home wellness technologies like smart mirrors which analyse health metrics such as body temperature and heart rate, changes in skin features to identify any rashes or allergies, tracks your cholesterol & glucose levels which can prove to be of a great benefit for people with diabetes. 

But, do you really need to invest in a smart home?

If planned wisely, smart home technology can greatly benefit us & prove to be highly convenient for most of our day-to-day activities. Most of the smart gadgets or appliances are designed in a way so that it’s user-friendly and easy-to-use. Automation solutions learn your daily habits and can be designed in a way that can help you save time & energy from menial tasks. A smart home doesn’t necessarily mean that your whole home is automated but it will for sure relieve you from most of your daily activities. It’s like how machines were built in a way to reduce manpower and automate things, similarly within a smart home, your appliances communicate with each other once you initiate a few commands. 

Takeaway
It’s not necessary to fill in your entire home with smart home solutions. One can try out a few things first to get comfortable with the technology. The easiest ones to integrate are smart lighting, smart security, climate control and so on. You don’t have to compulsorily change the wiring layout in your home as one can simply retrofit a ‘automation hub’ with the existing wiring layout in your home and get started. However, when you’re integrating automation solutions for a new space, one can plan out things more strategically and map out things according to one’s preferences which offers more ease-of-control. 

Question! 
Do you think smart homes are the future? For your future home, what smart home solutions would you like to try out first? Leave your comments below. 

Now you can experience what it feels like to live in a smart home by simply visiting our showroom where we have put together most of the latest smart home solutions along with some high-end audio-video solutions. To schedule your visit, feel free to reach our toll free number at 1-800-121-8621.