Smart home is a growing trend – but turning your life into an automated one might be a hard transition when deciding on what products are right for you. Below, we have outlined three smart home Industry experts’ advice to encourage you to transform your home.
What is the most important thing to consider when choosing a smart security system?
“When choosing your smart security system, it is critical to fully understand what you want out of the system. Security systems can do much more than keep intruders at bay, many integrate smart home technology that offers enhanced benefits. If you’re “security-first” look for a system that supports critical add-ons such as smart locks, door/window sensors, sirens, glass-break detectors, and alarms. If adding a layer of intelligence on top of your home security is important, consider a system that supports smart lighting, HVAC control, smart shading, and water/leak detectors. Z-Wave technology can be found in all of the examples above, providing homeowners with flexibility and peace of mind that their devices will work as intended within their system of choice.” – Mitchell Klein | Z-Wave Alliance
What are the benefits of a smart lock?
“We often recommend smart door locks to homeowners as an important first step to making their dwellings a smarter, more secure place to live. Today’s smart locks are designed to easily replace the existing door lock or deadbolt, and once installed they can bring a broad range of convenience and security features to the home.
While these new features can vary widely depending upon the specific brand or model of smart lock selected, generally you are going to gain some form of entirely keyless access; convenient access control for guests, dog walkers, and other service personnel; remote locking and unlocking of the door through a smartphone app or smart home automation systems (such as Apple HomeKit, Z-Wave, or Control4); voice control for some features (such as Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa, or Google Assistant); and real-time tracking of every time the door gets opened or closed.
Furthermore, many smart door locks can be set to automatically unlock themselves as you approach them with your secure smartphone credentials and can also automatically lock themselves as you leave based on your location through geofencing. Never again will you need to worry about whether or not you remembered to lock the front door as you hurried away on vacation.” – Tom Kolnowski | Digitized House
What are the benefits of having a smart plug? Do you recommend it for the entire house?
“Enhances network connectivity in a home – Appliance or devices existing in a home can be turned into smart objects using a smart plug. Thereby, smart plugs facilitate easy communication between smart products. Remotely switches appliances on and off – Smart plugs easily turn applications on and off. Moreover, smart plugs can be used to check if there is any appliance running at home. Easy monitoring to save energy – Smart plugs enable a user to swiftly monitor the amount of energy used by appliances at home directly from a smartphone. Besides, smart plugs also notify the user whenever a device starts consuming unusual amounts of energy.
Easy scheduling – Smart plugs let you set schedules on when your appliances should shut down or startup. Arrangement for minimal vampire power – Vampire power is the energy used up by electric appliances during the standby mode. Smart plugs prevent the devices from consuming the vampire power. At times, the power consumed on standby mode can make up 10 percent of a household’s total electricity bills. Voice control – Smart plugs are built-in away that the user can operate the appliances connected to them by just a voice command. Improves home security – Smart plugs automatically switch lights on and off even while you are away. This makes you appear as like you are at home always, even while you are away.
Reduce your chance of electrical fires – Connecting appliances through a smart plug ensures that they are switched off whenever they are not in use. This minimizes the chances of the appliances having faults or even catching fire when not under supervision. A smart plug is good to be applied in an entire house as you can control all of the devices from a single app and can ensure there are no mishaps. It’s energy-saving and convenient to use. But for those appliances that are rarely used, then it’s not necessary to connect with a smart plug.” – Lipton | Moko Smart
For more expert advice, be sure to visit the Smart Gadgets for Every Home Q & A: Tips and Advice from the Experts blog on Porch.com or ask us questions directly by following us on social media Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn
