Smart Home – 10 Smart Products You’ll Want for Your Home
Life can be stressful – the hustle and bustle of everyday life can take its toll on you. The last thing you need is to be wondering if you closed your garage door or if you missed an important package being delivered. That’s where making your house a smart home comes into play.
There are many smart products that will make your life easier. They take an existing item in your home and give you complete control over it no matter where you are in the world. They’ll turn your house into a smart home. We have a list of the 10 coolest smart products that you’ll want for your home.
How Do Smart Devices Communicate?
Before we show our 10 cool smart products, it’s important to understand how they work. It’s hard to believe that you can communicate with a device in your home from miles away. There are several different communication protocols you should know. PC Magazine does a great job laying each out in more detail.
- X10 – it’s the grandfather of home automation. X10 used to be wired in the 1970’s but is now wireless. It isn’t very fast but it’s inexpensive.
- ZigBee – it allows most devices to communicate equally. It also doesn’t use much power. ZigBee has the ability to connect up to 250 devices to the cloud.
- Z-Wave – a wireless communication protocol.
- Insteon – combines the power of a wired-based protocol with the convenience of a wireless one.
- Wi-Fi – gives devices the ability to access the internet wirelessly. It’s super fast and has the largest reach. It also uses the most bandwidth of all the other protocols.
- Bluetooth – allows you to connect nearby devices together. Can be found in almost any smart product on the market.
For you to benefit most from your smart home, it’s important that all of your devices use the same communication protocols.
1. August Smart Door Lock
One of the major benefits of a smart home is security. No matter where you are on Earth, you want your front door to be locked while you aren’t there. An unlocked door is an invitation to be burglarized.
August Smart Door Locks are perfect for home security. They sync up with your phone using Bluetooth and allow it to work as your keys. When you leave your home, August locks detect that you’re leaving and will lock behind you.
The app on your phone monitors every time it’s locked and unlocked and by who. You will always know who is and isn’t at your home with the August Smart Door Lock. Read more about August and other smart door locks here.
2. Ring Video Doorbell
What’s better than knowing your door is locked? Knowing who’s approaching your door while you aren’t there. Whether it’s an important package, a friend coming to visit or a burglar making sure you aren’t home, you won’t miss a thing with the Ring Video Doorbell.
Ring Video Doorbells sync with your phone and come with an app. Whenever someone comes towards you door, the motion sensor alerts you that someone is at your door. You are then able to use the camera to see who it is and you can speak with them thanks to its 2-way audio. All videos are stored to the cloud as well.
3. Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Door Opener
Have you ever been out and thought to yourself, “Did I close my garage door?” Don’t be embarrassed, we’ve all been there. Is there a way to prevent that helpless feeling? Yes – it’s called the Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Door Opener.
In a world where everything is controlled by your cell phone, you can link your Chamberlain MyQ to the app using WiFi. This allows you to close your garage door from anywhere in the world. You’re also able to see who else opens and closes your garage door throughout the day. This convenient little device takes a huge load of stress off of you during eventful mornings. You’ll never forget to close your garage door again.
4. Nest Thermostat
Being in control of your thermostat is a great way to make your home more energy efficient and will save you money on your utility bills. Juggling work, family and other responsibilities could make it difficult to stay on top of it. That’s where Nest Thermostats could help you out. They make controlling your home’s temperature easy!
Using Nest’s app you’re able to do anything. You can set schedules for when you want your home to be cooler or warmer. It also detects when you’re home, away or asleep and can cool and warm itself accordingly. This will end up saving you money on your utility bills immediately.
You can also manually control the temperature from the app. If you want your home to be warmer or cooler before you get back, you can adjust it within the app. Nest will give you complete control over your thermostat.
5. Philips Hue Lights
Since you were a kid, your parents always told you to turn off the lights when you leave a room. It’ll save money on the electric bills. It seems so simple but many people forget to turn off the lights. Philips Hue Lights allow you to turn them on and off from your phone.
The Hue Lights can be turned on and off from the Philips app or you can set schedules for them. This is perfect if you want the create the illusion that you’re home when you’re not. Philips Hue Lights work with Nest Thermostat as well.
One unique feature about the Hue Lights is that they can change colors. This is because they’re LED. It’ll allow you to sync color changes with music, television or video games.
6. NetGear Arlo Security Camera
When you’re away, who knows what’s going on at your home? Maybe an animal sneaks in or intruders are planning to victimize you. Either way, you’ll want to keep your home monitored at all times. Smart security cameras will allow you to always have a video feed to your home.
There isn’t a security camera better than the NetGear Arlo. These smart home security cameras are wire free and connect with your cell phone using the Arlo app. They deliver an HD feed of your home at all times. They can store up to 7 days worth of recordings on the cloud.
The Arlo is perfect for home protection during the night as well. It has a night vision option so you can see anything even during the darkest of nights.
When you aren’t using Arlo outside, it can also double as a baby monitor. You can see and hear your child from anywhere in the house. This will allow you to always keep an eye on your bundle of joy.
7. Roomba 980
When Roombas first hit the scene in 2002, many liked the idea of a self cleaning robot but it had issues navigating rooms and bumping into walls. Now, the Roomba 980 has mastered room navigation and gives you complete control using their app.
The Roomba 980 is now an essential piece to any smart home. It can navigate multiple rooms at one time, won’t fall down stairs and will even get underneath those neglected areas such as the couch. It has a charging station that it will automatically use once the job is compete.
With the new app, you’re always able to control the Roomba 980 while you’re not at home. You can schedule cleanings or vacuum any type of floor. It gives you complete control over cleaning your floors.
8. Amazon Echo Smart Speaker
When Siri first came to the iPhone in 2011, everyone knew it was the next big thing. Fast forward to today and we have the Amazon Echo, a smart speaker that you control with your voice. It uses the Alexa Voice Service to do whatever you ask of it.
The Amazon Echo is more than a speaker. It can play music, set reminders, work with other smart devices such as the Nest and Hue Lights and use other popular apps. Basically any smart device that it’s paired with, it can interact with it.
The Amazon Echo works much like having a Siri for your home – now you truly have a smart home. There’s also an Alexa app for your smart phone. You’re able to manage your Echo from anywhere and pair it with other devices.
9. iSmart Alarm Motion Sensor
Home security should be of the utmost important when looking at smart devices. iSmart Alarm has many different products for home security. One in particular that is great is their motion sensor. It’s perfect for around doors and windows.
The iSmart Alarm Motion Sensor can identify motion from up to 30 feet away. It will notify you about issues through the iSmart Alarm app. Since it’s wireless and small, it’s easy to put anywhere in your home but it’s recommended you keep it around entryways such as doors, windows and hallways.
Another great iSmart Alarm product is the Glass Breaking Sensor. It records the audio of glass breaking so you know if someone is trying to enter your home through the window.
10. Samsung SmartThings Hub
With all of these different smart home products, you may be thinking, “That’s a lot of apps I’ll need to download.” Fear not, the Samsung SmartThings Hub is the perfect addition to connect all of your smart products.
The SmartThings Hub is a device that connects all of your smart products under one app – the SmartThings app. From there, you’re able to control all of your products and sync up your smart home in one place.
Now You Have a Smart Home
Having a smart home is the perfect way to blend convenience with safety. You’ll be able to do everything from your cell phone or tablet no matter where you are in the world. So whether you’re looking for locks or vacuum or anything in between, you’ll find the right smart product for you.
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