Smart Home Technology

Save Energy & Boost Convenience with Smart Home Tech

Control heating, cooling, lights, and home appliances remotely… and monitor them for energy efficiency.

 

Back in 2015, less than 20% of homes in the US featured Smart home technology. The majority of these “early adopters”—Smart home technology has been around for more than 20 years now—purchased wireless speaker systems and smart thermostats. People’s favorite activities? Listening to the music and getting the weather report. Just behind Smart thermostats in popularity were home security systems and domestic robots such as vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers. 

By early 2019, these numbers have skyrocketed as nearly half of U.S. homes now have a Smart speaker. And when people begin to get comfortable with one Smart device, they tend to invest in more.

“Technology trends come and go, but we think voice is here to stay,” Colin Morris, director of product management for Adobe Analytics, said in a statement. “Consumers continue to embrace voice as a means to engage their devices and the internet. It’s a trend that has fundamentally changed the face of computing.”

MarketWatch.com

 

So what does Smart home technology have to do with Real Estate?

While upgrading your home with Smart technology won’t necessarily increase your home’s monetary value, it will definitely make your home more competitive on the market. With new technology—especially Smart thermostats and Smart home security—your home will be more appealing to Millennials and sell faster.

 

Quick Facts:

  • SMART = Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology
  • A way to automate and monitor in-home systems
  • Around for >20 years!
  • Designed to boost energy efficiency and monitor environmental impact

 

Smart Thermostat: What it is, how you use it, the benefits & the risks

For less than $200, you can invest in a Smart thermostat. A Smart thermostat takes programmable thermostats to the next level, offering features such as a clean & modern design, sensors for each room of your house, WiFi connectivity, voice control, and the capacity to adjust heating and cooling settings remotely (aka from your phone or laptop). Another added benefit of Smart thermostats is they keep a track record of your energy usage by monitoring temperatures and run time. Smart thermostats released in 2019 work with Smart home platforms such as Alexa and Google Assistant. What’s more is some Smart thermostats do much more than control your heating. The Exobee4, for example, controls the home’s Smart lights and can play music. 

Pros:

  • Save money on your energy bills
  • Control your home’s temperature from anywhere
  • Control your vacation rental home’s climate remotely
  • There may be rebates and incentive for replacing a traditional thermostat with a smart thermostat
  • 70% of Millennials are looking for homes installed with Smart Devices, especially smart thermostats & smart security systems

Cons:

  • Some users have complained out user experience.
  • Some people worry about security of smart home devices, though a hacker would need to gain physical access to the device itself.
  • There is a potential with some smart thermostats to have an unreliable motion sensor, telling the device that nobody’s home when they actually are leading to uncomfortable temperatures in the home.

 

 

Smart Home Security: What it is, how you use it, the benefits & the risks

For $189± – $2,000±, you can invest in a Smart home security system. Smart home security is changing the game for home security by offering DIY models and support that doesn’t lock you into any contract. There are also more traditional models that have just gotten smarter. The most basic systems include a hub, keypad, motion detector and contact sensor. More advanced packages include smart locks, doorbells, window sensors, security cameras, professional monitoring, and additional products that deal with natural disasters such as Alarm Flood & Freeze Sensor, Smoke & Carbon Monoxide Alarms, and more. 

Pros:

  • Cost-effective way to give you peace of mind and protect your belongings
  • Can save you 8-15% on your home-insurance
  • A range of options for your personal circumstances
  • Allows more security for less money

Cons:

  • Risk of security breaches

 

Additional SMART Home Technology:

  • Lighting Control Systems
  • Wireless speaker systems
  • Domestic robots (ie. Vacuum Cleaners)
  • Smoke/CO detectors
  • Home energy use monitors
  • Refrigerators
  • Laundry machines
  • Water detectors

 

*featured image courtesy of www.pcmag.com

Recent Posts
Contact Us

Send us an email and we'll get back to you, asap.