Smart Homes Pt. 1

Say hello to smart homes.The technology of the future has arrived and it’s meeting more and more people’s expectations. What started off as just a few gadgets has evolved to convenient management of many different aspects of a house, aimed to do one purpose: improve your quality of life. The first smart home feature that seemed to gain a lot of mainstream attention was the refrigerator with the TV screen on it. This interface offered many different things such as online browsing for a quick recipe look up or some background music while you brew your morning cup of coffee.

But technology never sleeps. Now there are many more smart home features that provide even more benefits for your day to day activities. Smart shades, lights, locks, thermostats, doorbells, and even water sensors!

I’d say it is.

It also sounds like there’s a lot going on, which is true. As usual, your smartphone is here to help. Pairing your phone to your smart devices is just like connecting your phone to bluetooth or wifi, with one extra step. Since not all devices will connect directly to your wifi, you need something called a hub. A hub allows you to use your smartphone to access any smart device, acting as a sort of bridge to keep communication fluid.

Hubs do a huge amount for a reasonable price. Companies like Smart Things or Wink offer great hubs. Or, if you’re a fan of Amazon, the Amazon Echo Plus has a built in hub.

Connect the hub to your router and then begin connecting your smart devices. Finally, connect your smartphone to your hub. It’s like you’re providing tech support to different features of your home.

Using apps on your phone, you have full control of your smart home.

Next week we’ll be covering the different smart home devices and what they do. If a smart home is something you’re interested in or if you have questions regarding hubs, leave a comment below or email us. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook for weekly articles and other tech related content.