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Smart homes are becoming the next big thing, and you could be part of the transition. You probably tried to get a piece of technology to function to no avail. Living in a smart home is a roller coaster of efficiency and challenges, and each time you’d be dealing with one form of IoT or another. It may seem your home has become a bit dated and dull, but you don’t need to move to Colorado or Seattle – you can simply just upgrade the tech in your home and keep your home in Austin or Utah.
Now imagine if you could ask a malfunctioning device to troubleshoot the problem itself or just tell you what the problem is. Sounds unrealistic? No. If you’re familiar with smart home living or thinking of moving into a smart home, this is just a hint of what your life would be like.
It might be motivating to know that such trends are becoming real. With IoT, all your devices and appliances can be connected to a centralized platform where they communicate with each other and troubleshoot issues on their own.
And in case you’re still wondering, the fact that you’re using a smartphone or computer with several apps and software is enough proof that you’re already familiar with smart home living, or better yet, here’s how your ideal smart home living would be like.
The Ideal Smart Home Living
Not many people are sold on the idea of smart home living. You could be one of them, and it’s perfectly understandable. It takes some time to get used to or become comfortable living in a fully IoT-enabled home to realize the benefits.
Picture a day in your life in a smart home. As you’re about to wake up, the blinds start to pull away slowly, allowing bits of natural sunlight to enter the room.
The sunlight plays on your face and gently wakes you up while your favorite playlist quietly fills the room. You rise and walk to the bathroom, and the overhead bathroom speakers turn on the shower to run a bath without you lifting a finger.
You finish taking a bath and walk to the kitchen in your bathrobe and find your favorite coffee already brewed just the way you like it. As you happily take a sip, your smart fridge offers you a smoothie recipe taken from the ingredients inside the refrigerator.
You finish breakfast and leave for a morning walk, and the thermostat automatically shuts off to save energy. A smart vacuum takes the cue and cleans the debris as a smart mop step in to polish each room with hardwood.
As you return home from your walk en route, your phone contacts your thermostat, letting it know you’re on your way. The thermostat automatically turns back on to warm the house again.
Or, if you had gone to work, your smart garage door opens up automatically when you pull up in the driveway. You lock your car, and your front door picks the cue and automatically unlocks itself.
You enter the living room and find dinner’s ingredients listed on the TV screen. As you pull out the ingredients for dinner, the electric kettle turns on to brew your favorite tea. You whip up dinner, and the dimmers swing to action to allow you to unwind.
You’ll find the blinds lowered when you enter your room as soft classical music fills the air. The second you get to bed, the lights start to fade slowly, and a smart radio shows the time on the ceiling above to give you an idea of how many hours of sleep you’ll need.
It Can Only Get Better
Think of the easiest and most time-efficient way of decluttering your home. Smart hub technology steps in to help you organize all your technology in a single system. You can leverage the capabilities of various smart hubs or a home automation system like Control4.
You can manage all your connected devices, such as the TV, security cameras, lights, speakers, and more, from a single app or tablet. Smart hub technology allows you to remove unnecessary remotes on the coffee table and uninstall several apps from your phone.
Besides the physical clutter, you can streamline your daily activities and adjust different systems. For instance, when you get out of bed, you can simply click and press a button to raise the thermostat and open the shades.
Think of a smart hub as a universal remote of sorts, and its benefits can be seen when fully operational. A smart hub technology helps you automate, schedule, and control every device in your home, and in case of a threat, it can shut down all your IoT-connected devices like door locks and thermostats.
If the idea of managing a complete smart home solution sounds like too much commitment, you can start with a single step at a time, the first of which is to centralize each type of technology. A perfect example is the lights you use immediately when you wake up and go to bed.
You can eliminate all the switches on the wall and replace them with flexible ones like Lutron. You can control these all at once. The idea is to streamline all your nighttime chores with an all-off bedside option to switch off all lights and close all shades.
What Next?
Think of having a smart fridge that automatically reminds you of your forgotten steak that’s almost expiring. Or you can get a smart plug that turns on in the morning so you can fix breakfast, having saved power overnight.
You’re already running a smart home in one way or the other. Only new, sophisticated devices are being introduced. Soon, all your house appliances and devices will be IoT-enabled and able to communicate with each other for maximum functionality.
This being the case, the more connected your home will be, the more cybercriminals will want to infiltrate your systems to access your personal information.
So, as you introduce more innovative devices to your daily living, you need to ensure you’re also safe. That’s where working with a technical support company comes in to offer computer assistance like monitoring, maintenance, and threat detection. Here are some steps you can take yourself to protect your smart home.
Create Your Smart Home Today
The more these endless smart techs crop up, the more they come with endless possibilities. Smart home living is no longer a dream or fantasy but a reality already here with us. And there’s so much you can gain from creating the smart home of your dreams as long as you know how to organize all your devices appropriately.
