Nine Smart Home Devices That Will Make Life a Little Easier

Introduction

We’ve all been there! That feeling when you’re not sure if you locked your door before you left. Or mid-commute and realize your garage is wide open and your hallway lights are on. Or how frustrating it is to worry whether or not your inner sanctum has been invaded by guests—and you left your front door unlocked. The last thing you want is to add frustrations to your busy day.

Smart home devices are designed to take the tiny frustrations away from your daily home routine to give you more control over the things that frustrate you. They are not designed to be show-off devices; they’re designed to simplify your life.

Some of these devices can control your lamps from your phone. Other devices can turn lights on and off at specific times of the day. There are devices that can monitor and control the temperature of your home and even perimeter monitoring devices that can control and keep track of your home.

The only problem you will have is deciding which device will be more helpful to you and which one you will toss into the drawer. For the most part, you should do your research to have an understanding of the basics so you don’t overcomplicate your home.

What Are the Best Smart Home Gadgets?

Smart home gadgets are useful for adding connectivity and control to your home. Depending on the product, you can connect it to your smartphone, use voice control, schedule it, or have it work by sensing something and responding automatically.

For example, an ordinary lamp requires someone to physically turn a switch to turn the lamp on or off. When adding a smart plug to the lamp, that lamp can be turned on or off with your phone, and you can have it work as part of a bigger automation. The smart plug doesn’t make the lamp smarter. It just provides a new method of control.

Similar ideas apply to smart sensors, lighting, plugs, thermostats, cameras, doorbells, and locks. Each has a varying method of connecting, either directly with Wi-Fi or by requiring a hub.

The most helpful smart gadgets solve a real problem. For example, having a smart plug to automate your porch light is helpful for eliminating the experience of coming home to a dark house, or having a video doorbell is helpful if you regularly question the safety of your package deliveries.

The best smart home gadgets are built around your needs, not the best sellers.

The Smart Home Technology Trend

Increasing Energy Awareness

People try their best to conserve energy. However, you risk having energy-wasting behaviors like leaving units on. These types of behaviors can be mitigated with the use of smart controls.

Instead of manually turning off all of the lights and HVAC units, you can program the controls to turn the lights off and have the HVAC units run on a less aggressive schedule while no one is home and return to a more aggressive schedule right before people start returning home.

The main idea is that smart controls are not an automation system that is always going to provide a savings solution. Instead, the results you get from the systems are dependent on the controls you have, your region’s climate, and the way you use the controls.

Greater Interest in Home Security

One of the main motivations for having connected devices is the ability to monitor your home. You can have different connected devices to provide you with visibility of the outside and inside of your home.

You can also have connected devices to manage access to different areas of your home. When a package is delivered to your home while you are away, you can quickly check your doorbell camera to see if the delivery person left the package instead of wasting time and wondering if a package was delivered.

Physical security measures will always be more important, but connected devices help you control and monitor your home like never before.

Busy Families Want to Reduce Repetitive Tasks

Household tasks can be tedious because the actions are so small that they can be completed in a matter of seconds. However, there can be hundreds of those actions to accomplish in a day.

Things such as turning lights on or off, adjusting the temperature, checking the security camera, and locking the doors can build up over time. Automation systems take care of repetitive tasks without direct involvement, letting you set them and forget them.

Smart Home Solutions That Are Actually Useful

Smart home systems that come as a solution to a specific problem can make your home as convenient as you want. Avoid asking “what smart home gadget should I buy?” and ask “what task at home annoys me enough to want to automate it?” first.

That helps you to spend more wisely on smart home solutions.

1. Pick a Smart Home Platform

Each household should designate one tech platform as the primary control system. Smart home systems such as Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Apple Home all come with different products that can control various aspects of your home.

When choosing a platform, consider what technology you already own since a lack of compatibility can result in a frustrating experience.

2. Test Your Network Before Adding Devices

They call it the Internet of Things (IoT) for a reason. Smart devices need a smart network.

Cameras, video doorbells, IoT video controllers, and similar devices need good upload throughput. The Wi-Fi signal might even be more important than the speed of the network.

A video camera at the front door will not work well if there are several walls separating the camera from the router. If there are dead spaces in your home where the Wi-Fi signal doesn’t reach, it is a good idea to work on improving the existing coverage of the Wi-Fi network before adding more devices.

3. Smart Plugs Are a Good Starting Point for a Smart Home

For a smart home beginner, a smart plug is a great way to start because they are virtually plug and play.

Fans and lights plugged into smart plugs can be controlled through an application or can follow a schedule set through the app. Smart plugs are among the simplest smart home devices to start with.

Scheduling a lamp to turn on or off based on your desired room lighting is an easy first step in automating your home. Just be sure to check the power rating of the smart plug.

4. Only Switch to Smart Bulbs When You Need To

When considering automation, it is generally most useful to start with lights that you would frequently forget about and that would be more beneficial to have automated.

Smart bulbs tend to need continuous power to function. An oversight is that when you switch the wall switch to cut off power to the smart bulb, you would need to flip the wall switch again to restore power, and then the bulb can function as a smart bulb.

With that in mind, it would be more beneficial to automate the lights that you would need on the most, such as hallway, bedroom, and porch lights.

5. Plan Thoroughly When Considering Smart Thermostat Installation

Unlike the easier automation of light control, temperature control can be a lot more difficult to automate, although it can also be one of the more useful automations you can have.

It would be easier to consider automating lighting control in the other rooms of the house over the temperature control of the whole house. This is because every room can have different heating and cooling requirements.

You would have to be much more cautious when installing equipment used to control the temperature of your home. You would also have to check and be a lot more familiar with your home’s existing equipment.

With temperature-control automation, it can be more worthwhile to call a professional than it is with simple lighting automation.

6. Use Smart Technology at Your Front Door

Technology connected to the internet can be a useful addition to your front door.

Doorbells that are connected to the internet let you see who is at your door or whether you have received a package. Smart locks give you options to control who enters your house.

If you want to let a person enter your house when you are not home, you may be able to give them temporary access. Be sure to check whether you can use a regular key if your smart lock stops working.

7. Use Smart Technology If You Want Voice Control

A smart speaker is an easy way to use voice control for connected devices.

With a smart speaker, you can use voice technology to control a specific light or activate a specific routine. However, the absence of voice control is not a deal breaker. The majority of smart technology is completely functional using apps.

When considering voice technology, if using your voice to control your technology feels unnatural, then you should consider whether you actually need the feature.

Helpful Hints for Streamlining Smart Home Automation

8. Use Automation for Common Home Activities

Smart home devices are individually useful, but their real power is in their ability to work together.

For example, if you say, “Goodnight,” and your home automatically turns off the lights, sets the thermostat, and locks the doors, you’ve got a useful automation routine.

For connected home systems, a “routine” refers to a series of automated actions. Other examples include waking up, leaving the house, and getting home.

Start out by automating a routine that involves a handful of things you do repeatedly. Don’t overload your system right away.

A smart home is meant to reduce the complexity and burden of home chores. Don’t try to automate everything all at once or it may suddenly become more complex.

9. Use Descriptive and Unique Device Names

Smart devices can be programmed to perform specific actions when asked. Text on devices is an input, but a lot of connected devices require you to use vocal input.

It is therefore important to have a naming system that makes sense. Names like “Light 1” lose meaning after they are used, but more specific names like “Bedroom Lamp” do not.

A home automation system with properly named devices is also less likely to return the wrong answer to a command.

Smart Home Reliability

When connected home systems are your business, there is one thing that quickly becomes apparent: reliability is more important than quantity.

It may be nice to have a lot of connected home systems, but if the things that are connected are not reliable, they are worth much less.

Consider Technology Failures When Designing Systems

Before relying on a connected device to do something important, think about what other things you may have to do to mitigate the consequences of a technology failure.

For example, a smart light may not have a significant negative impact if it fails, but smart security devices and smart locks require more thought.

Also think about the consequences of a failure if the Wi-Fi is turned off, the batteries are dead, or the manufacturer stops providing a service.

Check Compatibility First

A low cost does not always mean good value when a product cannot function as intended with the rest of your system.

Before purchasing a device, check the supported ecosystem, required application, wireless requirements, and hub requirements. A few minutes of research now can save you the hassle of a return later.

Use Automation Carefully at First

The goal of automation is to eliminate the need to make a decision, but a poorly designed automation system can create just as many decisions.

For example, if the light on your porch is set to turn on at 7:00 PM and off at 7:00 AM, that is a simple automation.

By contrast, creating a system with light sensors and multiple location- and time-based exceptions can be difficult to troubleshoot if you ever need to make changes or repairs.

Create one automation and live with it for a while before creating additional automations.

Keep Your Software Updated

Automatable devices are essentially small computers with wireless communication, and their software needs to be updated to maintain functionality, including fixing bugs and security issues.

Enabling automatic updates can help keep your devices protected with the most recent software.

Consider Your Privacy When Buying a New Product

Connected devices with cameras and microphones can gather a lot of data from your home.

It is worth researching what a device is able to gather and what controls you have over the data before you purchase it. The convenience of a device should not cause you to overlook how it collects and stores information from your home.

Common Smart Home Mistakes to Avoid

Not Checking Device Compatibility

A product can look great by itself but can be a frustrating purchase if it cannot integrate with your existing ecosystem.

Adding Too Many Devices Too Quickly

If you overload your house with devices, troubleshooting issues can become difficult quickly. Start with a couple of devices and work your way up.

Not Checking Wi-Fi First

Before blaming a device, check your internet connection and Wi-Fi signal. Try the Wi-Fi signal at the device’s installation location before assuming that the device is defective.

Using Weak Passwords

Hackers could exploit a poorly secured account connected to a smart device. Use strong passwords that aren’t used on any other account and turn on additional security features when available.

Not Thinking About Batteries

Wireless devices such as cameras and sensors need to be checked for responsiveness and battery life. Don’t wait until the device becomes unresponsive to check its battery.

Creating Complex Automations Too Early

Creating a routine with a lot of conditions can quickly become unmanageable. The first few routines should be simple and easy to understand.

Not Thinking About Backups

Any important function can fail and should have a backup. Smart locks, for example, should have a manual backup option whenever possible.

Must-Have Smart Gadgets: Pros and Cons

Smart devices can change the way you interact with your home. You can make your home more convenient and even check on it while you are away using your phone.

Smart lights can help automate your morning and evening routines and can help you with reminders throughout the day.

Potential Drawbacks of Smart Home Devices

A complete smart home system can become expensive, with some setups costing thousands of dollars. Smart home technology can also take time to set up, and even beginner-friendly products may require some configuration.

Features can be affected by power or network outages, which can make products less functional. Privacy can also become a concern when using cloud-based products with microphones and cameras.

Another potential limitation is compatibility when using products from different manufacturers.

Frequently Asked Questions About Smart Home Devices

What Is the Best Smart Home Gadget for Beginners?

One of the easiest and cheapest smart home gadgets for beginners is a smart plug. These can be used with many compatible home appliances and provide a simple introduction to home automation.

How Do Smart Appliances and Products Benefit Consumers?

They can simplify or improve your day-to-day tasks. You should evaluate how a product will solve a specific problem before purchasing one.

Do Smart Home Devices Use Wi-Fi?

Not all smart products require Wi-Fi. Some use hubs with other wireless technologies.

Do Smart Home Devices Require the Internet to Function?

Some smart devices have limited functionality when the internet is down. How a device functions without an internet connection depends on the device and how it was set up.

Can All Appliances Use a Smart Plug?

A smart plug can be used with a compatible appliance as long as the smart plug provides an adequate rating for that appliance.

It’s important to look at the specifications for both the appliance and the plug rather than assuming that a plug can be used with any high-power or specialty appliance.

How Much Does a Smart Home Cost?

A smart home can cost anywhere from the price of one smart device to the cost of hundreds of connected devices.

There isn’t a single way to estimate the cost of a smart home. If you decide to build one, a practical approach is to start with one device and set a spending limit for each additional purchase.

Do Smart Devices Communicate With Each Other?

There is a lot of variability in how smart devices communicate.

Some smart devices can communicate with multiple brands or ecosystems, while others are more limited. Before buying a smart device, check its communication capabilities to make sure it will work with the rest of your system.

What Happens to Smart Devices During a Power Outage?

Generally, smart devices that are plugged into the wall will stop functioning during a power outage.

Battery-powered smart devices may continue operating, but if they depend on your network and your network loses power, the device may not function as intended.

Can Renters Use Smart Home Devices?

Yes. Smart plugs, bulbs, speakers, cameras, and sensors can often be used by renters without permanent changes to the property.

Smart switches, thermostats, and smart locks are more likely to require professional installation or landlord permission and may be considered permanent changes to the property.

Do Smart Home Devices Need Subscriptions?

Not always. Many devices work without additional fees. However, some cameras and smart doorbells may offer extra features through a subscription.

Always check the pricing model before buying to avoid unexpected costs.

Conclusion

Building a connected home can easily be done without replacing everything you own. To build a truly useful smart home, follow the complete opposite idea.

Start with smart devices that automate the most annoying tasks in your home. For your first task, you can use a single smart device such as a smart plug. Afterward, you can begin to automate additional tasks using smart lighting, a smart thermostat, a smart doorbell, or a smart door lock.

Once you build an initial smart home, you can create custom automation routines or system controls to connect your devices and remove many daily tasks that you have to remember.

A smart home should automate the most routine tasks to build a simple system that adds reliability and, most importantly, saves you time. After buying a smart device for your home, identify the most routine task and select a device to automate that task. Repeat the process gradually to improve your home.

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