The smart home movement is taking our worlds by storm, and smart homes are far from the futuristic view of the Jetson’s and far more utilitarian than many ever thought. Smart devices can control virtually every aspect of your home at your beck and call. Most importantly, though, smart homes can turn an average home into an energy conscious and energy efficient home.
So where do you start making your home smarter? Let’s take a look.
Smart Home Infrastructure
With a smarter home, you can control everything from your indoor comfort to your lights, security, and electronics, but one major consideration before getting too “smart” is to consider how you want to control your smart home.
There are multiple platforms from which to control your smart home and most of the major phone software manufacturers such as Apple and Android as well as Amazon all have interfaces that will allow you different levels of control and command. While most smart devices are compatible across platforms, it’s important to bear in mind that not all devices play well with others.
Smart Thermostats
It’s estimated that up to 27% of your home’s energy bill comes from cooling your home in the summertime. With 1/4 of your monthly energy cost going to keeping you comfortable and busy life to boot, it makes sense that you should be able to control your home’s climate from the fingertips of your phone.
Whether sitting on the couch or half the world away, you can access your home’s thermostat in an instant. Not only do smart thermostats give you full control of your comfort, but smart thermostats can learn your comfort behaviors (for instance: in the case of Nest brand products) or give you programming capabilities of products from Honeywell and beyond.
Smart Lighting
Being able to turn lights on and off may sound like something you’ll never need. After all, simply flip on a light switch and the lights come on, right? Yes, but there are reasons why you may want smart lights in your home.
On the one hand, virtually all smart lights or light fixtures either use or will accommodate highly energy efficient LED lights. Additionally, being able to turn lights on and off without moving from room to room gives you added security and can improve both the ambiance and efficiency of your home.
Out unexpectedly late from a night on the town? Turn on your front porch light from your phone before you get home.
Other Smart Home Integrations
There are some smart home solutions that transcend utility and focus more on your home and your family’s safety. From security cameras to smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, there is practically a device for every bad scenario you can imagine.
Additionally, keeping up with home security and safety could save lives in your home in the event that you’re away and members of your family or pets are left in the event of an emergency. You’ll be notified immediately if anything goes awry which will give you the opportunity to call for help even if you’re miles and miles away.
Upgrading to a Smart Home
While smart home technology is continuing to rise as prices decrease and devices become more and more accessible, sometimes finding the funds to make major upgrades to your home can be pricey. Alternatively, you could look at purchasing a home with smart features already built in.
In either scenario, whether upgrading to smart devices or buying an existing smart home, the resale value of your home is very likely to increase and be more appealing as more and more millennials enter the housing market.
If you’re looking to upgrade to a smart home, then get in touch with the loan experts at Tidewater Mortgage Services, Inc. today and get pre-qualified in as little as 24 hours!
