As the world embraces new technologies and devices to make life easier, most homeowners have adopted various methods of transforming their homes. However, while the best way to build a smart home is to buy many components and connect them, this becomes expensive and requires a lot of time. Fortunately, advancing technologies have led to the inception of simpler and inexpensive products that deliver with utmost convenience. That said, below are some ways of turning your old home into a smart home.
1. Smart Assistant
Choosing your smart assistant is the basis and first step of turning your home into a smart home. Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa are the most common options that work with nearly all smart home devices. Other smart assistants are specifically designed to work with Bixby, Microsoft Cortana, and Apple HomeKit. If you aren’t sure about the compatibility of these devices, check out the product description and packaging.
Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant are excellent products but with slight differences. For instance, while interacting with Google Assistant is easy, handles three commands simultaneously, and connects with over 30,000 devices, Alexa is compatible with 85,000 plus smart devices, including plugs, switches, and more.
2. Smart Speakers
Even though Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant can be controlled from their smartphone apps, consider buying a smart speaker to give you maximum control over your smart home. Most of these speakers have multiple far-field microphones that enable them to pick voices from neighboring rooms.
As for Alexa, the third-generation Echo speakers are compact, have a great sound quality, and offer great value. On the other hand, the Nest Mini are excellent Google Assistant speakers that even beginners can easily set up.
3. Smart Plugs
Smart plugs are another important smart home gadgets you should consider installing in your home. These plugs essentially convert basic appliances, allowing you to control them remotely from your smart assistant. The best thing about these plugs is that they fit into standard electrical outlets.
Some smart plugs, such as the Currant WIFI Smart Outlet, monitors energy consumption in real-time, learn your usage and recommend on/off periods, and have multiple outlets. Depending on your budget, you can go for these plugs or opt for standard options, such as the Eufy Smart Plug Mini, which offers strong connections but doesn’t have energy monitoring abilities.
4. Smart Lighting
While you can control your “dumb” lights using smart plugs, smart switches and smart bulbs are better options. To begin, smart bulbs are a great starting point for homeowners looking to get into smart lighting slowly. Even though smart switches are compatible with regular bulbs, you won’t get the bells and whistles that come with multi-colored smart bulbs. However, they provide an affordable option, as installing one smart switch allows you to control all light bulbs.
5. Smart Doorbells
The popularity of smart doorbells has exploded in recent years, alongside smart locks and smart cameras, for security reasons. These doorbells allow you to monitor in real-time motion and other movements outside your front door. They also allow for two-way communication, enabling you to communicate with your visitors and send timely alerts to your phone. This makes it easy to monitor what’s happening at home even when you aren’t around.
The Bottom Line
To make your smart home devices compatible with new technologies, ensure that you build a solid foundation that can be expanded over time. That said, you can enjoy your smart home tech better by improving its user experience. For this, get to learn the intrigues of UX/UI design from this introductory course.