Apparently, according to Money Supermarket, 77% of us know what a smart home is, and 79% of us own smartphones to control one, but how many of us have bought any smart devices beyond an Amazon Alexa to tell us what the weathers like today?
But there is a good reason why we should all be considering the adoption of smart devices in our homes. Insure4Retirement, the insurance specialist for retired people, has provided a run-down of the intelligent tools that some insurers are now viewing as a reason to lower your insurance premium. So here’s a bit more information on these smart devices that were once just the technology of the rich and museums.
Smart Doorbells
If you want to have a smart device in your home, it should be a smart doorbell. It can have several functions. First of all, it acts as a regular doorbell – someone presses it, you hear a chime, and then you can answer the door. But actually, that habit will probably change.
Instead of answering the door, you’ll pick up your phone or tablet, click on the notification, and then watch the live video stream and listen to the audio stream to find out who is at your door. If you want to speak to them, you can do it via your smartphone, or if you wish to, you could open the door!
As well as notifying you when someone presses your bell, you can also set up your smart doorbell, so it alerts you when someone triggers the sensor on the camera, which can be set so that it covers your front gates and driveway. So as soon as there is a movement on your driveway, your phone will notify you, and you can monitor the video surveillance to decide if the visitor is suspicious or welcome.
The good thing about all this is that you don’t need to be at home to take action. You can talk to someone at your door when you’re on the other side of the world. Or if you’re not home and a suspicious character is snooping around your front driveway, you can respond by switching on other smart devices such as lights and speakers to deter them.
Smart Cameras & Smart Sensors
Smart cameras and sensors can take this to another level by covering more of your home, interior and exterior, so you have sensors and eyes on each entry point into your home, providing a security net of technology.
With modern systems and sensors, you don’t have to bother your neighborhood to watch over your home and backyard. These systems are autonomous, and they can alarm you if something unusual is happening in your house while you are away, as stated by spycamerasreviewed.com. Some sensors could even warn you in case of a break-in, fire, or any other incident.
Water Leak Detectors
Just as you would expect, a water leak detector alerts you when a leak in your water system is detected, but it can also shut off your water supply to prevent damage. You can connect the water sensor with the app on your smartphone, and it will alert you if there is any problem with sinking in your house at any moment.
There are a lot of sensors on the market, and you can buy a decent one for around 50 dollars. When you know that there is some problem with the water installation in your house, you can react in time and prevent some significant failure.
Smart Lighting Systems
With the system that can control the light in your home, you won’t need any switch, because you can control everything with the app on your phone. Also, this system has automation that can adjust the lights. Furthermore, some sensors can detect if you are in your bed, and the system can turn off the lights automatically.
Smart Lock
This system is similar to smart doorbells and lightning systems, mostly because you can set some preferences for it to work with your needs. There are some smart locks on the market, and they all are working with the app installed.
The most significant benefit of using a Smart Lock System is that you can grant someone access to your house even if you are not there. With this function, you don’t have to worry if some package won’t get to you on time, or if you are waiting for a repairer, you could just let him fix anything without your presence.
Implementation of AI Technology
All of these systems are connected with Artificial Intelligence. The AI devices have a lot of sensors inside and outside of the house. That only gives you the ability to monitor almost every corner of your home at any time.
Nevertheless, this system, with its sensors, can track your position in the house, and react to your moves. For example, you can set the program to adjust the music or lightning when you are in the living room. Also, you can set the preferred heating or cooling temperature for when you are in, or when you leave some room.
What are the Biggest Challenges with the Integration of Smart Home Devices?
Currently, most of the smart home devices must be operated separately, and for many people, that is too much to control. Also, some of these systems are expensive, and the price for full integration of all existing devices is not affordable for most people.
There are indications that there will be one full-integrated system soon that you will be able to use with one app. With one system that connects all of the devices, it would be a lot easier to control and monitor everything in your home.