Smart Homes Part 1: Should You Make Your Home a Smart Home?

With all of the new technology being created in the past decade, a common phrase has started to float around: smart home. The media has taken hold of this concept, and now there is loads of information out there about smart homes. If you’re considering adding smart features to your home, it can be daunting to comb through all of it. With this series, we hope to clear up some questions you may have, and give information about some of the different smart products that exist.

What is a smart home?

A smart home can be described as a “home automation system.” In a home automation system, all smart devices, such as lights, appliances, TVs, cameras, doorbells, thermostats, speakers, and smoke detectors, can be connected. These devices can all be controlled by one device, such as a smartphone or a hub (more on hubs later!), from anywhere with Wi-Fi.

Should you make your home a smart home?

Let’s start with some positive factors to consider when deciding.

• Safety: Since many of your devices are connected in a smart home, you’re able to see what’s happening in your home at all times, wherever you are. You can lock your door when you’re not home, view footage from security cameras, and receive notifications when something happens in and around your home.
• Environment: Because you can control your home from your phone, you can save energy when you’re not home by shutting off lights and appliances, and lowering the temperature on the thermostat. This preservation of energy is beneficial for both the environment and your wallet, leading us into our next point.
• Bills: As mentioned before, you can control your devices from anywhere. So, for instance, if you forget to shut off the lights, you can shut them off after you leave. This allows you to save on electricity costs in the long run. You can save on heating and cooling as well through control of your thermostat.
• Efficiency: Because all of your home devices are connected, your efficiency is greatly increased. You can start tasks, such as the dishwasher, from your phone, and run multiple tasks at once with a few taps. Smart devices with screens also allow you to view your daily tasks and calendar events, so you always know what’s going on.

Now let’s touch upon a couple cons.

• Security Risks: Because your devices are either connected through Wi-Fi, a Cloud, or other methods, they’re at risk for security breaches and bugs. Although not very common, this is one factor to consider. Companies are continuously making improvements to their products to prevent this kind of thing from happening.
• Cost: Because of all the technology that must be purchased, as well as possible subscriptions to certain companies for perks and features, creating and using a smart home can be very expensive. In the long run, you will likely save on electricity, heating, and cooling, but up front the numbers can be very high.
• Usage: With all the new tech and features, there is a very steep learning curve when it comes to using all of the abilities of your smart home. It can be very daunting at the start when trying to use all of the features in your home. Of course, through day to day use, you will soon become accustomed to everything your home has to offer!

Now that you’re armed with all of this information, hopefully you have a better sense of what a smart home is, and whether or not you should take on the challenge of creating your own. This is by no means an exhaustive list of information, so be sure to check out other resources (look at our sources below) as well.

Read our next post to learn about "hubs" and your different options for keeping your smart home devices connected! Stay tuned for the rest of the blogs in Dwell360’s Smart Home series including Security Systems, Speakers and Entertainment, and Thermostats, Lighting, and Appliances.

Dwell360 is a residential real estate firm based in Newton, Massachusetts, servicing the cities and suburbs of metro Boston. We are focused on our customers and our experience in the residential real estate market is extensive. Search for homes in Massachusetts and then give us a call.

Sources:

Smart Home Solver. Ultimate Guide to Starting and Growing a Smart Home. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/-_vtoUmkot4.

Investopedia. Smart Home. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/smart-home.asp.

Security, Certified Media Company. Your Complete Smart Home Guide. Retrieved from https://www.security.org/smart-home/.