Introduction
I’ve been excited about smart-home technology for years. I have an Amazon Echo, a few connected lights, and even installed a smart thermostat in my apartment several years ago. But there are still plenty of things that could make my home smarter—and more useful—if only they existed. Here are five features I wish were available:
I wish I had dimming switches.
I wish I had dimming switches. These are the kind of thing that can make your home feel like a real home, and not just a place where you sleep and eat. You could use them to set the mood in different parts of your house, or even just save energy by keeping lights off when they’re not needed. And if you have trouble sleeping, dimming lights at night can help you relax and get some rest without being woken up by bright light shining through your window curtains in the morning.
I wish I had smart locks.
I wish I had smart locks.
You can open your door with your phone, key, fingerprint and even a voice command. It’s like having an invisible butler who lives in your house!
I wish I had temperature sensors.
There are a few ways you can use temperature sensors to make your home smarter. First, they help you save money on energy bills. This is because they’ll keep track of how much power is being used in each part of the house, so if the air conditioner kicks on when it’s not needed or someone forgot to turn off their lights, the system will let them know and provide an easy way for them to fix it.
Second, having these sensors means that you’ll be able to keep your family safe at all times. If there’s smoke or carbon monoxide in one room but not another (or none at all), then this will let everyone know which areas need attention immediately instead of waiting until someone notices something wrong before taking action–which could take too long!
I wish my TV was smart.
I wish my TV was smart.
I know what you’re thinking: “TVs are dumb.” But they don’t have to be! If you have a smart home, and your TV is connected to it via Wi-Fi or Ethernet cable (or both), then it can be part of your system as well. In fact, many TVs come with built-in smart home functionality these days. But if yours doesn’t–or if its only connection is HDMI–you can still make it work by connecting an external device like Amazon Fire Stick or Google Chromecast Audio.
You might even find yourself enjoying all the benefits of having a smart home without spending any extra money on equipment; many streaming services offer free trials so that users can try before buying, which includes their various “smart” integrations with other products from companies like Nest Labs Inc., Ecobee Inc., Lutron Electronics Co., Philips Lighting North America Corp., iRobot Corp., August Home Inc., Honeywell International Inc.’s Lyric T5 Wi-Fi Thermostats & Sensors (Gen 2)
I wish my appliances were smart.
Smart appliances can be controlled remotely and by voice, which is especially useful for those who are away from home for extended periods of time. They also connect to other smart devices, so if you want your lights to turn on when your oven is preheated or the door opens, it’s possible.
Smart appliances can be controlled by a single app (like an Amazon Echo). This means that you can control all of your smart devices from one place–and if something goes wrong with one of them, it will show up in this app as well as any other connected apps that are designed for troubleshooting purposes.
There are many ways to make your home smarter, and these features would make it even better
If you’re looking for ways to make your home smarter, these five features will help you make the most of this technology.
The first thing I wish I had is a smart thermostat. A lot of people are still using old-fashioned dials or switches on their wall that don’t allow them to adjust temperature remotely or track energy consumption over time. With a smart thermostat, you can control the temperature from any device with an internet connection–including your phone–and even link it up with other devices like lights so they turn off when no one’s home (or just as soon as everyone leaves).
The next thing I’d love is something called geofencing: A GPS system will monitor when someone enters or leaves their house and then trigger events based on those movements within their home environment (e..g., play music if someone walks into the room). For example, if my husband comes home late from work without calling me first–as he often does–I could use geofencing so that our lights would automatically turn on at dusk every night until he arrives safely at home again!
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many ways to make your home smarter. If you’re looking for a way to upgrade your home and make it more efficient, then these five features are a great place to start!
