Information and communication technology (ICT) has changed the way we live and do our day-to-day businesses in our modern life. Rapidly growing and evolving communities, modern gadgets, and cloud solutions are top drivers of the concept of a smart home. The control and management of home appliances through technology has already revolutionized our lives. Internet of things is one of the most promising fields and it’s already being implemented within various industries. Moreover, you can find the top 3 IoT platforms compared to get to know what do the major tech giants like Google, Amazon and Microsoft offer these days.
A home in which you are able to monitor, track, control all appliances, utilities, and security systems through the modern wireless network, internet, mobile applications, or any other integrated communication system is called as a Smart Home in the modern terminology. You should follow the guidelines on how to buy a home with smart features.
Today’s Smart Homes
The involvement of technology in today’s Smart Home has increased tremendously. From home construction to the interior design, and from a security camera to utility control, everywhere the smart home ideas prevail in our present-day life. According to the Statista forecast, the global value of the smart home market is expected to reach $53 billion by 2022.
Furthermore, over 45% of the Americans believe that smart home products, at an average, help them save about $98.30 monthly or $1,179.60 annually – source.
Other than saving of money, it was revealed that the use of smart home products also help you save a substantial amount of time on a daily basis. The increasing power and adaptability of smart home technology made all this possible.
A large number of smart home solutions related to homes lighting, air purification, heating/cooling, home security, entertainment, cooking, and others are available in the marketplace. Many advanced features and capabilities in those solutions are also emerging on a regular basis. This makes the smart home industry one of the most cruising industries in the global market.
How to Make a Smart Home?
You can make your home smart in multiple ways. The installation and deployment of best smart home devices in your existing home can help you convert your home into a smart home. If you are building a brand new home, then you need to include environmental engineering and material engineering in your building designs to make it a perfect smart home.
Using modern flooring, kitchen fittings, and countertops are also parts of building a smart home. The benefits of using laminate also attract the people to choose for the smart home materials. The other major components of making a smart home include the following.
- Automated heating/cooling systems
- Automated utility bill controls
- Home lighting control systems
- Home surveillance and security systems
- Automated kitchen appliance control system
- Fire and smoke detection systems
Top 10 Smart Home Features
A modern smart home should have numerous features that can save cost and time for the dwellers. Among those features, the top 10 features are mentioned below.
#1 Smart lighting
In a smart lighting system, you control your lights either through a mobile app or sensor-based light control system. By using the feature of smart lighting system you save money, time and energy. According to a scientific research paper, the total energy consumed in illuminating the interior and exterior or a building in Europe accounts for about 40% of the electrical energy. If adoptive and smart monitoring and control system on the lighting is applied, you can save up to 35% of the total energy consumed on the rigid lighting system.
Many companies like Philips, Sengled, and other companies are producing smart lights that operate on the basis of mobile apps and automated sensor controls. Many new smart lighting systems with contemporary designs are emerging in the marketplace. You can choose any suitable smart system for your smart home.
#2 Smart Temperature Management
The temperature control of your home interior appliances like air-conditioner and heater should be fully sensor-based to save a substantial amount of money on your heating and cooling bills. The heating of water through geyser is another important function of a home that consumes huge energy. A thermostat-based automatic control system will help you reduce the bills on maintaining air and water temperatures of your home.
Many air-conditioning and heating systems with adaptive control systems are available in the market that can be controlled through mobile applications as well as through integrated home control systems. The best air purifiers are also available that you can integrate with the air quality sensors for better living experience.
#3 Centralized Home Entertainment
The centralized sound, video and TV systems with smart controls and the cognitive monitoring of human presence are available. Deploying modern entertainment systems allow you to enjoy live streaming, videos, and favorite TV shows in any room of your home. The modern entertainment systems powered by artificial intelligence (AI) apps can provide the best and the cheapest entertainment smartly.
#4 Integrated Access Control
Integrated access control is one of the most adopted systems in modern smart homes. There are many parts of this system that keep your home safe and control your garage door security effectively through a centralized monitoring and control system, which you can connect to your mobile through a mobile app or wireless network. The best smart home security system may include automated door-locks, motorized garage locks, theft sensing system, CCTV camera system, and security alarm systems. All those systems can be integrated through the home wireless system and mobile application.
#5 Smart Monitoring System
Like the access control system powered by the modern the internet of things (IoT) technology, the smart monitoring system of your home security is a very fundamental part of the modern smart home. A smart monitoring system can be powered by the body motion sensors, CCTV cameras, infra-red detectors and other such kinds of sensors that can monitor the presence of the motion, biometrics or even the animal bodies within the range of the monitoring systems. Those monitoring systems can be integrated with the alarm systems to alert about any incident.
#6 Home Lawn Care
Mowing your lawn with mowing trolleys and traditional machines is expected to become an old fashion thing when the robotic lawn mower will be extensively adopted for home lawn care. Whether you want to deal with the best indoor plants or external lawn mowing, you will need a robotic mowing machine and lawn care devices, which are eco-friendly and cost you lower. Robotic lawn care is already available in the market in the US and other parts of the world.
#7 Smoke/Fire Detection System
A fire detection system is an integral feature of a smart home. By deploying smoke/fire detection system, you save not only the lives of dwellers, but also a heavy investment on your home. Modern fire detection systems are integrated with the alarm and monitoring system to make them more effective and efficient.
#8 Odor Control Spray
Whether you are at home or away from home, the odor control system will automatically detect the air quality and runs the deodorants sprays to control the odor in the home. Odor controlled sprays are already in use for quite enough time now at different locations in a home, office and other locations.
#9 Laminated Flooring
Laminated flooring helps you not only improve the beauty of your home flooring but also increases the energy saving. The laminated flooring is a better insulator due to multiple laminations of the materials. Laminated flooring is becoming one of the best practices for developing a smart home.
#10 Smart Kitchen Appliances
The smart appliances for the kitchen are in the market for quite a long period now. Many types of refrigerators, fridges, microwave ovens, dishwashers, cookers, and other appliances have sensor-based controls. Those controls can be integrated with the help of wireless network and mobile applications to operate them even remotely via the internet.
Final Takeaway
The concept of smart home is becoming very popular due to the availability of numerous mobile applications that are able to integrate many great features of a smart home on your smartphone with the help of wireless technologies and internet. The newer mobile apps and subsequently new features of a smart home will continue to grow for many years to come.
