Last Updated on November 3, 2021 by Kravelv
A fully functional smart home has been one of the cooler iterations of science fiction for some time now, but as technology has made some amazing leaps, it is very suddenly not so much of fantasy anymore. In fact, you can make your own home into a smart home today, and this guide will tell you how.
Get a Virtual Assistant
A quintessential element of the sci-fi smart home was the AI virtual assistant that ran the home for you. This particular element of sci-fi awesomeness has been possible for some time now. You even have options! Either Google’s Home Hub or Amazon’s Echo Show will have you well on your way to the smart home of your dreams, throw in some of the smaller connected voice devices like Amazon’s Echo Dots, and you’re in business with an omnipresent virtual assistant primed to do your bidding.
Smart Lights
To really seal the deal with your virtual assistant, you’re going to want some smart utilities for it to interact with, which is where smart light switches come in. While there are options for smart light bulbs, switches are likely the best for easily and smoothly integrating smart home functionality into your existing fixtures. Simply replace your existing switches with a smart model and use your virtual assistant to bring light to the darkness, all through the power of your voice.
Smart Sliding Doors
Lights are all well and good, but that’s just the surface of the features a smart house should have. One of the best traits smart houses have in sci-fi is the automatic doors, being intelligent sliding doors that sense you coming and open up. Well, you too can have smart sliding door systems in your house. These awesome devices fit in easily with existing sliding doors, making your upgrade to smart house status seamless.
Wireless Door/Window Sensor
Now that you have a house you can control with your voice; you’ll need to defend it. What better way to do that than with an automatic wireless sensor that will keep you aware anytime your windows or doors are opened. Some can even show you exactly what’s happening with dedicated cameras.
Solar-Powered Path Light
Okay, with the interior of your house brought thoroughly to smart home status, there is just one area left to smarten up – your garden. While there are a number of interesting options for garden tech, one of the best options for smart house-style garden improvements lies in the option of solar-powered lights. These clever little devices charge up all day using the power of the sun, and when they can no longer sense sunlight, they automatically turn on. This means they have almost no required maintenance and automatically keep your garden nice and bright.
At this point, your house should be pretty well teched up, but why stop there? Keep looking into the smart tech available to you and make the smart home of your dreams a reality.