The days of manually fiddling with your thermostat, reaching across the bed to turn on the lights in the morning, or spending your Saturdays vacuuming your living room are over. Smart technology is here, and it’s here to stay – and now our homes are becoming more connected than ever.
Smart home gadgets can make your life easier, as well as saving you both time and money. Often, the initial investment more than makes up for the decrease in stress and increase in free time. Here are the five best smart home gadgets on the market, specifically designed to make your life easier.
Wink Lookout
If you’re away a lot for work or travel, the Wink Lookout should be top of your wishlist. This combines their free app with state of the art sensors, monitoring all activity going on in and around your home. The Lookout sends alerts to your smartphone whenever any motion is detected, and the activity is saved so that you can view it at a later date.
The Wink Lookout comes equipped with a siren which can be activated when you are alerted to someone breaking in. It includes two door and window sensors which discreetly track your home’s windows and doors, sending you alerts when they are opened or closed. This sensitivity can be easily adjusted to accommodate the movement of your pets.
The Wink Lookout can also be used to monitor people entering or leaving your house – such as the kids returning from school or the dog walker arriving.
Nest Learning Thermostat
Trying to judge the temperature to have your thermostat at can be a struggle itself, and the Nest Learning Thermostat takes the effort away from getting up yet again to fiddle with the temperature. However, this is no ordinary thermostat. The Nest Thermostat learns the temperature you like when you’re at home, automatically setting itself to that temperature when you get back at the end of the day.
This device connects to your phone, tracking your location so that it can see when you’ve left the house. When you do, it sets itself to Eco Temperatures to save energy and money. You can easily adjust the temperature of your home from your mobile, no matter where you are.
Finally, the Nest Thermostat also lets you control your hot water from the app. If you want extra hot water, you can boost the heat, and the Nest Thermostat will automatically turn it off when you leave. The Nest app then shows how much energy you use every day, as well as giving you tips on how to use less.
Samsung SmartThings Starter Kit
Wink vs. SmartThings has been a hot debate for some time now, but the reality is that they both have their place in a smart home.
The Samsung Smartthings Starter Kit is one of the easiest ways to turn your home into a smart home – allowing you to run your day to day life from your smartphone using the SmartThings app.
The SmartThings Starter Kit includes a motion sensor and connected lights. This means your lights will turn on automatically when you return home in the evening. Create specific routines via the apps, for example, a personal morning routine which will turn on the connected lights and start the radio when you want to wake up in the morning.
Automatically control your home’s temperature, and use the motion sensors to keep your home safe and secure wherever you are. Finally, the SmartThings kit works alongside with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, meaning there’s even less for you to do. Sit back and let SmartThings do the work, you won’t have to lift a finger.
Apple HomeKit
Most people have heard of the Amazon Echo, and it remains one of the most popular smart hubs on the market. The Echo is user-friendly, which is excellent if you are a beginner to smart technology. Connect it to Alexa to play music, make calls, set alarms and timers, and add to your schedule. You can also manage to do lists, check the weather and send messages using just your voice, plus so much more.
The Amazon Echo also connects to a range of smart home products. It seamlessly brings all connected products together, allowing you to control your entire home using just your voice.
With such a vast range of smart products available online, many of them at high prices, kitting out your home with all the smartest gadgets has never been easier. Whether you opt for smart weather stations, indoor air quality monitors, colored light bulbs, dimmer light switches or splash out on the whole lot, easily bring it all together with the Amazon Echo.
Ecovacs Deebot-Ozmo 930 Smart-Vacuum
Smart vacuums are loved by many as let’s face it; no one is spending their free time vacuuming! The Ecovacs Deebot-Ozmo 930 is one of the best smart vacuums on the market. It cleans your entire home in the click of a button, with custom cleaning modes to help it get into those tougher spots and tight corners.
This vacuum connects to your smartphone and can be controlled with just a few clicks. Set the cleaning time, cleaning mode and status via the app, and enjoy having all the cleaning done for you! It can also be linked to Amazon Alexa for extra convenience.
With intelligent cleaning for a range of floor types, there’s no need to worry that this smart vacuum won’t do a thorough job. It’ll automatically boost its suction power for carpets, while the vacuum and mop combo will easily clean hard floors. If the vacuum runs out of battery while cleaning, it will automatically return to its previous spot once it has recharged.
Smart homes are becoming hugely popular, and with a huge range of devices and products out there to help bring your home to the 21st century, there’s no need to get left behind. Whether you’re after extra security for the family or want to make your morning wake up a little less aggressive, connected devices learn your habits and routines, automatically adjusting themselves to make your life easier, more energy efficient and far more comfortable. Aicool Smart Trash Can is also a smart home gadget that will make your life cleaner and easier
