How to Get Started With Smart Home Devices

Smart Home Installation is becoming popular for homeowners and renters alike. With so many options, we suggest focusing on what fits your lifestyle–and improves it! We’ve put together a beginner’s guide to a smarter home: practical upgrades that can make every day life easier. 

Book Smart Home Installation help

Utilities

If you’re struggling with a higher monthly utility bill since being home more, upgrades to your thermostat and lighting system can make an instant impact on your home’s energy efficiency. Smart thermostat systems are incredibly easy to use. It’s even possible to regulate temperatures throughout your home with remote sensors–a great way to ensure a comfortable temperature in the baby’s nursery.

Smart water detectors can monitor kitchen and bathroom appliances, your water heater, pipes, and other possible sources of leaks. This device offers a simple way to get ahead of inevitable home upkeep, can prevent surprises, and elevate your home’s resale value. 

Smart smoke/carbon monoxide detectors are obviously valuable to protect your family and home, and are extra useful if you own or maintain multiple properties. Getting alerts through an app for individual units or a rental property can provide you with additional oversight.

Cleaning

Do you feel like you do laundry constantly? A smart washer-dryer combo can eliminate weekly stress by automating things like detergent dispensing and linking control of your laundry cycles to an app. That way, with all the other to-dos you’re thinking about, you don’t forget a load of laundry sitting in the dryer, getting wrinkled with time.

Robotic vacuum cleaners aren’t new anymore but they are getting smarter and smarter. You can program them to run after your family returns home from a beach outing to follow the kids in their sandy footsteps! 

Security Systems

A smart security system is a long-term investment that can provide peace of mind. Smart doorbells are a practical day-to-day tool that easily lets you monitor everything from doorstep deliveries to what your dogs are up to when you’re not around. There are also indoor and outdoor security cameras to consider. 

Smart locks are very handy–especially if you operate an Airbnb rental unit! You can assign access privileges, set access schedules, lock and unlock with your smart phone, and pretty much make lost keys at the bottom of your bag a thing of the past. 

Ambiance

Automated blinds and curtains can really up the ante for bedroom spaces, and can even serve as a quiet alarm clock! The ability to program your window dressing is another way to achieve energy efficiency–for instance, you can program the blinds to close during the time of day you know the sun shines in if you want to keep your room cool.

Integrated smart lighting systems create custom ambiance in every room. Smart plugs enable you to control when a lamp turns on and off. Coupled with a smart light bulb that can be programmed to change color (think: red light, green light) this is one way to train little ones to stay in bed after you say goodnight! Smart dimmers are also great for this.

Even if you don’t own your place, there’s plenty of less-intrusive smart upgrades that make everyday life that much more relaxing. We recommend starting with a portable smart sensor, mainly because they are so versatile. Some monitor movement to shut lights off when you leave the room. Others can monitor the temperature in a given room.

Entertainment

Are you looking to treat yourself with an upgraded but budget-friendly entertainment system? You can always give your Airpods some time off with a smart speaker system that connects wirelessly. The best thing about this investment is that most top-level smart speakers also operate as smart home hubs. From Alexa to Google Home, these devices don’t just give you the music or podcast you want–they’re voice-activated connectors to other devices in your smart home system (like multi-room speakers and any other smart device, such as your phone).

If you prefer to keep it simple, starting with a speaker system that uses wi-fi will let you control your audio entertainment from an app and amplify your TV’s sound quality. IKEA has partnered with Sonos on SYMFONISK wi-fi speakers and also have mounting hardware.

Of course, there are smart devices, like Amazon Firestick or Apple TV, for streaming content on your TV, even if your TV isn’t smart. With more time being logged at our home theaters, this is an easy upgrade to enhance your viewing pleasure! Up the ante with a smart projector–with an extra large viewing surface area, your neighbors may even be able to watch content with you, from their safe comfort of their own homes!

Book Smart Home Installation help

Keep in mind that for an integrated smart home, you should plan for all of your devices to work on the same platform/hub. Mesh wi-fi systems are a great investment now that our spaces are both live and work. If you need to get smart devices connected to a wi-fi router, installed or uninstalled, mounted, or need troubleshooting a device you’ve already installed yourself, a local Tasker can help. 

Booking a Tasker is the easiest and quickest way to get your smart home set up. Taskers who do Smart Home Installation can offer specific product knowledge as well as general information systems knowledge to make sure everything’s working properly. Be sure to chat with the Tasker beforehand about their experience and qualifications.

Need help shopping for the right devices and getting them delivered to your door? Book Shopping and Delivery

Book trusted help for home tasks

RELATED STORIES

Book trusted help for home tasks