4 Devices That Will Make Your Home Smarter

In today’s connected world, homes are getting smarter. With the tap of a button, you can do just about anything in your home, from turn on the lights to change the temperature and close the blinds.

While not an absolute necessity, smart home devices make our lives easier and allow us to focus on more important things. They can save us money, too, by controlling how much energy we use on a daily basis.

If you’ve yet to jump on the connected-home bandwagon, these four devices will make your home a little smarter.

1. Smart Locks

Imagine this: You come home with an arm full of groceries. Your keys are buried somewhere in your back pocket or purse. To get into your home, you now have to put down all of the bags, find your keys, unlock the door, and pick all of the bags back up again.

If you had smart locks, you could have unlocked the door remotely – from your smartphone – as you pulled into the driveway.

Smart locks allow you to lock and unlock your door from anywhere. You can also check the status of your locks. Now you don’t have to panic the next time you’re on vacation and can’t remember whether you locked the doors.

Many of these locks also allow you to set a code that gives your loved ones or trusted people, like the dog walker, access to your home.

2. Smart Fire Detectors

The majority of fire deaths result from fires at properties that don’t have working smoke alarms, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

A traditional smoke alarm is perfectly fine for protecting against injury and death, but it’s only effective if you’re home. A smart smoke detector will alert you on your smartphone, so you know if the alarm goes off if you’re at work or halfway across the world.

Smart fire detectors help facilitate faster emergency calls, which can save lives and prevent property damage.

3. Smart Water Sensors

Anything can happen when you leave the house. A pipe can burst, your dishwasher can stop working properly, or your water heater could start leaking. Whether you’re gone for the day at work or away on vacation, the last thing you want to do is come home to a flood.

A smart water sensor will send you alerts on your smartphone when water is detected, so you can stop what you’re doing and call an emergency plumber. The quicker you address a leak or flood, the more money, time and frustration you save.

4. Smart Thermostat

A smart thermostat will help you save money on your monthly energy bills and reduce your impact on the environment.

Like other smart devices, these thermostats connect to your home’s Wi-Fi to give you remote control over your home’s HVAC system. Using an accompanying app, you can adjust your home’s temperature from anywhere using your smartphone.

Turn the heat or A/C off while you’re away at work, and turn it back on when you’re driving home. Many smart thermostats allow you to create schedules and have sensors that can detect when no one is home.