How to make your home a smart home
Technology makes daily life easier. We have in the palms of our hands apps like Google Maps, Accuweather and Reminders that help us with directions, the weather and our to-do lists. Technology is a great way to also keep a peace of mind by keeping your home safe and under control when you’re not home. Using today’s latest technology, you can monitor your home with cameras, sensors and control your doors and thermostat.
Here are four products that link to an app for the ultimate home integration.
Ring
Ring offers a video doorbell that connects to your Wi-Fi network and notifies you and records when someone is at your door. It also offers two-way audio communication. They offer different types of video doorbells ranging from $199 to $499. Ring also offers floodlight cams, so you can watch over your entire property. Ring has the ability to hook up to your current doorbell wiring or it can operate on battery power. To monitor your Ring devices you can download Ring’s own app.
Amazon rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars
Collective positive review: Customer service is exceptional, high quality video, easy set-up, creates a great peace of mind.
Collective negative review: There are technical issues to work through such as setting the motion sensor correctly, having the motion sensor go off as people walk away and connectivity. You also have to pay for a cloud subscription to see the recorded videos.
Vivint.SmartHome
Vivint has created a system that turns your house into a smart home. By combining their different products and services which include a doorbell camera, ping camera, outdoor camera, garage door control, element thermostat and smart locks.
Amazon rating: not available for full system
Customer reviews: not available
Collective positive: not available
SmartThings
SmartThings is an app owned by Samsung that acts as a remote control for your house. This app turns your home into a smart home by syncing all electronics. For about $300, you can have SmartThings turn on and off lights, control the thermostat, lock your doors, turn on your security camera and open your garage door. SmartThings will also send you alerts throughout the day in the event that something happens, whether unsuspected movement or a water leakage. Not to mention, SmartThings can control your appliances, so you can brew your coffee without getting out of bed.
SmartThings has the ability to be linked to multiple products which are listed out on their website. These include light switches, lights, security cameras and door locks.
Amazon rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars
Collective positive review: Easy installation of the hub and app, easy recognition of newly installed z-wave devices and very active community board with multiple “How-Tos” and FAQs.
Collective negative review: Device malfunctions, not being able to set up device permissions so anyone in the house can have full access to system, the syncing process can get complicated as the device has to be right in front of the hub.
Honeywell’s Wi-Fi thermostat
Paired with the app, Honeywell’s Wi-Fi thermostat can set your home to the temperature you desire by knowing when you come home using your smartphone’s location. Long gone are the days of having to program your thermostat for specific times (although this is still an optional feature). Looking for an aesthetically pleasing thermostat? For $199, you can have a thermostat match your walls or your favorite sports team by changing the colors!
Amazon rating: 4.4 out of 5
Collective positive review: Easy to install if you have a C-wire, smart response technology, app and website set up is easy. Thermostat has a humidity feature that will notify you if your house is over a certain humidity.
Collective bad review: Has a cheap look and feel, rather fragile device with the pins being broken easily if you don’t install it correctly. Incorrect readings for humidity.
Have you tried out any of these products? Let us know!
