5 cheap and easy smart home upgrades I recommend to my friends
Smart houses do not need to be complicated or expensive. Take a methodical walk and keep an eye on good deals and you can enjoy many amenities in life in a smart home without spending a lot at all.
The secret is to start slowly and invest in some solid products that will have the most impact, I speak of electrical sockets, lighting, air conditioning, etc. In other words, you can probably manage without an intelligent washing machine, but the installation of a smart thermostat will change the situation for your comfort and subsistence costs.
Insist on interoperability
One of the keys to successfully operating a smart house is to make sure that everything you install is fully compatible and interoperable. Many intelligent house ecosystems were originally designed around a central center and wireless protocols that were supposed To hit him big, but it has never really taken off or faded with importance and consumer appeal.
If you think you may have more seriously living in a smart house, search for devices that take care of importance.
Although there are still many of these systems on the market (Philips Hue remains popular, despite a owner center to get the best performance), you generally do not need a center so that all your equipment works together on a single platform if you plan things correctly.
If money is not a barrier, the lighting -shaped philips lighting products are the best in class, and no manufacturer has a wider range of products, from bare bulbs to interior and exterior accessories.
Ben Patterson / Foundry
Today, Wi-Fi is the most important intelligent house standard. If a device can connect directly to your existing Wi-Fi network without intermediary, you are on track to a simple and cohesive smart network.
If you think you may have more seriously living in a smart house, search for devices that take care of importance. Matter is a new open source wireless standard which already benefits from a large support in industry, and it is only gaining popularity, thanks to the support of large manufacturers, including Amazon, Apple, Google, Samsung and many others.
The main objective of Matter is compatibility: any material device can connect to any material control platform, which means that you can connect a certified lighting switch to a material to a certified material controller, such as an Amazon Echo, Apple TV, Google Nest Hub or Samsung Smartthings Station. You can control this lighting switch via the manufacturer’s own mobile application; with Alexa, Bixby, Google Home or Siri Voice Orders; or with any other Third -party application that supports the material.
With the combination of Wi -Fi and material support, you are guaranteed maximum flexibility in your smart home configuration – at least as long as you can get it today. More importantly, this duo eliminates the need for concentrators, bridges and other additional infrastructure which only adds to expenses and complexity.
In this article, we will focus on devices in five categories of key key houses, all of which support Wi-Fi and material.
Smart traffic jams
It is not the most slender intelligent socket on the market, but the mini plug-in switch will not block an adjacent socket and it supports the material on Wi-Fi.
Michael Brown / Foundry
First of all, it is really not necessary to snatch electrical sockets into the wall and replace them with an intelligent version to obtain intelligent control on lamps, fans, radiators and other small devices. Although an intelligent take in the wall is more aesthetic than an intelligent wall locking plug, it is much simpler and cheaper to simply put an external intelligent plug on a socket, especially if you are starting. These types of switches also have the advantage of being able to be easily moved, so if you want to move this lamp later, it is a snap with an additional device. Not so much with an intelligent socket in the wall.
The challenge is that this category has become commodity to the point where there are more than a million of these devices on the market today, and imports of low grade abound. Do not be sucking by out of brand traffic jams on Amazon. I recommend the Wi-Fi plug-in switch to Leviton Decora of the material (2nd generation), $ 35, to friends and family. I have several at home.
It looks like an ordinary lighting switch, but the compared switch from the Léviton to work on the battery and can be mounted walls anywhere to control a leviton intelligent socket.
Michael Brown / Foundry
You can even associate this intelligent socket with a distant wall switch powered by battery – the Léviton AnyWhere Companion ($ 25) – for the moments when you do not want to remove your phone or bark a voice command to turn on or turn off the light. The companion anywhere looks like one of the leviton decora switches, but it does not require an electric box (although you can install it this way if you wish).
Intelligent bulb
Linkind’s smart RGBTW A19 smart bulb is inexpensive, but certainly not cheap.
Christopher Null / Foundry
Intelligent bulbs were among the first intelligent home devices to arrive on the market; And surprisingly, many of them remain embedded in their old ecosystems, with random support for modern standards and Operation Hubliss.
For full Wi-Fi support and material, without breaking the bank, see the Linkind RGBTW Smart Matter bulb, a full-adjusting bulb that will adapt to a standard socket while working transparently with the rest of your smart home. At $ 20 for a pack of four bulbs, you will not find a better offer on smart bulbs today.
Techhive publishers also like the Certified Philips Hue intelligent lighting ecosystem, but Hue bulbs offer only a set of limited features when used with Bluetooth instead of the Hue Hub. Their biggest drawback? They are very Dear.
Intelligent lecturer
Michael Brown / Foundry
Amazon’s echo Alexa Alexa Alexa system is probably the best choice for any intelligent start -up house thanks to its ease of use and versatility. (Currently, I have three echo devices in various parts, and one outside.) In addition to hosting the vocal assistant Alexa of Amazon, the Amazon Echo spot of mid -range displays the time, date and current weather conditions; You can use it as a timer and an alarm clock; He has a fairly good speaker to listen to music; And You can use it as a home intercom with other Smart Echo speakers and display.
The Spot Echo The size of a pint cannot broadcast a video, and although it supports the question of Wi-Fi, it does not have a wire radio on board (which will not be a drawback for anyone who was simply plunging their toe into the world of smart house). If you want a more complete smart screen with These two features consider something in the Amazon Echo Show product range.
Smart display
Ben Patterson / Foundry
If you are also looking to broadcast videos and photos, display lyrics while listening to music and making video calls to friends and family, the third generation 8 ($ 150) Amazon Echo show has an 8 -inch HD touch screen (960 x 480 pixels). It can also do whatever the echo spot can.
If you want a larger display, consider the Amazon Show 10 Echo ($ 250), which has a unique 10.1 -inch rotary screen (resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels) or the largest Echo Show 15 (a 15.1 inch panel with a 19220 x 1080 pixel resolution), which can be wall or set in a tablet with its support. These two models also have thread radios to support the growing number of intelligent house devices that count.
Intelligent locking
The brand new lock lock pro is the best intelligent locking on the market, bar None.
Michael Brown / Foundry
My favorite intelligent lock does not look like an intelligent lock at all. Inside and out of your door, the brand new lock pro has the appearance of a standard sleeping kick, with a lock hole outside and a thumb tower inside. All his intelligence is inside the engine mechanism and his battery slips inside his bolt. No visit to your home will even know that you have an intelligent lock, unless you opt for the optional digital keyboard to allow access -based access.
The capture with this category is that the lock is not inexpensive, but few intelligent super locks are available at a reduced price – and is this an area where you want to make scenario? Oh, is that, you say? Well, if you don’t mind losing support to certain smart house ecosystems, such as Matter and Apple Home, Tapo DL100 is a lot at only $ 70. You make the call.
Smart thermostat
Michael Brown / Foundry
Your thermostat is another area where cheap products do not really correspond to the invoice. But if you have a central heating and / or cooling, this is the only area where you must absolutely invest if you want to maximize the efficiency of your HVAC equipment by defining operating hours, allowing automatic control during your absence, following your energy consumption, and more. It is the only intelligent domestic apparatus that will probably be paid in less than a year. And since it will probably extend the lifespan of your furnace or air conditioner, it could very well do so many times.
If you go to the material, there is really only one product that I would recommend: the Google Nest learning thermostat at $ 280 (4th Gen), which can even be set to find out when you leave the room and straighten up on air conditioning until you return. I have two in my own house. Techhive publishers also admire the Ecobee intelligent thermostat bonus ($ 250), but that does not support the material.
