Smart homes are now a reality with the Amazon Echo and Google home. Appliances, heat, air conditioning, power, lights, security cameras — everything can link to your smartphone. Turn on your pool heat from 50 miles away. Turn up your AC at the same time. Smart homes take advantage of automation technology and modern building techniques to give homeowners a new level of control, according to the website SFGate.
What does smart home mean? The definition, according to About.com is a home that has highly advanced, automated sytems to control and monitor any function of a house, be it lighting, temperature control, multi-media, security, window and door operations, air quality, or any other task of necessity or comfort performed by a home’s resident.
Of course, there are still some downsides to smart homes that are worth considering.
According to Christopher Harper at maketecheasier.com, security issues are serious. Breaches are inevitable, and security strategies must keep changing to keep up with the hackers. Your system quickly could become outdated. Even if it is not outdated, a hacker could send the air conditioning system into Antarctic mode at any time. However, convenience is one of the biggest reasons that people build and purchase smart homes. SFGate reports that for elderly or disabled residents, a smart home may feature accessibility technologies. Voice-command systems can do things like control lights, lock doors, operate a telephone or use a computer. Home automation allows an individual to set a schedule for automatic tasks like watering the lawn, removing the need to perform these labor-intensive tasks on a regular basis.
Smart homes are more efficient. Smart homes offer enhanced energy-efficiency. Lights can shut off automatically when no one is in a room, and the thermostat can be set to let the indoor temperature drop during the day before returning it to a more comfortable level just before residents arrive in the evening. All of these automated tasks, along with modern, energy-efficient appliances, combine to save on electricity, water and natural gas, thereby reducing the strain on natural resources.
Smart home technology is real and it’s becoming increasingly sophisticated.
Smart homes could cost a lot of money to do things like turn up the heat and turn on a light. Is it worth it now? Seems to be it is. To find reputable contractors, etc., check out vigaroo.com.
Source: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/advantages-smart-house-8670.html
Source: http://architecture.about.com/od/buildyourhous1/g/smarthouse.htm