A robot lawnmower keeps your grass trimmed. The front door unlocks on its own as you come up the walkway. At your voice command, music begins playing and the oven starts to preheat.
This scenario may sound like something from The Jetsons, but increasingly, smart technologies that make daily household interactions easier are a reality.
What Is A Smart Home?
A smart home is part of the so-called “Internet of Things” that innovators have long imagined, a world in which our inanimate objects — appliances, heating and lighting systems, devices and even vehicles — will self-operate and communicate with each other without the need for human intermediaries.
This universe includes an Amazon.com service that enables some printers to order more ink when they run low and the Whirlpool washer/dryer that communicates with the utility company to start your laundry at the most energy-efficient time of day. Many devices have the capacity to learn your personal habits and adjust accordingly, such as the Nest motion-detector-operated thermostat and camera that heats up a room when a person enters.
Manufacturers shipped 83 million smart-home devices to U.S. customers in 2015, according to estimates by BI Intelligence, a New York-based research service. BI expects that figure to grow to 193 million devices in 2020.
A survey by Icontrol Networks, a software and product company that provides solutions for the security and connected home market, found that 50 percent of the North American population is likely to buy one connected device in the next year, with millennials ages 25-34 (79 percent) and their parents (76 percent) the most eager.
Myriad Uses
Homeowners use smart products for purposes ranging from security, safety, heating and lighting to entertainment and more effective use of appliances.
“We’re in a very exciting time for the smart home. The sky is the limit, but it can get very confusing very quickly if you try to bite off too much,” says Lindsey Turrentine, editor-in-chief of CNET.com, a consumer technology news and review site. “My advice to people who are just getting started is to choose the single most annoying problem in your house that can be solved with technology, and solve that first.”
For instance, Turrentine often walks to her front door with hands full and her keys buried in her purse. The solution: She installed an August Smart lock that clicks open when it senses her smartphone nearby.
Connection Challenges
The downside to all this innovation: Smart devices don’t always talk to one another. With so many products on the market, you could end up controlling them with 20 different apps on your smartphone, rather than a single hub.
You can solve that problem by sticking to products guaranteed to work within a given platform, including home automation, security, entertainment and lighting. Two of the most developed platforms for smart devices are Samsung’s Smart Things and Google’s Nest , says Turrentine. Apple is trying to catch up with its HomeKit line and Lowe’s offers the Iris solution set for do-it-yourselfers. Almost every major cable and telecommunications provider is now offering to install a smart home network for you.
Even then, technology isn’t flawless. In early January, a bug in a software update for the Nest learning thermostat left an untold number of homeowners without heat — a potentially dangerous situation. The company offered a nine-step solution that involved charging the device with a USB connection and restarting it. But the situation highlighted a potential pitfall in overreliance on technology.
“There are new networking standards coming out that are able to connect devices. They transfer more data,” says John Greenough, a senior research analyst at BI Intelligence. “If you want it now, realize the downside is that something better could come along very quickly.”
Before You Buy
You have two choices when looking at smart-home products: buying a one-off device that performs a specific function; or purchasing a larger network of products that is installed and supported by a major company. You might buy a single device if you want to test the waters without committing to a large investment for a system or to the possible monthly subscription fees.
Also, understand your motivations for getting into smart products. Is it peace of mind — do you worry about whether you turned off the coffee maker or if the kids and pets are safe at home? Or is it convenience — do you want smart light bulbs that turn on when you enter a room or give a voice command?
Leticia Barr, founder of TechSavvyMama.com, which helps parents navigate technology with reviews and advice, says the SkyBell — a smart doorbell with an embedded camera — gives her peace of mind. She gets a notification on her phone whenever someone rings the doorbell, and she can pull up a live video feed and speak to whomever is calling.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re at the grocery store or on a tropical island,” she says.
