Smart Home: Four Must-Haves to Automate Your Home

Don’t you wish everything ran on a remote?

Well…actually nowadays most everything does and I love it. Home automation is no longer something we wish for and somehow can’t believe we ever did without it! It’s the real deal after a trip to your favorite home-everything store, a few steps to get your connected and you’ll have a smart home.

You know the commercial where the mom and dad are sitting on vacation and realized the kids went home and left all the lights and water running. Then with a quick touch of the phone, the dad is able to turn it all off and resecure the house? As a parent that video is REAL and so is remembering all the times you forgot if you turned off the iron, locked the door or wished you turned on the air conditioner on high before you get home in the middle of a sweltering August day in Texas.

It’s absolutely genius that now all your need is a few of these amazing smart devices and a little help from Siri to never have to turn on the fan or flip a switch ever again. Ready to go shopping at Nebraska Furniture Mart, but don’t know where to start?

Here’s Five Must-Haves to Automate Your Home

Air Conditioner/Heater
Featured: Nest Learning Thermostat

In the south, we are good friends with our thermostat. With freezing temps in the winter and blazing days in the summer, the temperature in your house is more about keeping your family healthy than it is about comfort. And that saying, “don’t like the weather in Texas, just stay around a little while, it”ll change…” it’s totally true. So when you wish you could turn on the heater because the temps have changed 30 degrees since you left the house, with the help of thermostat controls like Nest, it can happen even if your 100 miles away. Nest auto-schedule “learns” your family’s temperature preferences and programs itself in just a week, but also helps keep energy consumption low when there’s no one home.

Lightbulbs
Featured: AwoX StriimLIGHT Color Bulb with 13w Bluetooth Speaker

Lightbulbs aren’t just for illuminating the room anymore; they also become your new stereo system, setting your mood for a party, studytime or when you need to play music to get your child to sleep, but you still want to have your phone with you. While there are several on the market, I loved the AwoX StriimLIGHT Color Bulb with 13w Bluetooth Speaker so much that I recommended it for a stocking stuffer for the whole family. So easy to install, you just place the bulb in one of your regular light sockets and screw it in. Yep, that easy. It provides enough light to keep the room lit as well as immediately synced with my smartphone. I was instantly listening to Rob Thomas broadcasted throughout the room. There’s no need for a bluetooth speaker in every room, just install one of these and viola, you have a new stereo system and multipurpose lightbulb.

Smoke Alarm 
Featured: Insteon Smoke Alarm and Bridge Kit

I cannot count on my hands how many times I wondered if I turned off the stove, the coffee pot or my curling iron and thought I could be burning the house down as we speak. No need to worry with the new age of smoke alarms like  Insteon Smoke Alarm and Bridge Kit.  Now you can get a text or email in case of smoke, carbon monoxide, low battery, all clear, or error messages and it can also be linked to lights or other Insteon devices to turn on lights instantly in the event of an alert.

The Full-Meal Deal 
Featured: Insteon Start Here Home Automation Starter Kit

Ready to automate the whole house? With the Insteon Start Here Home Automation Starter Kit, just connect the HUB to your existing home router and start adding devices for total home connectivity.  This kit includes the HUB and two dimmers modules which allow you to remotely control one or more lights, regulate the thermostat, monitor water leaks, and with the smoke alarm bridge, you’ll even know if there’s a fire when you’re not home.

 

It is as easy as just flipping a switch to make your home safer, more comfortable and cost efficient.