Building and remodeling homes has gotten a whole lot more interesting since the advent of smart home technologies. Now, more than ever, a homeowner has tons of options to consider when designing their ideal home. Not only can a home be designed to be more energy efficient, have fantastic views and floorplans, but you can also have a home that responds, interacts, and embraces the digital world we live in.
It may seem like something out of science fiction, being able to control aspects of your home with a touch of a button, or by the sound of your voice. One of the unbeatable luxuries any homeowner can have is the ability to customize their home to have as many smart technologies as they’d like.
Here are a few of the Smart Home Trends to keep an eye on – and maybe even incorporate this year:
- Smart Thermostats – There are literally hundreds of thermostats, but the welcome rise is with smart ones like Nest. This handy little gadget not only learns your family’s personalized temperature schedule, but it can also be controlled from anywhere by your smartphone. When combined with other smart home options, Nest even knows to turn your temps down when you leave the house—all on its own. Its interface also shows where you can save money in your usage, making it a pretty awesome addition to comfortable living.
- Smart Entry – Who doesn’t hate digging for their keys with an arm full of groceries? With the way door locks are going, you don’t have to. Awesome companies like Kwikset have produced smart locks like Kevo to work with your smartphone and/or a special key fob. Since you always have it with you, now your phone is your key as Kevo recognizes when you’re inside or outside the home and unlocks the door accordingly. Combine it with Nest, and you’ve got a very powerful start to your smart home setup.
- Smart Blinds – Smart blinds have been around for a while, but they keep getting better. Now, many of them are even Apple HomeKit-enabled, granting more options than ever by utilizing Siri. You can open and close your shades with just the sound of your voice, schedule the way they open and close, or even adjust them when you’re on the go. There are even companies that help turn your current shades or blinds into smart ones.
- Smart Adaptive Lighting – When you have more control over your environment, you can feel more at home. Whether you have special uses, like a theatre room, or want to add lighting that senses your footsteps, adaptive lighting can give you what you need without blaring in your face. You can develop a full house system to control the atmosphere and placement of your lighting, or you can go straight to each bulb. The choice is really yours.
- Smart Entertainment – Smart TVs and home theatre systems are becoming more of the norm and they can do more than they ever could in the past. Not only can you surf the web on your TV, but it can even become your central hub for all things technology in your home. In fact, Samsung has even announced their intentions to utilize IoT (Internet of Things) technology on all of its 2016 SUHD TVs. Add that to sounds systems that can do more than ever before, and you’ve got the makings of a stellar place to relax and unwind.
- Smart Outlets and Switches – Smart switches for your existing lighting, or smart outlets to control the rest of your home’s power users is one way to bring everything together. We all have items around our home from lamps, to TVs, to printers, to your coffee maker. Utilizing smart outlets and switches will connect the whole house in a way you didn’t realize was possible.
- Smart Security Systems – Peace of mind continues to prove smart. You can do so much more than ever before with the new smart security systems on the market these days. With high definition cameras that can be virtually placed anywhere, you can ensure your home is safe, watch your kids come home from school—and make sure they’re working on homework, not playing Minecraft, plus trigger and untrigger alarms all from your smart phone.
- Smart Water – Not only can you set smart irrigation solutions for making your yard green and luscious, but now you can even keep track of how much water you, yourself use indoors. For environmentally conscious consumers, or those living in drought areas, smart faucets and shower heads can be a great way to not only keep track of your water consumption, but help you make adjustments too.
- Smart Appliances – From your refrigerator, to your washing machine, to the kettle on your countertop, smart appliances are taking over. They can remind you when a certain food is running low and then order them from Amazon for you, craft up recipes based on what you have in the cupboard, make sure burners don’t stay on when you forget to shut them off, and even cook your food based off the barcode on the box. Your dryer can send you a text when it’s done and you can even preheat your oven on your way home. Every day new innovations are happening with how your appliances can make your life easier—and safer.
- Smart Total Home Control – As our smart homes get more sophisticated, total home control hubs will become more and more important. Apple’s HomeKit is only one example, but it’s also a good one. Amazon’s Echo is another, as is Ivee. One of the best known happens to be Insteon, which even integrates with other systems like HomeKit, or can be used on its own. The great thing with total home systems is that they get smarter as new additions to their usage are added every day.
Are you ready to build a custom smart home? Contact us today by filling out our contact form, stopping in to say hello, or by giving us a call at (218) 692-1070. We’re here to help you walk through your options, and come up with a smart plan that delivers the results you’re looking for. At Baratto Brothers Construction, we do everything we can to become your Builder for Life.