By CEDIA - Tue, Dec 10, 2024 - Blog
A smart home uses technology to improve your life and reduce your impact on the planet. With a smart home, you’ll enjoy increased convenience, enhanced security, and greater energy efficiency. What’s not to like?
To create a connected home, you need to invest in some smart home essentials (such as smart hubs and appliances).
We’ll run through what these must-have smart home devices are and how they’ll help you streamline daily tasks, save money on bills, and improve your day-to-day living.
No connected home is complete without a smart hub. In a smart home, a hub’s voice assistant will become part of the furniture – or even like a family member.
A smart hub is essential for connecting devices. It will integrate with other smart home elements (such as lights, thermostats, security systems, and appliances) to provide a connected experience. With everything joined together via a hub, you can control all your smart devices in one place – whether through an app or voice activation. It’s then simple to create automated routines (e.g. morning wake-ups or bedtime wind-downs) that trigger group actions (like adjusting lights, locking doors, and playing music simultaneously). With a smart hub, you choose whether things happen at a set time or when you say a command.
Voice assistance is a big part of using a smart hub. A voice assistant provides information, controls devices, and gives you reminders. Having a voice-activated smart hub is particularly useful for hands-free use while cooking or cleaning. No more struggling to press a button mid-task.
A smart hub is the core element that you can build your smart home around. See what you can achieve with our smart home inspiration gallery.
Smart lighting is another smart home must-have, thanks to its practical and aesthetic benefits.
You can customise the brightness and colour of smart lights to create different ambiences (e.g. bright white for productivity or dimmed lights for evening relaxation). You can even use colour-changing bulbs to create a party atmosphere.
Plus, smart lighting lets you conveniently schedule lights to turn on and off automatically. Great for helping you wake up and enhancing home security. You can set up schedules to mimic occupancy and deter intruders. Plus, you can pair up your smart lighting with motion detectors, so that your lights turn on when somebody walks by. Another useful security boost.
Smart lighting also has energy-saving benefits. Scheduling lights to turn off and being able to dim them reduces electricity usage. In addition, LED smart bulbs are generally more efficient than traditional ones.
Smart thermostats help you keep your home at the right temperature.
One benefit of smart temperature control is that it’ll reduce your energy use. You can choose the exact times to use your heating so it’s never on when it’s not needed. Smart thermostats also reduce heating and cooling costs by learning users’ schedules and adjusting temperatures accordingly. So, if you typically turn your heating up when you come home in the evening, some thermostats will learn your preferences and set up patterns for you. This way, your home will always be at a comfortable temperature.
Smart thermostats can even tweak temperatures based on seasonal changes and local weather. If it’s milder weather than usual, it’ll know that your home doesn’t need to be heated as heavily.
Another benefit of a smart thermostat is remote access and control. You can adjust your home’s temperature from anywhere using your smartphone, so your living room will be warmed up for an off-schedule return.
A smart security system is another important part of a connected home.
Having a smart security system provides homeowners with 24/7 monitoring. A smart system will send updates to your phone so that you know everything’s OK wherever you are. If you’ve integrated your cameras with motion sensors, you have an extra layer of protection. With remote viewing, you’ll see if the movement at the backdoor is a fox coming to say hello.
Smart doorbells allow users to see and communicate with visitors wherever they are. Not at home? Not a problem. You can still speak to whoever has called round. With a smart lock, you can even let somebody in. You can also check that everything is locked while you’re away, so that you’re reassured your property is safe.
The great thing about a smart security system is that you can customise it to suit your needs. So, you can put motion sensors inside the room you barely use or turn off sensitive features to stop your cat from triggering an alert. Simply add or remove cameras, sensors and alarms as needed. By integrating them with other smart home devices (i.e. lighting that turns on when motion is detected), you’ll have a comprehensive security network.
If you have a smart home, it makes sense to have smart appliances in it. If an appliance exists, there’s probably a smart version.
Smart kitchen appliances, such as refrigerators and ovens, save time and boost convenience with remote operation and monitoring. You can preheat your oven when you’re almost home, keep an eye on what’s cooking while in another room, and even get recipe suggestions based on your fridge’s contents. If you pair appliances with a voice-activated smart hub or assistant, you don’t need to touch anything to keep cooking. Just ask your hub to adjust your oven temperature.
Another practical benefit of smart appliances is their energy use. There are lots of appliances with smart energy-saving features, like washing machines that change their cycles for maximum efficiency and freezers that send you an alert if you accidentally leave the door open.
In addition to kitchen and utility room appliances, smart technology can be found across the home with roaming robotic vacuum cleaners. Plus, you can place a smart coffee maker in any room such as in your home office. Schedule your morning brew via an app and make your wake-up call even more pleasant.
You can buy all the must-have smart home tech, but it won’t create a connected smart home if your devices don’t talk to each other. While DIYers can install a single smart home gadget, you need a professional to bring multiple aspects together in a connected system.
Professional installation is important for optimising device functionality and making sure there’s compatibility across different brands. A CEDIA-certified professional will create a customised setup based on your unique needs and troubleshoot any connectivity issues.
As CEDA professionals are trained in smart home technology, you can trust their advice on how to create an integrated and secure smart home. To find an expert near you, visit our Smart Home Professional directory.
If you create a smart home with a connected system that has a smart hub, lighting, thermostat, security system and appliances, you’ll enjoy benefits like energy savings, enhanced security, and extra convenience. If you’re not ready to install everything in one go, you can start your journey by investing in one or two essential smart home devices (like a voice-activated smart speaker) and gradually expand when you become more comfortable. But don’t go too far without a professional. A Smart Home Professional will optimise your setup for the best experience and help you choose the best products that will work together.