You got a great job offer, and now you have to move from your cozy Toronto condo to a more affordable, updated apartment in a small U.S city. Your current place is modern and automated with a device that allows you to control your entire space, but now you are going to an older duplex that doesn’t have any smart technology. Where do you even start?
Smart Outlets
The outlets above don’t need any fancy installation; all you have to do is plug them in and integrate them with an app. Want to turn your coffee machine on from the comfort of your bed? These outlets are the way to go.
Smart Sprinklers
Watching sprinkler systems water lawns during raging thunderstorms can be funny, but it’s definitely a waste of water, and in the southwest, for example, water can be expensive. Avoiding this issue is easy with a smart sprinkler system that can also check your soil moisture and even read the daily weather forecast and let you know what kind of watering regime to initiate on any given day.
Lighting
At least replace incandescent and fluorescent bulbs with LEDs. LED technology is evolving quickly, and there are LED lights available now for almost any use. They last longer, can be inexpensive and, in connection with a smart app, they are a great way to control brightness, hues and room ambience—all remotely. Some good apps can take into consideration the day’s natural lighting situation and adjust your interior accordingly.
Security
Remember when a home security system consisted of a bunch of flashing motion detectors hard wired into a system that notified a call center if something looked amiss? With a modern smart security system, you can now have cameras everywhere, and the days of finding a neighbor to frequently check your home while you are on vacation can now be gone.
HVAC
Heating and cooling smart systems are a must. First, if you have no idea how they work, check out how you can find the a new guide to finding the best HVAC contractor. That said, If your new home doesn’t have smart tech, you need to get it ASAP. Even if you are renting and you don’t have to pay utility bills, you can save your landlord money and cut power grid loads by having a smart thermostat installed.
Thermostats used to be little round things with an arrow that pointed to the desired temperature. You manually told the thermostat what temperature you desired, and a spring thermometer inside the unit caused a bulb filled with liquid mercury to either complete or disconnect an electrical circuit. This turned your furnace or AC on or off.
Next came programmable thermostats that allowed you to manually enter desired temperatures and even break them down to hourly blocks on any given day. Finally, these great features morphed into the digital world, and you can now own a smart thermostat that you can control from your mobile device. Forgot to turn down the heat before you left for work? Want to get your home to a comfortable temperature just before you get home? A smart thermostat with take care of these issues.
If you are lucky enough to move into an already smart-equipped home for your first time purchase or just for your rental apartment, you’ll be a step ahead. If not, don’t worry, because you can easily add these systems, as Johnny Cash said, “one piece at a time.”
