More and more homes are being labelled “smart homes” nowadays as the technology becomes more accessible and integrated – but what is a smart home? In today’s blog, our Melbourne-based estimating experts are going to look at the definition of a smart home and cover some popular elements that make a smart home in today’s day and age.
What is a smart home?
Essentially a smart home can be any home that utilises some form of modern technology to control parts of your home. This could be something as simple as turning the lights on and off with your smartphone or changing the TV channel by using a smart voice assistant like Siri or Alexa. A smart home seeks to use modern technology to make living easier and more comfortable – simplifying a lot of processes that we’ve become accustomed to doing for years. Smart homes run on your wi-fi network so having a solid connection is paramount to an efficiently operated smart home. It doesn’t hurt to have signal boosters around your home – especially if it’s a big home.
What are some popular elements of a smart home?
Lighting is a widely popular smart home feature that can be used in several different ways depending on how imaginative you are. These can be simple downlights or globes for your rooms that can be controlled via your smart assistant or device – or panels/strips placed around the walls of your TV or monitor that can be synced to react with whatever colours your screen is showing. Additionally, there are outdoor varieties that can turn your garden into a nightly light show. Brands like Phillips offer a fantastic variety of smart lighting solutions.
Connecting your home theatre system to your smart device or phone makes it easier to watch things and also mitigates the need for a physical remote as you can just your phone or voice for basic commands. Products like the Logitech Harmony Hub can act as a centralised unit for you to control your lights, home theatre system and even power switches with all from your universal remote, phone or smart assistant device.
Additionally, smart automations offer fantastic peace of mind as things such as lights and even blinds can be automated to activate at certain parts of the day, so you don’t have to worry about manually using them if you’re busy or won’t be home in time. Do you love listening to music? There are a plethora of smart speaker systems ranging from high-end audiophile options to everyday listening units that can be placed around your home for you to choose which speaker you’d like to listen to – whether it be one, two or all of them simultaneously.
Planning for a smart home
Before you set out and purchase all the wonderful gadgets you might see online or in-store – you should take a step back and plan out your smart home. Because some companies choose to make their products proprietary or feature limited usability with other company’s products – you should first do your research and ensure that all (or at the very least the bulk) of the smart devices you’re looking to purchase are compatible with each other. It all starts with deciding what sort of hub you’re going to purchase and from there you can look at the compatibility of the other products.
In terms of planning for a smart home during the building phase of your home – there’s not a large amount of planning required. It will help to know rough locations of certain devices though so you can ensure there are enough power points in those rooms. Additionally, if you’re thinking of setting up a smart security system then you can plan to make them more integrated rather than tacking them onto your home after the fact. Our estimating specialists are across all the current smart home trends and will offer accurate estimations when it comes to the hardware.
Is a smart home secure?
A smart home is only as secure as your internet. If you have sufficient and solid security systems in place – in addition to keeping all of your devices’ firmware up to date – then it’s unlikely that your smart devices will be hacked.
Are you looking for estimating experts in Melbourne?
A smart home is an exciting and convenient element that can improve your day-to-day lifestyle considerably if used correctly. We love smart homes at Accent Estimating and have experience estimating for smart hardware. We guarantee accurate and complete estimating solutions for construction projects.
If you’d like to get in touch with one of our estimating specialists in Melbourne, then please call 0413 953 869. Alternatively, you may fill out the contact form on our website.