Smart home technology has become a popular option for everyone, not only the wealthy and tech-savvy. The tech industry has responded by developing ever-more sophisticated solutions. Many people are familiar with smart home technology through devices like Google’s Nest or Amazon’s Echo, but the term also encompasses a myriad of options for your home. This encompasses everything from remote-controlled lighting and heating to CCTV, home security systems doorbells, smart locks. Some of them even let you keep track of children pet, elderly relatives and other pets to monitor electricity or water use; and more.
Integration is the most important aspect of a good smart home system. This is why the most effective devices are those that can work with other systems and devices to make your home more intelligent. A smart light bulb, for example can connect to the central hub to schedule your lights on a specific schedule or turn them off when leaving the house. A video doorbell could alert you to visitors who might be coming in and alarm systems can call the police or fire departments. Once you’ve got the hang of IFTTT (If This Then That) You can make use of services like Stringify to automate your devices in more complicated ways.
Of course, bringing in new technology into the home is not without its own concerns. This is why CNET works to learn about company policies, raise privacy concerns and direct questions to the companies involved.