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Nearly every fixture and appliance in your home—from the lights, the HVAC system and even the coffeemaker—can be controlled remotely with a Wi-Fi connection and mobile device.
But choosing the best smart technology for your home can be tough, and for good reason. Some devices aren’t compatible with Android, while others aren’t well-suited for Mac OS. Some products present third-party privacy concerns; others have performance issues. So how does one decide? If you’re feeling overwhelmed, and aren’t sure where to start, this guide will help you crack the code to setting up a smart home with confidence.
Choose a Virtual Assistant
Voice-activated virtual assistants allow homeowners to control their smart devices remotely with a simple command such as “Google, turn off the lights” or “Siri, open the garage door.” When optimizing your home for smart technology, consider quality, price, privacy, compatibility and user experience of the virtual assistant of your choice.
Depending on whether you want that virtual assistant in one room versus throughout the whole home, what kinds of tasks you need help with, whether privacy is important to you and more, you will need to research which virtual assistant will most serve your needs.
Pick the Hardware That’s Right for Your Home
After choosing a voice assistant, you’ll need a hardware device for your smart home. This is a piece of hardware such as a speaker, display or mobile device, that will help to manage all the smart technology devices in your home. Most speakers need to be plugged into a wall outlet and can only be used from home. On the other hand, displays and smartphones can be controlled from the app even when you’re miles away.
Choose Your Preferred Smart Gadgets
Manufacturers and designers produce hundreds of smart products and accessories every year. The following types of products are some of the most common ones found in smart homes.
Smart Lighting
Turn the lights down low while you’re watching TV, make them brighter for reading or meal preparation and schedule them to turn off at bedtime—all with a tap or voice command. Some smart lighting products require a bridge, which is an app that connects all of your lighting devices. Many lighting manufacturers offer an array of smart home lighting products for the home.
Smart Bulbs and Lamps
Smart bulbs provide excellent energy efficiency compared to halogen and traditional incandescent bulbs. Plus, some smart lighting systems enable you to control up to 50 bulbs.
Smart lamps come in various designs and styles such as table lamps, floor lamps, ceiling lamps and sconces. With a smart lamp, you can easily switch lights on and off, vary lighting strength with a dimmer and even change lighting colors from across the room.
Smart LED Light Strips
Smart LED lighting strips are great for a number of lighting uses, including task lighting under cabinets for food preparation, holiday decoration such as fireplace mantels and for illuminating books and decorative objects on bookcases and floating shelves. Smart light strips are available in bright white, softer yellow bulbs and even bright colors with visual effects that kids will love.
Smart Plugs
From your coffee maker to your air fryer and curling iron—you can remotely turn smart and traditional appliances on or off with a smart plug. Schedule your coffee pot to turn on at 7 AM and heat up your curling iron at eight.
Smart plugs are power adapters enabled by a home’s Wi-Fi system that enable you to manage the electrical flow of connected devices that are plugged into the adapter. You can set up and schedule appliances from smart plug apps, smart speakers, displays and smartphones and tablets.
Outdoor Security Lights
Outdoor security lights are a must to help you see outside when it’s dark and, as a plus, they can also help deter burglars from entering your home. These lights are available in spotlights, floodlights, sensors and camera lighting.
Smart Thermostats
Smart thermostats improve air quality by monitoring humidity and temperature levels. They also increase your heating system’s energy efficiency by shutting off when you’re away and turning back on when you return.
Smart Security
Smart security systems can keep your family and valuables safe without the investment of expensive hardwiring security installations. Here are some features of smart security:
- Monitor areas that could pose security risks, including windows and doors
- Detect lighting and room temperature changes, such as an open window
- Control locks, surveillance equipment and video security remotely
Other Smart Home Products
Lights, thermostats and security systems are some of the most common smart products. However, there are many more products and accessories made for smart homes. Here are some examples.
- Garage door remotes
- Motorized window blinds and textiles
- Smart water heaters
- Electrochromic smart windows
- Radiant wall heater panels
Consideration Factors for Creating an Optimal Smart Home
While, in general, the point of smart devices is to make your life easier and make your home function more efficiently, there are instances where, if you’re not prepared, relying fully on smart devices can be inconvenient. But by knowing what to look out for, you can keep your smart home running smoothly.
Prepare for Internet Down Time
A driver crashes into the telephone pole that supports your internet cables, a storm causes a power outage, your internet provider experiences a service outage—all these incidents can affect your Internet connection, and therefore, impact your smart home devices. During severe outages, your Internet could be down for hours—or even days. When you can’t connect to Wi-Fi and your smart devices, you’ll need a plan B.
First, try rebooting your router and modem and contact your internet provider. If there’s an outage, the following tips can help prepare you for an emergency.
- Battery backup: A battery backup will enable you to perform most functions without a data connection. If your power supply is on, but your Wi-Fi is down, remove smart plugs to use lights.
- Manual key support: If you use smart locks, a power outage might disable them from working. Most smart locks include manual keys for emergencies, in the same way that a car remote key fob contains a manual key inside for when the battery dies. Even if you have a smart lock, it’s a good idea to always keep a spare key with you when you leave the house. For extra security, give an extra copy to a family member for safekeeping.
Protect Your Smart Home From Hackers
With any Wi-Fi connection, there’s a risk for hackers to gain access to data. Practice the following tips to strengthen your internet security when setting up your smart devices, making it harder for hackers to break in.
- Create hard-to-guess passwords
- Use two-factor authentication when available
- Download security and service updates immediately
- Change your default router password
How to Set Up Your Smart Home Network
To set up your smart home network, you’ll need your voice assistant, hardware and smartphone. To get started, follow these steps
- Plug your assistant or smart display into a wall socket
- After installing the smart product, such as Google Thermostat, download and open the Google Nest, Alexa or Siri app
- Wait for the program to pull up the product and add the new device
- Choose your preferred settings
- Test your product with a command, such as “Google, turn off the AC.”
*Google officially discounted support for its Nest Secure systems as of April 2024. All facts and figures were correct at the time of publishing.
