What Is A Smart Home?

Your home is already an extension of you. Find out what a smart home is and how to make tech a part of your homely sanctuary without taking away the peace you enjoy.

Source: Douglas Sheppard, Unsplash

“Alexa, could you turn on the lights…”

A couple of decades back, those words would have been strange to most people. But these days, commands like this have become a moniker for modern living.

Our homes are often extensions of our lives. If you’re a greenhead, your home is probably blessed with many plants and flowers.

If you love fun colors, your home is most likely filled with many bright and funky colors.

If you are into functional home technology, you deserve to have a home filled with those too. But you shouldn’t just fill your home with technology. Just like funky color lovers choose complementary colors for their decor, making your home a smart home is a choice that should be made with functionality in mind.

In this exodus into the world of smart homes, we’ll consider what a smart home is, integral examples of smart home devices, and tailor a step-by-step process for you to create your smart home on a budget.

Table of Contents

Our homes are often extensions of our lives. If you’re a greenhead, your home usually has many plants and flowers.

Your home will enjoy many bright and funky colors if you love fun colors.

If you are into functional home technology, you deserve to have a home filled with those too. But you shouldn’t just fill your home with technology. Just like color lovers choose complementary colors for their decor, making your home a smart home is a choice that should be made with functionality in mind.

How Does Smart Home Technology Work?

You can think of a smart home as a unified system with a central controller. The components in the unified system communicate with each other by sharing data through the controller, and they, in turn, react based on the shared data. The magic of smart home systems is in their communication.

Every smart technology is made of four overarching components:

Communication protocol
Electronic interfaces
Monitoring sensors
Automation

Smart home technology must first establish a communication protocol. This protocol establishes rules, syntax, and semantics required for the devices to share data. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and LoRaWAN are all examples of communication protocols used in smart devices.

Remember the “central controllers” we spoke about earlier? Well, the electronic interfaces represent these controllers. The interface is the central portion of the smart home system that collects data from multiple sources, processes the data, and communicates the processed data wirelessly. Users can control these electronic interfaces through voice sensors, touch sensors, or a combination of both.

Smart home devices communicate with their environment through sensors. These sensors monitor changes in motion, temperature, light, vibrations, and environmental elements. The smart home devices set a threshold to work automatically. When this threshold is broken, the devices perform the required action.

The final components of a smart home system are the automation elements. When smart home devices are triggered, they respond to these triggers through motorized valves or connected motors. The movable components of the sensors bring the entire smart home situation together. Automation elements in smart home devices do the following:

Monitoring: Moving parts in smart devices are great for tracking changes to the environment as the devices simply monitor the movements of each part. Thanks to monitoring, you can gain real-time access to the changes in your home.

Management: When you study changes recorded by your smart device, you can control these changes remotely thanks to the device’s moveable parts.

Automation: One of the most significant benefits of smart home devices is that they become hands-off over time. You can set thresholds based on sensors that trigger the devices to perform specific functions.

All of the components of smart homes we’ve discussed above are skeletal components—they are the foundation upon which other elements of the smart homes are designed. For example, smart home assistants will become part of communication protocols.

Common Examples of Smart Home Devices?

Source: Onur Binay, Unsplash

The essence of creating smart home devices is to make them a homely extension of general gadgets. Almost every aspect of technology, like light bulbs and televisions, has smart alternatives. Some of the most common smart home devices include:

Smart Televisions: These televisions are like every other normal one but with a bit of oomph—an internet connection and other “smart” features like voice and gesture control. Smart televisions connect to the internet and can access a variety of applications that enhance their usability.

Smart Lighting Appliances: Like every smart device, smart lights take lighting up a notch. They are remote-controlled and fitted with sensors that regulate their intensity based on the number of occupants and the level of available daylight.

Smart lights are also great for security with motion sensors fitted.

Smart Thermostats: One of the things that makes a home genuinely homely is how “you-inspired” the temperature is. Smart thermostats monitor your home’s temperature and control HVAC systems based on their sensors. It learns the user’s behaviour and modifies its function to provide the perfect bit of comfort.

Smart Doors: Smart doors function with motion sensors and automatically activate their lock with a command button.

Smart doors have locks typically installed instead of traditional deadbolts or integrated into existing lock systems. Installation methods can vary depending on the specific lock model, but they generally involve replacing the interior portion of the lock while keeping the exterior hardware intact.

Most smart doors have multiple authentication methods, such as keypad entry, key fobs, biometric authentication, and remote access. With authentication methods in place, you can streamline who can access your home, with alarms going off when unwanted guests do.

Smart Pet and Plant Care: Smart home devices can be adapted to function in pet and plant care.

You can fit feeders and water troughs with timers and motorised systems to deliver adequate portions of food and water.

Smart Refrigerators: The kitchen is not left out in the smart revolution. Smart refrigerators are one of the earliest adaptations of smart appliances.

Many smart refrigerators have screens on their doors to help you write down essential kitchen operations. Some are also equipped with voice commands that respond to your commands.

Smart refrigerators may also have cameras that let you examine their content from any location. Those cameras will be handy if you’re in the supermarket and aren’t quite sure about your grocery situation.

Smart Security: Before the glamour and glitter, smart security systems were one of the first smart home technologies. They come in different shapes, sizes, and sophistication modes, from DIY to professional.

Some popular smart home security features include doorbell cameras, smart door locks, motion-based lights, and alarm systems.

If you’re buying a home, you’ll likely find more sophisticated security systems like ADT, SimpliSafe, and Vivint pre-installed, while simpler security systems like doorbells may have to be installed by you.

Smart Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Detectors: What if you could remotely understand your home’s air quality when you are far away? Well, smart smoke detectors can do just that.

Smart detectors also have self-testing capabilities installed to monitor their quality over time and keep your home safe. When your home’s air quality passes a threshold, the detector can alert you through notifications, sirens, and sound alerts.

Smart Home Cleaning Systems: Do you ever wish you could have systems that clean your home for you? Well, those exist in the shape of robotic cleaners.

Robotic cleaners work with a mapped-out layout of your home pre-saved in their system. With your house’s layout in its system, the robotic cleaners use motors to drive around your home while using sweepers and suction to clean every location it glides through.

While robotic cleaners are great, they can’t clean elevated areas – at least not yet.

Build Your Smart Home With Matthew

Meet Matthew; he’s moving into a suburban apartment and wants to make the house his. As a tech geek, Matthew knows about how technology can be intertwined with our lives to good effect. With excellent knowledge of smart home devices, Matthew wants to begin setting up his smart home system.

In this walk-through, place yourself in Matthew’s shoes and use his educated steps to design your smart home.

Here are a few steps Matthew has decided to go with in setting up his smart home:

Step 1 – Matthew Starts Drawing His Smart Home Blueprint

Setting up a smart home is an exciting journey. It is like sprinkling extra gloss over an already furnished home. For most Matthew, this excitement is no different. It is the final puzzle piece in the long line of home-making chess pieces.

To draw his perfect smart home blueprint, Matthew must:

Define his goals and objectives: Does Matthew want a system that reduces his power usage? Or one that simplifies daily tasks. The overarching goal for Matthew’s interest in smart home devices will determine the sort of devices he’ll choose to purchase.

Identify a central point in his home: Smart home devices communicate through a shared language that passes through a central control system.

To optimize the usability of his smart home devices, Matthew must mark a central point in his home for placing his internet connection and electronic interface.

Check Needs and Budget: Matthew understands that he can’t simply dive into building his smart home system without significant financial commitments. That said, Matthew understands the benefits of working with a budget. He makes a list of required devices and starts with cheaper options before making significant investments.

Considering room-by-room Consideration: To put the cap on his smart home blueprint, Matthew can make a running list of every smart element he needs.

When considering the tech needs of rooms in his house, Matthew can start making his list in this order: living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, home office, and the outdoors.

Step 2 – Set up A Reliable Internet Connection

With his home nicely divided into parts, Matthew can move on to the next step of his operation – acquiring a quality internet connection. Because smart connections require a quality internet connection to function effectively, he must acquire or subscribe to the best internet service providers.

Step 3 – Select A Smart Hub

Once Matthew has an internet connection, the next step is to introduce a smart hub into his home. In searching for a perfect smart hub, Matthew must decide what function he wants his smart hub to serve.

To select a smart hub, below are a few questions Matthew must answer:

Does he want an automated system that connects any device centrally?
Does he want a virtual assistant that links to other device?
How will Matthew like to control his smart devices? Voice? Touch? Or Both?

Step 4 – Start From The Basics and Grow From There

Now that Matthew has established the foundation of his smart home, it’s time for him to start introducing devices into his ecosystem.

Matthew can start with smaller devices that are easy to set up, such as smart plugs, bulbs, and switches. Since these devices are relatively easy to set up and arrange, they are a great way for Matthew to get his feet wet.

With the basics set, Matthew can then start integrating other devices. A suggestion for how Matthew could include:

Smart Speakers (Create a flowchart here of flow of smart devices).

Step 5 – Concealing Wires

Most smart home devices connect via a series of wires. Matthew needs to keep these wires away. Cable clips and raceways can hide wires, allowing them to fit seamlessly into the nooks and crannies of homes.

To further integrate the smart devices in his home, Matthew could purchase furniture that contains wire-concealing features. This can include shelves with wire storage compartments and those containing binders.

Step 6 – Protect The Devices

For all the benefits smart home devices deliver, most do not have built-in security systems. Matthew needs to set up strong passwords and integrate multiple authentication methods to prevent outsiders from accessing these devices.

Some devices may need more security than others, so Matthew needs to understand what information is accessible from each device.

Step 7 – Update and Maintenance

With the foundation of his smart home set-up, Matthew can begin monitoring his devices, updating outdated ones or swapping them for better ones. Some devices have self-check features that let Matthew monitor how long he can use the same devices.

Some security measures added to smart devices also need updating. Matthew could schedule timely intervals to perform wellness checks on these devices.

Tips To Help You Build Your Smart Home

Source: R Architecture, Unsplash

Committing to making your home intertwined with technology is an exciting but tricky prospect. While it promotes a sense of adventure, building a smart home can quickly become a frustrating experience when done incorrectly.

To make your voyage into home technology seamless, here are a few tips for you to consider:

Establish A Stable Network: Before committing to building a smart home system, make sure your home has access to an excellent internet connection. The functioning of your smart home devices depends on the speed with which they share information.

Take Baby Steps and Grow From There: For all its benefits, setting up your smart home could leave you confused if you jump all in. Start by expanding your list of connected appliances from the least sophisticated ones to help you gain confidence in their installation and use.

Consider Devices That Link To A Smart Hub: Hub-dependent devices are often cheaper as they only connect to Wi-Fi, freeing up space for other connections.

Use A Smart Display: As smart home gadgets improve, the ecosystem of applications that function with them expands. A smart display simplifies the learning curve for integrating new functions into your gadgets.

Geofence Your Devices: A geofence is a virtual perimeter of a physical environment. In smart home devices, establishing a geofence means marking regions around your home where specific gadgets function. Geofence ensures that your devices are triggered on and off based on location settings.

Understand Your Home’s Wiring: Most smart devices may not require hard wiring, and you may not need many electrical connections. However, you may miss wiring connections in older homes, such as neutral wires. If you do not find these wires, your home may not be compatible with some smart gadgets.

Expect Challenges: Smart technology has come a long way from its earlier days regarding reliability and performance. But even today, you may encounter challenges with using your smart devices, which is entirely normal.

When you experience trouble using your smart devices, a great support community will await you. You can also use our special troubleshooting manual for smart devices.

IFTTT Is Your Closest Pal: IFTTT is short for “If This, Then That.” Most smart devices do not combine with other manufacturers, but IFTTT provides a way out. This way, you can expand your smart device reach.

Keep Track of Your Smart Home Data: When purchasing smart home devices, you must know how data from these appliances is used. Some companies may want to regulate the use of your devices, and while this is not always the case, you need to understand how this data works.

Work With Complex Passwords: Using easy-to-guess passwords may put your devices at risk. When choosing your device passwords, ensure they are complex and a mixture of alphabets, numbers, and symbols.

Make Your Devices Specific: Ensure that your devices are marked with specific names that let you distinguish notifications from each device. Your smart speaker often uses the device name to notify you about changing information.

Distinguishing your devices also lets you control them with voice commands.

Take Care of The Outdoors: Curating your smart home should not be limited to the indoors. Consider smart devices that cater to the outdoors as well. Lawnmowers, sprinklers, and motion sensor lights could also help you expand your smart device outreach. Here is a list of affordable smart devices to techify your outdoors.

Cheap Could Be Great: Turning your home smart could be expensive. Whenever you can, try not to splurge and embrace cheaper devices; unlike other home-making appliances, more affordable devices are often darn good.

Do your best to research cheap marketplaces that cater to technology geeks and could serve you well.

The tips we have discussed above are not the be-all for every smart home setup; they are nuggets that will make your journey to smart home stardom easy and fun. Take your time with your setup, make each day an opportunity to learn something new, and add finesse to your beautiful home. The automation at the end will no doubt be your crowning moment.

Pros and Cons Of Adopting A Smart Home

Pros

Smart home devices present a revolutionary viewpoint on how we live and interact with our homes. From prompting convenience to making a home more relaxing and feel like “you,” these devices fit seamlessly into every space.

Common benefits of instituting smart devices in your home include:

Provides Comfort: One of the biggest benefits of installing smart home devices is that they replace repetitive tasks with automated systems.

Imagine having a voice control system to help you close your blinders, change the light settings, and even the temperature settings—that’s undoubtedly comfort all of us can agree on. Smart home devices allow you to control many more aspects of your home without moving back and forth.

Broader Oversight: Homeowners can remotely monitor ongoings and counter dangers. You should have turned off some lights. Smart home devices that are controllable from mobile phones can help you do so without fuss.

Some smart systems will also alert homeowners of minor damage at home that needs fixing before it becomes more substantial.

Save Resources and Money: With smart systems that accurately complete tasks, you won’t have to spend more money than necessary.

Smart energy management systems help you regulate how much money you need at home, while intelligent irrigation systems will only use the water needed to keep lawns fresh.

Improve Efficiency: Since smart homes are automated and can be programmed to work with your schedule, you do not have to waste resources trying to catch up with time.

Cons

For all the benefits smart home devices provide, they have struggled to become widely acceptable for the following reasons:

Requires Steady Internet Connection: An unstable network can leave smart home devices inoperable.

Complex Setup Time: Smart home devices are rarely plug-and-go. They require streamlined setup processes to work adequately and without fuss. It requires patience and a willingness to learn to enjoy the system’s benefits.

Minimal Interoperability: Smart home devices do not have a standard set of systems operable across multiple systems. For these systems to be effective, various manufacturers’ devices must be able to work together effectively.

Security Challenges: Because data from most smart home devices are not encrypted, they can become access points for data breaches. Park Associates reports that about 72% of consumers have data security concerns about using smart home devices.

Expense of Setup: While cheaper alternatives to smart home devices exist, setting up smart home systems is still quite pricey in the long run.

The Bottom Line – Building A Smart Home Is Like Fitting Puzzle Pieces Together

The overarching dream of your smart home is a complete picture broken down into many puzzling parts. Fitting puzzle pieces requires patience, care, and an adherence to the complete picture. You must embrace This thought process to make your smart home an idyllic tech paradise.

Like puzzle pieces too, you’ll find that with each fitted part, the idea of your smart home becomes clearer.

It is fine if you don’t have all the pieces of your smart home together now. As long as you have an idea of how you want your home to feel, everything else can fit right into that vision.

What ideas do you have for your smart home? Would you like it to become an automation den, a hive of graphical genius, or, better yet, a well-tuned, cosy space that you’d return to after each day?

Embrace the adventure, the questions, the fears, and most importantly, the ability to create something that reflects every bit of your personality.

Beyond the technological promises smart homes deliver, they remain yours to will and bend. Amidst the growing tide of handy technological tools here and there, you must never lose the essence of these devices – a means to make your home homely and not a source of a technological dopamine rush.

A smart home isn’t just about gadgets and gizmos; it’s about reimagining how we live, work, and play in an interconnected world. By understanding what a smart home entails and embracing its possibilities, we can journey towards a more efficient, comfortable, and sustainable future.

FAQs

What exactly is a smart home?

A smart home is a residence equipped with various internet-connected devices and sensors that automate and enhance household management and daily living. These devices can communicate with each other and be controlled remotely, often through a central hub or smartphone app.

What are some common features of a smart home?

Common features of a smart home include automated lighting, thermostats, security cameras, door locks, entertainment systems, and appliances. Additionally, voice-controlled assistants, energy management systems, and smart irrigation systems are increasingly popular in modern smart homes.

How does a smart home benefit homeowners?

Smart homes offer numerous benefits to homeowners, including increased convenience, energy efficiency, security, and comfort. With remote access and automation capabilities, homeowners can control various devices and systems from anywhere, saving time and energy while enhancing peace of mind.

Are smart homes only for tech-savvy individuals?

No, smart homes are designed to be accessible and user-friendly for individuals of all technical backgrounds. Many smart home devices feature intuitive interfaces and can be easily controlled via smartphone apps or voice commands, making them suitable for users with varying levels of tech expertise.

What security measures are in place to protect smart homes from cyber threats?

Manufacturers implement various security measures to safeguard smart homes from cyber threats, such as encryption protocols, regular software updates, and multi-factor authentication. Additionally, users can enhance security by setting strong passwords, securing their home network, and being cautious about the devices and apps they use.

Can I retrofit my existing home to become a smart home?

Yes, it’s possible to retrofit an existing home with smart devices and systems. Many smart home products are designed for easy installation and compatibility with standard home infrastructure. Whether upgrading individual appliances or implementing a comprehensive smart home ecosystem, options are available to suit your needs and budget.

What Is A Smart Home? – Everything You Need To Know About An Idyllic Tech Paradise