Let’s face it, electronics are an integral part of our lives, whether we like them or not. These advancements in technology have allowed us to excel in areas such as home security and smart home integrations. With so many smart home ideas on the market, where should you start? This guide will help break down popular pieces of smart home technology. This way, you’re making the most informed decisions for what to add to your home.
Additionally, did you know that ONIT Home can find you the right security package for your home? Take away the stress of finding and installing equipment and leave the rest to us. We’re here for the big projects, so you can focus on the small ones.
Smart Home Ideas: Your Guide to Equipment
Security and Doorbell Cameras
Including features like security and doorbell cameras are great smart home ideas. These security features can protect your home against unwanted intruders, while also giving you peace of mind with recording options. There are tons of options on the market, but don’t worry! We’ve narrowed down five of the best security camera options available to you for DIY.
- Ring Spotlight Camera
- Nest Cam IQ Outdoor
- Nest Cam IQ Indoor
- Arlo Pro 4 Spotlight Camera
- Wyze Cam V3
Doorbell cameras are an extra source of security, allowing you to record any and everything that comes to your front step. Positioning of your doorbell camera matters, so make sure you put it where it will see everything that matters.
If you’re not sold on the idea of having a doorbell camera, ask yourself how many times you’ve online ordered in the last year. 2020 was filled with online orders delivered right to our doorstep for optimal convenience. However, have you ever heard of porch pirates? These pesky burglars come right to your front step, steal your package, and get away quickly. However, installing a doorbell camera with a good recording ratio can help minimize this crime! Here are some of the top selling doorbell cameras, designed to keep theft at bay:
- Nest Hello
- Ring Peephole Cam (Perfect for renters!)
- Arlo Video Doorbell
- Eufy Video Doorbell 2K
- SimpliSafe Video Doorbell Pro
Keyless Smart Locks
Smart locks are a great way to protect your home and give you the convenience of going keyless. No more digging through a purse while juggling groceries and a crying baby searching for a key. Also, there’s no more running late because you lost it (we won’t tell your boss, though)!
The Yale lock is a great option for going keyless. Controlling your Yale lock is easy: when you walk out, just place your finger on the Yale symbol. You’ll hear it go, and then the chime will let you know that it’s safe to walk away. When you get home, just touch the Yale symbol again and input your individualized code. From there, you’ll hear it unlock and you’re ready to get inside.
Those codes can be changed an unlimited amount of times. For example, if you have someone watching your animals while you’re on vacation you can give them a code and then immediately change the code when you’re ready to head home. That way, you don’t need to worry about them having valuable information to access your house when they are not authorized to do so.
Here’s a detailed look at how Yale can make your daily life safer and easier.
Smart Lights
Smart lights are designed to make your day easier, add security, and be energy efficient. These bulbs have features to adjust based on differing conditions. These conditions include occupancy or daylight availability. Therefore, if you’re not home, the lights are off. If the sun is bright enough to fill your home with natural light, they’ll adjust accordingly. These lights can be scheduled through an app. Long gone are the days of lamp timers: the future is automated.
The best part about smart lights? They can be adjusted from wherever. Let’s say you’re on vacation and want to look like you’re at home. This is a great strategy to keep theft at bay! With smart lights, you just turn them on through an app. This can also work if you don’t like to keep lights on while you’re at work, but you hate coming home to a dark house. Simply flip the lights on as you leave work, and you’ll walk into a well-lit comforting house.
Control lights through phones or platforms like an Amazon Alexa, Siri or Google Home. Some lightbulbs can dim, or change colors! It’s as easy as saying, “Hey Alexa, set my living room to 30%.” No more laying in bed and realizing you forgot to turn off the lights, simply say “Hey Google, turn off bedroom light.” Then, your lights are off and you never even had to leave the comfort of your bed.
If you’re concerned about price- don’t be! These are not as expensive as you may think. Here are some of the top options for smart lights, and the price they typically sell for.
- Philips Hue $9.99+
- Kasa $16.99+
- Wyze $7.99+
Smart Home Idea #4: Smart Thermostat
Smart thermostats adapt to your schedule to ensure that you’re never over paying on your electrical bill. These thermostats came out in 2007, with the only capability of connecting to the WiFi. Since then, you’ll find that a smart thermostat can do so much more. Here are the common features you’ll find in smart thermostats as of 2021:
- Connect to the WiFi
- Works with an App on a smartphone
- Compatible with third party sources (Amazon Alexa or Google Home).
- Knows when you are home based on motion detection.
- Adjusts to your schedule. It will know your average schedule of when you’re at home and when you’re gone. This way, it won’t blast the AC if it knows you’re not home. This is perfect when you’re on vacation or away for a long time.
- Know the weather to make adjustments to conserve energy
- Adjust from anywhere, with a touch of a button!
- Controlled through a touch screen, making it higher tech.
- Support geofencing to get an idea of your location through your cell phone location. This way, your air conditioner can turn on and off when you enter or exit that geofence.
Common smart thermostat companies include Nest, Ecobee and Honeywell. Find out which company will fit your needs by reading our comparison blog of the three companies.
Smart Home Ideas With ONIT
Sometimes, it’s easier and cheaper to outsource for your smart home ideas, instead of doing it yourself. That’s where we come in. ONIT Home provides our customers with their choice of automation and security devices, and we always custom build solutions to suit our customers needs, and budget. We wanted to share some smart home ideas that can make your home safer and more functional. Not every smart home is built alike – in fact, every smart home is a one-of-a-kind.
Our Security Starts with the Qolsys IQ Panel 2+
The IQ Panel is the most advanced smart home panel on the market. It comes with built in features that help you control your home, and take control of every element you choose to automate. Wait… chose to automate? YES, you choose what elements to add to your system.
Remote Access
With a smart lock on your home, you can provide family members different user codes to track everyone coming and going. You can also control your smart lock from the Alarm.com mobile application. You can even sync your phone’s Bluetooth to the panel with a rule that disarms the security system, and unlocks the front door without having to take the phone out of your pocket!
Video Surveillance & Video Doorbells
Keeping tabs on your yard or the entire perimeter of your home has never been easier. You can access all of your cameras from your panel, or your smartphone for easy access. Some camera systems even allow you to have a two way conversation with someone right through the camera. Video doorbells allow you to answer your front door on your smartphone, from absolutely anywhere.
Garage Door Access
With a smart garage door opener, you can open or close your garage on your phone or have your panel close the door automatically when you leave your home. The system will even alert you when you leave the door open, but you’d never do that… again… right?
Water & Smoke Detectors
Fire and water damage can do some serious damage to your home. With a smoke detector, your system will alert you if a fire breaks out, but it will also call the fire department to assure they show up as quickly as possible. A water detector can let you know if a pipe bursts, or a water heater starts leaking. Knowing quickly allows you to deal with a leak and mitigate serious damage that could otherwise destroy your basement.
Running Out of Smart Home Ideas? Let ONIT Take Care of It
Switching to an ONIT Smart Home package takes away the stress of finding equipment on your own. Find out more smart home ideas by visiting us online or calling us at 1-833-433-0331 today!