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Smart house
How to embrace the smart-home revolution throughout your house
by ANDY PENFOLD
The smart-home concept is increasingly popular, for good reasons. Smart devices give you enhanced functionality via a connection to the internet. This might mean you can stream content from the internet or control your device remotely via an app.
Here’s a look at how you can add smart functionality to your house.
Living room. The most obvious addition here is a smart TV. Streaming Netflix and other popular services via your TV remote has become second nature in most households. If you’re not doing this yet, now’s the time to upgrade your television. The latest feature offered by some smart TVs is universal search. This lets you search your streaming apps via one search box. It is super convenient.
Kitchen. Smart appliances abound in the kitchen space, from smart fridges that let you see on your phone what’s in the fridge to pressure cookers with companion apps for remote-controlling your dinner. You can even find air fryers that are compatible with virtual assistants, allowing you to control them with your voice.
Bedroom. Smart lighting is a great addition to your bedroom tech. Wi-Fi-linked lightbulbs connect to your home’s internet service, allowing you to control them via your phone. You could create light that’s comfortable for reading and then switch to cozy mood lighting without getting out of bed.
Everywhere. Smart speakers are a great idea for any room, including your bedroom. Set alarms with your voice, get news updates and have your speaker read out your day’s agenda while you’re getting dressed in the morning.
You can also add a touch of smartness to any gadget with a smart plug, an internet-connected plug socket that you plug into a regular wall plug. Then, when you plug an appliance such as a lamp into the smart plug, you can control it via your phone.
These are only a few of the ways you can add smart functionality to your home. If we had more space we could discuss smart doorbells and door locks, home alarms with webcams, bidets and toilets, toothbrushes, bathroom scales and much more.
Green is good
Using energy efficiently is (or should be) rightly front of mind for every U.S. household. Tech can help with this goal. A number of brands offer kits to make household systems, such as heating, hot water and air conditioning, smarter. Smart thermostats allow you to control the temperature of your house via an app. In some cases you can heat your home based on the rooms you’re using. In addition, technology known as geofencing notices when you leave the house and reminds you to remotely switch off your heating.—AP
© Hugh Burden
Andy Penfold is a Bristol, England–based freelance technology writer whose work has appeared in Macworld and other publications.
Costco Connection: You’ll find a variety of items to make your home smart in Costco warehouses and at Costco.com.
