Anyone with a busy schedule knows how tough it can be to maintain an organized home. Fortunately, you don’t have to do it alone! Smart home technology has become so advanced that homes can nearly run themselves, saving both time and money. In fact, 57% of Americans say smart technology saves them more than 30 minutes a day. Here are the 18 best smart home devices to help improve your home!
Talk to Your Home
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Smart speakers are the do-it-all hub of your smart home. These virtual assistants connect your smart technology—including thermostats, lighting, security, music, and more—allowing you to control everything by speaking to them. The speakers are small, unobtrusive, and can be hidden in plain sight. By placing several smart speakers throughout your house, you’ll always have complete control of all your smart devices.
Protect Your House
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Nothing is more important than the safety of your home, and it’s now easier than ever to improve your home security! By installing a smart security system, you can keep an eye on the front porch with doorbell cameras, lock and unlock your house from afar with a smart lock, and be alerted to unwanted activity inside your home with motion-activated smart security cameras.
Establish a Smart Lighting Schedule
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Do you find yourself leaving the house and wondering if you turned off all the lights? Install a smart lighting system! This home automation system is a complete hub for all of your lights and allows you to create a set-it-and-forget-it schedule that turns bulbs on and off. Not only will you save on energy bills this way, but your automated lighting can also help you wake up in the morning and deter potential break-ins.
Replace Your Light Bulbs
Photo via @yellowbrickhome
Smart light bulbs offer a flexible, easy-to-install smart lighting solution that saves money. Upgrade light fixtures by replacing old bulbs with smart ones so you can control the brightness, color, and shade of each individual fixture. In addition, these bulbs will cost less in the long run, can save more energy, and last longer than conventional incandescent lighting.
Turn Every Outlet into a Smart Outlet
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Chances are that most of your current electronics aren’t compatible to sync with your phone or tablet. But thanks to smart plugs, home automation is easier than ever! WiFi plugs fit over existing outlets and allow older devices to be controlled through smart home apps and smart speakers, turning your hand-me-down floor lamp or old coffee maker into a smart device. Smart plugs even help you calculate how much each device is adding to your energy bill, so you can identify costly appliances that need to be replaced.
Maintain the Right Temperature
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You don’t need your home to be at the perfect temperature when you’re not around, so why pay to heat and cool it? Smart thermostats make your home more energy-efficient by allowing you to control the temperature from anywhere, leading to 10-15% savings on air conditioning and heating bills. After a short period of manual direction, these thermostats learn your preferences and automatically adjust the temperature for you.
Run Things Through Your Smart TV
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Looking for an all-in-one entertainment hub? Consider a smart TV! These smart home devices allow you to access your favorite streaming services for TV, movies, and music through a voice-controlled smart speaker or the smart TV itself. You never have to worry about misplacing the remote again!
Let the Fridge Help
Photo via @candlewoodcottage
Among the best smart home devices to help with kitchen organization is a smart refrigerator. With a smart fridge, you can remotely see what’s inside of the refrigerator, send notes that appear on the fridge’s screen, and receive alerts if the door is left open. Many fridges also have voice recognition software, so you can ask for recipes, find measurement conversions, and update your grocery list.
Cook Like a Master Chef
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Tired of waiting for the oven to warm after a long day out? Smart ovens allow you to begin preheating from a distance. This helpful home appliance also lets you view and adjust timers remotely, have cooking notifications sent to your phone, and switch the oven on and off from afar. Some models will even change functions and temperatures based on the recipe you ask them to cook, automatically shifting between roasting, broiling, and baking to create the perfect meal.
Make the Faucet Your Kitchen Assistant
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Between dirty hands and full armloads, cooking has many situations where it’d be helpful to turn on the sink just by speaking to it. Smart faucets do exactly that! With a touchless kitchen faucet, you can turn on the faucet with your voice or a wave of your hand. These smart appliances can also dispense exact measurements of water. Need exactly two cups for the recipe you’re working on? Just ask!
Keep Your Dishes Clean
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Ever needed a utensil and realized it’s sitting dirty in the dishwasher you forgot to run? Never again! With a smart dishwasher, you can set your dishwashing schedule to ensure you aren’t left with empty cupboards. You can use this home automation device to check cycle status, monitor performance remotely, and start and stop the dishwasher outside its normal schedule.
Never Miss Out on Your Morning Coffee
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Few things are worse than waking up and realizing you forgot to turn on the coffee maker the night before. With a smart coffee maker, you’ll never be without a fresh cup of your favorite blend! Just add water and grounds, sync your coffee maker with your daily alarm, and say goodbye to the days of scrambling to start brewing before work.
Always Stay On Top of the Laundry
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Have a bad habit of forgetting to start the laundry machine, leaving you desperately rummaging through your closet for fresh clothes at the worst possible moment? That’s no longer a fear with smart laundry machines! With these handy smart devices, you can start the washer and dryer from wherever you happen to be so you can keep your cycles moving and your closet stocked with clean clothes.
Clean Up with a Robot Vacuum
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Tired of using your valuable time on simple household chores like vacuuming? Let a robot vacuum do it for you! Smart vacuums can be set to run while you’re at work or on the go—and they’re so quiet you can even operate them overnight! These compact home automation devices have intelligent navigation systems that adjust to the specific contours of your home and seamlessly move between different surface types, handling everything from carpet and hardwood to tile!
Complete Lawn Care with Ease
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If you don’t want to waste your Saturday afternoons or weeknight evenings mowing the lawn, think about setting a mowing schedule with a smart lawn mower. Robot lawn mowers take up less garage space and run on electricity, saving you money on gas, too. To top it all off, they’re quiet and can run at any time of day!
Upgrade Your Green Thumb
Photo via @alivia_houseplants
Want to beautify your home with little effort? Keep your house plants looking their greenest with self-watering pots! Just fill up this smart pot, and it will distribute water and nutrients on a set schedule for up to a month. This is an excellent smart home gadget to have if you’re someone who’s not home often or if you’ve been forgetful when it comes to watering your plants.
Ensure Your Pets Are Fed
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Between working overtime, traveling, and long weekend activities, there are times you need to feed your animals but aren’t at home. Set a smart pet feeder in your dog room or cat room to make sure they get their meals! These smart devices allow you to manage your pet’s feeding times, portion sizes, and food supply. You can set a schedule or remotely dispense food through an app if you’re away from home longer than expected. As an added bonus, many smart pet feeders include a camera so you can check in on your furry friend!
Utilize the Right Apps
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Often, the biggest hurdle when organizing your home is remembering what needs to be done around the house. Look into organizing apps that can help you stay on top of everything! Get all your apps and devices on the same page with IFTTT, keep moving through your to-do list with Tody or Homey, ditch dozens of product manuals with Centriq, and track of your various passwords with Vault.
Looking for more ways to improve your home? Get some inspiration with these home improvement projects and space-saving renovation ideas!
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