Create a smart home
There’s an ever-increasing range of smart devices that you can use to monitor and protect your home
Monitor and protect your home with smart tech.
Security, lighting, and heating are the three main types of devices that tempt people to get started with home automation, and we regularly see new security cameras, smart lights, and thermostats every month in Home Life.
However, there are a number of smaller and less eye-catching devices that help to join the dots between those three major product categories. There are security sensors that can detect movement in a dark room, or warn you if a window has been opened when you’re away from home. You can turn on just one radiator in an upstairs bedroom using Siri voice commands, or get an early warning with a smart fire alarm.
The Internet of Things is rapidly taking shape, and there’s now a dazzling variety of smart devices and appliances that you can buy for your high-tech smart home. However, there’s one very simple option that can save you quite a lot of money when you’re getting started. You can make most electrical devices “smart” – albeit in a limited way – by using a “smart plug” to control their power supply.
Belkin’s WeMo Switch ($50) is one of the most popular smart plugs at the moment, and TP-Link has recently launched its own plug called the HS100 ($30). Samsung, D-Link, and Devolo all make smart plugs too, although these are generally sold as part of a larger
home-automation system and may not work on their own, so check on that before buying.
Plug and Play
A smart plug is simply an adapter that goes into an AC outlet, and then allows you to plug in other devices such as a lamp or a radio, or maybe even a washing machine. Most smart plugs use Wi-Fi to connect to your network, enabling you to control the power supply even when you’re away from home – perhaps turning your lights on in the evening to make it look like your home is occupied while you’re away on vacation.
One unusual product here is Elgato’s Eve Energy ($50), which uses Bluetooth rather than Wi-Fi to connect to the Eve app on your iPhone. Bluetooth only has a limited range, but the Eve Energy is the only smart plug that currently works with Apple’s HomeKit software, which means that your Apple TV can help you get around their limited range. They can connect to the Apple TV, which acts as a hub for them, meaning you can control them with your phone remotely – even outside the home.
Some smart plugs can also help you to save money by monitoring and analyzing your energy usage. Smart thermostats are another good option for saving money, but if you want really fine control over your temperature, you can also buy devices that control your air conditioning. Tado’s Smart AC Control works with your phone and automatically turns the air con down when the last person leaves the house, and starts cooling/heating when someone returns.
In motion
Some smart plug scan also help you to save money by monitoring energy usage
We all want to keep our homes safe, so security cameras are often the first smart devices that most people buy for their home. But cameras aren’t the
only security option worth thinking about. Many companies make motion sensors that can be used to detect movement within a room during times when your home should be empty, or just so that you can keep an eye on what’s going on. There are also sensors that can be attached to doors or windows to warn you if they’ve been opened.
These sensors are often sold as part of a larger security kit, such as Samsung’s SmartThings kit ($230), or Panasonic’s Home Monitoring and Control kit ($250), both of which also include a smart outlet and a central control hub that you need to connect to your Wi-Fi router. Once you’ve got that control hub, you can buy additional sensors for around $40-$50 each, so it won’t cost a fortune to cover most average homes.
If you’re on a tight budget, or you just want to monitor one specific location, you can also buy standalone sensors that just work on their own. The D-Link Wi-Fi Smart Motion Sensor ($35) can connect directly to your home network and its 26 ft range will cover most medium-sized rooms. Elgato’s Eve range includes both the Eve Motion sensor ($50) and a Door/Window sensor ($35). Again, Elgato opts for Bluetooth rather than Wi-Fi connectivity, but the HomeKit support means that you can create “scenes” that combine devices; you could use the door sensor to automatically turn on your Philips Hue lights when you open the door.
To really proect your home, you can buy smoke detectors for fire prevention, and water sensors that can warn of leaking pipes. There are several options here, with Nest’s Protect ($100) smoke alarm being one of the most well-known, although Honeywell, D-Link, and Samsung all make smoke alarms and water sensors that work in conjunction with their other security products.
If you buy all your smart devices from one manufacturer you shouldn’t have too much trouble getting them to work together. Unfortunately, getting devices from different manufacturers to talk to each other remains a real challenge, just as you might expect.
Apple’s HomeKit is still only making slow progress, and it’s early days for the promising Amazon Echo right now. However, Logitech recently popped up with Pop, a simple “button” that helps you link multiple devices together and activate them with a quick press of your finger – perhaps turning on your lights, Sonos speakers, and Belkin WeMo smart plug all at once.
The advantage of this approach is that once the Pop has been set up, you can just stick it onto a convenient wall or other spot, and other people can use it to control your home devices without having to use an iPhone or app at all.