The business of making homes smarter is booming
Smart home devices ‘the way of the future’
Manually turning off the lights, switching on music or cranking up the heating is so yesterday.
Geeky gadgets that let you do it all with a tap of a finger or a swift voice command are flying off the shelves at local retailers, and online suppliers are scrambling to fill backlogged orders.
A notice on the Smarthome Home Automation Superstore website cited “overwhelming demand for echo and echo dot,” leading to delays in delivery.
Amazon echo, priced at $179, is a wireless and Bluetoothenabled speaker developed by Amazon.com that connects to a voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant service. Say the “wake word” Alexa, give it directions and it will
play music, give a weather report, order pizza, change your thermostat setting or dim your living room lights. Amazon introduced the roughly 9-inch tall cylindrical echo in 2014 and has produced smaller versions with more limited functions, the Amazon Tap ($129) and hockey pucklike echo dot ($49.99).
“People are buying them like crazy,” said Kam Omidvar, a department manager at Lowe’s on Alameda.
Staff at Home Depot on Renaissance NE said they sold out supplies of the echo and echo dot over the holiday period and had the popular items on back-order.
“This is the way of the future,” said store manager Nick Herrera.
More affordable
While retailers are seeing interest in home automation devices, Realtors say having them installed doesn’t yet seem to play a role in home buying decisions.
Realtor Missy Ashcraft with Keller Williams Realty said automation technology for home lighting and temperature control has been around for a few years, but the new devices make it more affordable.
“I think they are exciting and will be coming but they’re not on the forefront of everybody’s mind right now,” said Don Martindell, president of the Greater Albuquerque Association of Realtors.
Scott Ashcraft of Las Ventanas Homes builds custom and semi-custom homes. He said most of his clients are interested in the security and energy-saving potential of home automation devices. Innovations in wireless technology mean he can install automation systems into a new home without having to run wiring through the walls. Martindell said this also means that a homeowner can easily retrofit an existing home with a system of their choice.
Some concerns
However, having a home dependent entirely on wireless technology can affect the performance of individual devices, said Shawn Mills, senior sales and design representative at Listen Up, which installs home automation systems.
“The more devices you have, the more they will burden your wireless system and could cause things to work more slowly. It can demand more than your wireless network capable of delivering,” Mills said.
Security is also a concern. Researchers at Michigan State University found they could hack into the SmartThings system and open a home’s front door, set off an alarm and change “vacation mode” light settings.