Takeover of the smarthouse

Smart homes. It’s coming. Cover your butts (thanks, Morgan Freeman…Lego Movie reference).

Do you know what a smart home is? My only exposure to these things was through watching the movie Parental Guidance—where the dad designs his own smart home and the poor grandparents (namely Billy Crystal) are terrorized by it. Are they really that way? How do I feel about the idea of my house potentially having more control over itself than I do? 

I was recently in a new home with a “smart” oven… I was supposed to be preparing frozen pizzas (long story)… We had that crazy storm last week which caused power outages and I couldn’t even turn the darn thing on without programming it including the full date, time, etc… The homeowners were even more clueless than I was and it took us a good ten minutes to get the oven on! Remember the good ol’ days when you turn a dial and hey! the oven’s on? Well…those days are numbered. Should we be worried? Or happy? Both? 

I like technology. I get teased a lot because most of the people closest to me (husband, mom, sister…) are pretty outdoorsy and if they could chose anything to do on a day off, they would go outside…walk…garden…hike… I would choose to sit in a perfectly climate controlled room with a tray of brownies and my laptop and I would make excel spreadsheets. Hehe. Ok, so I’m definitely not anti-tech. However, I can be pretty skeptical of all these newfangled gadgets…issues like my oven story are not all that uncommon and technology can be problematic when it doesn’t work correctly. So, today, I’m here as a fairly neutral party to help you wade through how to feel about the coming of home automation. 

The more I began to learn about the smart home technology, I was surprised to discover that it’s already making its way into the hands (and homes) of many consumers without them even knowing it. I recently updated the iOs on my iPhone and I remember noticing a new preinstalled app called “Home” but I disregarded it as I do many other preinstalled apps. Well, apparently this Home app is designed to be the hub of your smart home! And it’s probably already on your phone. There’s also the Amazon Echo and Alexa. These came out last year and I heard just a little bit about them…enough that I thought it was something that I didn’t need. I heard that you could talk to it similar to Siri…it would take notes for you and look things up on the web if you ask it. It wasn’t until my research for this blog that I learned Echo has another entire world of opportunity and is Amazon’s equal to the iPhone Home app. Echo can control all your smart home devices (lights, switches, thermostats and more) just like your phone or tablet can…all through voice commands…cool! 

Remember that scene in Home Alone…where the mom and dad are on the plane to Paris and are trying to figure out what they forgot at home? 

Kate: Did I turn off the coffee? 

Peter: No… I did. 

Kate: Did you lock up? 

Peter: Yeah. 

Kate: Did we set the timers on the lights? 

Peter: Yeah. 

Kate: Did you close the garage? 

Peter: That’s it. I forgot to close the garage, that’s it. 

[She sits back; after a pause] 

Peter: No, that’s not it. 

Kate: Well, what else could we be forgetting? 

[She sits back again; after an even longer pause, she jumps upright] 

Kate: KEVIN!

Haha, Home Alone 1 and 2 were the movies of my childhood. I think we watched those movies probably a thousand times. That scene is one of my favorites. Think about it, In another ten…maybe twenty years, that scene will confuse most young people! Similar to how my teenage children cannot even fathom how I got through high school without a cell phone, they’ll wonder how anyone could even leave home and not be able to control it remotely! There won’t be any question about what devices you did and didn’t turn off. Forgot to close the garage? Left a door unlocked? Tell Siri to do those things from your phone. Sounds too good to be true? Maybe. But it’s not. And you could be using this technology today. 

Smart home technology really can change the way we live. You guys, this stuff is amazing. The more I read about it, the more I’m convinced I’m totally missing out on a whole element of life and convenience. This technology is a game changer, especially for a busy mom like me. Here’s a list of some of the things that can be “smart” in your home (this list isn’t all inclusive!):

Lighting  

Bulb & Fixtures 

Window Shades

Outlets, Dimmers & Switches 

Specialty Lighting

Energy Management 

Thermostats   

Energy Sensors & Displays

Irrigation Systems

Security Cameras   

Alarm Systems

Surveillance Systems

Electronics & Entertainment  

TV & Video Players   

Speakers & Audio

Garage Door Openers

Door Locks

Doorbells

I guess I thought home automation was something that had to be built into a new home…and all aspects at one time. Nope! Homes can be made smart a little bit at a time, too! Most people start their home automation with lighting and go from there. You can automate just one area or room or you can purchase a kit to do multiple rooms. Ron Fritz on Lifewire recommends three things: 1) Don’t stress too much about the future when getting started with home automation…you plan will evolve as well as the technology behind it, 2) Buy only what you can use and what’s in your budget and, 3) Start simple…once you become comfortable with technology, you’ll be ready to try another aspect. ¹

I can think of so many ways this would be helpful to me and other busy families like mine. After being gone all day, I would love to be able to turn on/adjust the thermostat on my way home and have the house be comfortable when we arrive (often with sleeping children). I’d love to be able to turn on the oven remotely and put a pizza or casserole in as soon as I get home to feed a hungry bunch of teenagers asap. I’d love to have cameras around my home and be able to access them on my phone or tablet—from home or away—and know that my home and often, children, are secure. I’d love to be able to lock and unlock doors without being home…or without having to stumble around the house to lock them myself at 11 pm after falling asleep on the couch at 9pm for the umpteenth time. I’d love to close the living room blinds for the kids in the living room (who are being blinded by the setting sun) simply with my voice while I cook dinner in the kitchen. The sky really is the limit! I think of families that have a pool and how beneficial a set up like this could be to monitoring a pool gate as well as kids swimming in the pool. Or even having motion sensors around the pool that set off an alarm—including one on your phone. 

As I think this through more, I’m starting to envision myself like the people on the giant spaceship in the sky in the move Wall-E. I could potentially sit on the couch and never have to get up to do any of these menial tasks again! Haha. I guess we would need to guard against the potential of becoming a literal couch potato, but, this is true of most things…something positive can become something negative if one is not mindful of that happening. Even with that in mind, I see so much potential and benefit from the coming smart home revolution. And it’s coming. So cover your butts. ☺ 

¹ Lifewire.com. How Do I Get Started With Home Automation?  Ron Fritz. https://www.lifewire.com/getting-started-with-home-automation-817647