According to the Department of Trade and Industry, a smart home is “A dwelling incorporating a communications network that connects the key electrical appliances and services, and allows them to be remotely controlled, monitored or accessed.” And although the definition is from 2003, it is still correct. Today, many of these devices are connected to the Internet, and through the apps on our phones and computers, we can access them via wi-fi. Gadgets are now cheaper and more functional than ever, which is why you may hear more and more about this concept; now is the ideal time to adopt a smart home.
There are many services that a Smart Home can offer you, and more and more are being created and implemented. In the beginning, you could call a Smart Home a house that had intelligent lights or a bell. But now, they are just a small part that also makes up intelligent thermostats, smart plugs, voice assistants such as Google Home or Amazon’s Alexa.
Reasons to adapt your home into a Smart Home
Save money: An intelligent thermostat can be programmed to change depending on the current climate and the taste of the user, usually, this reduces the electricity bill; another way could be intelligent lights that can be turned on and off if someone is in a certain room, and also change the light’s level.
Security: With a system of cameras that you can see from your cell phone or a smart lock, are ways to increase your security without spending a lot of money.
Accessibility: With systems like Google or Alexa you can manage everything through your voice. Change a song or modify the volume? You just need to say it. Change the lighting and temperature? With your Google Home microphone turned on, you don’t have to worry about anything.
The future of the Smart Homes
According to the Swedish research firm, Berg Insight, 63 million American homes will qualify as “smart” by 2022. But most probably, what today qualifies as Smart Home, by 2022 will no longer have the same meaning. Smart lights, or cameras so you can see what your pets are up to while you’re in the office, would already become an industry standard, and the real integration will be that now your home can automatically adjust to your lifestyle and be a step ahead of your needs.
In the utopian world of the perfect Smart Home, your home would know what your schedule of the day is, and effectively set alarms to wake you up, tell you how much time you need to spend in the shower and in the meantime check your body to see that there are no health anomalies. And once you leave your home, have the car running with the best route to your work already set so that you only relax while your car is driving itself.
It is forecast that by the advisory firm ABI Research that by 2022, US$123 billion will be spent on Smart Home devices.