4 Steps to Creating A Smart Home

Smart technology is all the rage these days, and for good reason! New technologies have the power to save us time and money, and enhance our experience of the physical spaces around us.

If you’ve just purchased or restored a house, you may be wondering how you can turn it into a smart home. Fortunately, it's never been easier to integrate practical (and fun!) new technologies into your home, and it can add tremendous value to your property if you decide to sell. Here are a few steps you can take to create and optimize your smart home by leveraging the latest trends in technology.

1. Install a Reliable and Robust Network

Establishing a reliable network is the first step towards smart home automation. Your system’s infrastructure will need to handle both wired and wireless equipment and connections. Although you might think that going wireless is the new trend - and you're not wrong - in most home it’s especially important to have a solid hardwired connection, which you can then build out with wireless devices. The base of your network - whether it's fiber-optics or a modem - will require a hard connection, and if you work from home you'll appreciate the option to have a dependable connection always available. For starters, then, you'll need to install wired access points, a good router, and a network switch.

2. Implement a Remote HVAC Control

Everyone likes the convenience of controlling the indoor temperature from their phones. You can start by installing a remote thermostat such as Google's Nest, which allows you to adjust the settings and regulate energy flow to be more environmentally-friendly. Even better, you can customize your climate settings based on the season, month, or day through a seamlessly-integrated smartphone or website app. It is essential to understand that you need a strong internet connection for the thermostat - and any other technology - to function reliably. Some remote thermostats can function on the local wifi network alone; this ensures that everything continues to run smoothly even if there are interruptions in your internet service.

3. Put in Smart Lighting Control

You can add an extra functional layer of technology around your restored home thanks to smart lighting control. The system includes custom lighting scenes, remote dimmers, fan speed, switch consolidation, and energy management. You can now enjoy the convenience of turning off all the lights with a quick swipe on your phone.

4. Add Cameras to Your Home

Can you imagine FaceTiming people in and around your house, without needing a phone? That's now possible, thanks to new technology that allows you to integrate cameras into your home. See who's at the door, check on your pets, and make sure the kids aren't breaking your new HDTV! Furthermore, this technology now makes it possible to add a camera that works with your garage door opener - so you'll never again worry if you shut down your garage door.

These are just a few of the systems you can install in your home to turn it into a smart home. However, it’s critical to note that each of these devices come with proprietary apps. It’s critical to ensure that whatever automation platform you choose allows you to access all the technology in your home on one dashboard.

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