9 minute read
HOUSE & HOME
Smart H omes S marter Are Getting
BY MARILYN PRIBUS
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HOUSE & HOME “I t’s important to understand that ‘smart’ technology is big business,” declares REALTOR® Darian Cochran of Charlottesville’s Avenue Realty. “The marketplace is so powerful that product developers are developing all sort of interfaces.”
In fact, “smart” homes are already here and getting smarter at an amazing rate.
The main reasons are convenience, energy savings, and security. New wrinkles in smart-ology—some just novelties and others both clever and useful— appear seemingly daily.
Motion detectors know you’ve come home and turn on the lights for you. Technology can brew your morning coffee, tell you the weather forecast, and perform any number of other tasks. With a Google or Amazon smart hub, you can connect to just about anything in your home. In fact, you can connect to just about anything in the world.
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You can now set up a home system which provides voice control for lights, fans, and other devices. You can release your smart door lock remotely to allow a known person access to your home. You can upgrade light switches to be able to shut off all your lights with a single command.
You can start your day by asking Siri about the weather and traffic reports, for example. Or tell Alexa it’s time for bed and she’ll be sure the downstairs lights are off, the doors are locked and the heat adjusted to the temperature you’ve told her. Some of these conveniences are more entertaining than functional, but part of the benefit of a smart house is that it’s handy and fun. For example, users can ask their smart phones to tell them the safe internal temperature of cooked pork or when the Hoos play their next game. They can even ask for a joke.
Parent alert: We’ve heard of kids enlisting the smart hub for homework assistance. Is this creative thinking or relying on digital help to do their work for them?
Energy Savings
Energy monitors display your home’s energy usage in real time, showing just how much energy (and money) a specific appliance or device is using. You can program your smart thermostat to turn down the heat (or let the house be warmer in the summer), then adjust to your preferred temperature before you return home.
On the other hand, pre-programming the thermostat doesn’t work for Val Semer, a nurse who works ever-changing shifts at UVA hospital. Instead, she uses her phone to notify her smart heating/cooling system she’s on the way home so it’s up to speed when she arrives.
Smart blinds can be programmed to open to receive the sun in the winter and to close to block it in the summer. Or you could activate them remotely making a substantial difference in your energy consumption.
Security
“All this technology is very important for security,” adds REALTOR® Cochran. For example, smart doorbells can include an image of who’s at your door and alert your smart phone as well. Some smart devices include facial recognition, so a surveillance system won’t be triggered by people you know. “What’s most important to me is the security,” agrees a Charlottesville man who prefers—for security reasons—to not disclose his name. He has both his business and his home protected with cameras linked to his smart phone.
“I use inexpensive motion-activated cameras,” he explains. “I’ve set the level of sensitivity and the size of the figure for alerts so our dogs don’t set off the home alarm.” If there’s activity when there shouldn’t be, the system sends an audible alert to his phone.
Another interesting safety app automatically releases smart locks if a smoke alarm is triggered or a 9-1-1 call is made. This allows responders immediate access to the home.
Be Careful
Not all smart devices and apps are smart choices. Many are not only expensive, but are becoming more complicated for un-tech-savvy consumers to use.
Another complication arises when people end up with incompatible devices. This means they must also have a variety of apps to control everything. In addition, many smart devices place significant demands on existing Wi-Fi setups. Ideally, people should plan ahead to have a control platform compatible with their needs, network, and existing system.
And last (but definitely not least), home systems can be vulnerable to hacking. Right now, the smart world is a Wild West of streaming data with a definite potential for abuse. It’s absolutely essential to have firewalls and other shielding technology protecting you.
Bottom line? Consult a professional if you aren’t technically skilled. This is the best way to establish a compatible and secure smart system for your home.
What’s Next?
Increasingly we are living in a wireless world with people—and their homes—adopting this “smart” lifestyle. Smart home technology offers an edge for home sellers, especially when appealing to Millennial buyers.
In the coming years, a home’s “smartness” will become an expected amenity. Especially with new home construction, it will be standard to have the infrastructure to handle the connectivity and power load of being smart.
Marilyn Pribus and her husband live in Albemarle County. Siri’s joke today:
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