You know the old adage, ‘there’s no place like home’? Well, it’s especially true if your home is a smart one – where systems are streamlined, and technology is integrated to make life more convenient and comfortable.

It doesn’t matter if you are building a new home or retrofitting an older one, all homes can be smart.Find out how your Crystele home could have the highest IQ in the class.

SO, WHAT IS A SMART HOME?

According to emerging technology experts, Telsyte, more than 50% of Australian households have started the smart home journey.  What’s more, they have predicted that by 2023, Australian households will have more than 37 connected devices.

Basically, a smart home has all its devices connected through the Internet so the home owner can control or automate functions of the home like security, heating and cooling, and lighting. 

IT’S ALL IN THE LIGHTING

They say the best place to start your smart home journey is with your lights, and we couldn’t agree more. Upgrading is pretty straightforward and depending on your budget and taste there are a few options.  You can swap your existing LED bulbs for clever alternatives like these Philips ones that can be fully controlled via an app on your phone or your smart home assistant. You can even change their colour (there’s a mammoth 16 million colour options) depending on the mood you are in.  Calming bedtime stories, sorted.  Ambient dinner parties, tick. Your in-house light show will never be the same.

If you have a lot of lamps and recessed lights this can become expensive, so another option is a smart light switch – where you control all of the lights wired to one central switch without changing your existing bulbs.

SMART SPEAKERS – LISTEN AND LEARN

Smart speakers are said to have contributed to the growing trend of smart homes, so if you haven’t jumped on the smart bandwagon yet, here’s what you need to know. Smart speakers have built-in smart features and an AI-powered voice assistant (think Siri) that can do just about anything –  from ordering takeaway, giving you the latest football scores and weather updates.

Amazon’s Echo, Google Home and Apple’s HomePod are currently dominating the smart speaker market, all offering different superior features like touch screens, sound quality and ability to connect to your other smart home devices. Picking the right one really comes down to personal preference.

COOKING UP A STORM

They are the core of the home, so it makes sense that kitchens are becoming smarter too.  There’s a new wave of clever gizmos available to make sure you spend less time cooking and more time enjoying your meal. They all sound very Back To The Future, but the technology is here now and evolving at a rapid rate.

Smart Fridges like this one are jam-packed with clever features like a built-in camera that allows you to see the contents of your fridge, a function that helps you to make shopping lists and a screen to mirror what is on your smartphone or TV.

Speaking of cooking, uber intelligent ovens are also growing in popularity thanks to their ability to cook, air fry, dehydrate, broil, toast and warm.  There really is no excuse for cooking a bad meal these days.

IN THE ZONE

There’s no point having the air conditioning on upstairs if the whole family is spending the day downstairs – not only is this a waste of energy but you are basically throwing money away on your energy bills.  In today’s smart homes world, you can purchase wall-mounted controllers that zone your heating and cooling (up to 14 zones for some products), set your temperatures and your timers, which means year-round comfort and a gold star for sustainable living.

SECURING YOUR ASSETS

Your home is your most prized possession and all the things in it probably come a close second, so it’s important to keep them all safe and secure.  And these days you can.  Best of all, you can do it remotely. With a press of a button on your smartphone you can control your door locks, monitor your home and turn your motion sensors on/off.

There’s also some impressive gadgets on the market to help you customise your own security system to give you peace of mind.  And if you are feeling overwhelmed by all the choice, a recent study by PC Mag will help you get the ball rolling.

While the up-front costs for setting up a smart home can feel overwhelming, the long-term benefits are undeniable- not only is your home more efficient but your bills are cheaper, and you feel good knowing that you are being kinder to mother nature. 

Keen to make your home the smartest on the block? Then chat to one of our helpful sales staff today to see how we can help.