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The Complete Guide to Building a SmartHome

The Complete Guide to Building a SmartHome

Our three-part show on the Condition of Solar and Energy Storage got us thinking about the future of modern living, especially about SmartHome technology. The SmartHome moved quickly from pipe-dream territory to a near-mainstream fact, with more and more houses being built with smart technologies built right in. Though many homeowners are intimidated by the brand new, cloud-connected technology integrating modern living, the majority of the new features embraced by SmartHome dwellers is more accessible than you may think. In fact, if you own and use a smart phone, you're already halfway there.

Welcome to a complete guide to creating your own SmartHome, finish with our smart home technology wishlist, and how you can incorporate and connect all of your new apparatus on your phone, practically wiping out the learning curve of SmartHomeowning.

Designing a SmartHome starts with picking a wise heart beat, the "mind" of your house's new central nervous system. Some of the most common smart hubs are Samsung's SmartThings, which is famous for their extensive, high quality service. SmartThings joins all of your smart devices such as speakers, lights, locks, thermostats, cameras, or anything else you've got under your roof, and offers an app which lets you control and manage your devices from your cell phone.

With a good framework set in place, now you can start customizing your home to fit your own needs, and replacing your appliances together with the smart technology that is most important for you.

Thermostat Regulators- New thermostats, such as Nest, bump up your smart energy use to the next level by learning your schedule and in-home temperature preferences, and builds a schedule around yours to help you save money on your electricity bill, and time and headspace by not needing to worry about adjusting your thermostat.

Lighting Management- Smart lighting systems also help save you energy by dimming lights whenever possible, and providing you the opportunity to remotely turn off them even after you leave the house. Products like Phillips Hue also enhance your own life by providing you longer specified control over light levels, helping you set the mood, and lessen stress levels.

Smart Televisions- In summary, a Smart TV is any tv that has built-in internet connectivity, meaning you may utilize online streaming devices on your own tv instead of simply sticking with your tablet or laptop. Smart TV connectivity also allows you to use social media and web browsing from the TV, completely incorporating your screenfront encounter.

Home Security Systems- The major benefit of smart security methods is the ability to monitor your home from the smartphone, as well as arm or disarm your entire system with a touch of a button. Cameras, sensors, and locks can all be integrated on a single system, cutting out the often-complicated and error-ridden user experience that home security systems are famous for.

Even though these four system types are the big sellers at the SmartHome space at this time, there are also some up-and-coming intelligent systems that are quickly turning into essential pieces of SmartHome living, especially when it comes to energy.

For some, taking control from the hands of this failing, unreliable energy grid is a future that can't arrive soon enough. Nationwide, power outages are becoming six times more frequent than they have in previous decades. Some homeowners have read concerning the rising vulnerabilities of their power grid, and decided to do something about it. If the grid cuts out for a few hours, home battery owners don't have to worry. Their house can still be powered by the energy saved by their house battery. For those who rely on electricity to electricity life-essential medical machinery, or for households using electricity to heat or cool their homes during extreme weather, this sort of energy security can be a big thing.

Households outfitted with solar panels and energy storage in the form of house batteries are protected from any utility company mishap, if it be on a large or small scale. Home batteries allow households to electricity their particular essential appliances like refrigerators, water pumps, and heating/cooling devices with saved electricity collected in their rooftop solar panels. The grid may be vulnerable, but individual families don't have to be.

High-profile businesses, such as Tesla, are leading a revolution that centers around a new lifestyle for energy consumers--one that stands for invention, certainty, and audacity. This is the reason Tesla has developed a product line that extends beyond electric vehicles. CEO's Elon Musk has envisioned a future where there is a Tesla in every garage, and solar on each roof... not to mention a Powerwall two to keep generated solar, tying the bundle together. This is the kind of home, and lifestyle, Elon Musk wants for himself... and he's convinced that he's not the only one. Musks' ambition has compelled him to push the envelope in virtually every respect, from electrical cars that you may summon to pick one up in the door, to high-capacity low-cost lithium ion, into rooftop solar that actually is a rooftop. The lifestyle Tesla provides its customers mirrors Musk's own innovative drive. Going all-in into the Tesla brand entails breaking through conventional ways of using power, and hosting an energy revolution on your house.

Many home solar and battery companies offer their own phone app to help keep a watch out for electricity generation and usage, and Tesla's certainly keeping up with this trend. With Tesla's app, customers can keep tabs on both their solar panels and their Powerwall battery, in addition to get notifications of grid outages and battery levels. Gathering this data can help homeowners understand when they are creating the most energy from solar, employing the most stored energy, and when they're getting energy from the electricity grid itself. Talk about getting power over electricity. It is this type of SmartHome technology that is going to take home energy usage to the next level.

The Smart Smoke Detector- Nest also creates the Nest Protect smoke detector that can let you know about the existence of smoke or carbon monoxide in your home, even when you're not there to hear the alarm go off.

The Botvac Connected Vacuum- The Neato Botvac has an intuitive program with remote control that allows you vacuum your home from your couch. At the risk of showing how lazy we are, it seems really amazing.

Color-Changing Smart Bulbs- as well as making smart light bulbs to save energy, Lifx Color 100 is currently delivering smart bulbs that truly change color. It sounds crazy until you try it... then you do not know how you ever lived without a soft yellow light waking you up in the morning.

We can't wait to see where SmartHome technology takes us next (self-cleaning toilets, anybody?) But for the time being, we're going to spread the word about how smart SmartHomes could function with home batteries along with rooftop solar. To learn more about the best way to up your home's energy IQ.