What is a Smart Home?
Homes are getting smarter. Smart home automation can create a variety of efficiencies throughout different parts of your home. They can also help you save money on long-term energy costs. Smart home architecture can even add to your home’s security. Modern buyers will continue to expect more smart, high-tech home buildings in the future. So, what are smart homes?
Smart homes, or smart housing, are residential spaces that integrate technology with appliances and home services to create a network you can control from an online interface. The networks created by integrated smart home technologies give homeowners and residents the power to conveniently shape and control the electronic tools and systems that significantly contribute to how a home feels.
This guide will give some of the best home automation ideas, trends, and tips on how to build a smart home.
Smart Home Automation, Trends, and Features to Consider
These home automation ideas and smart home features provide Utah residents with convenience, comfort, and autonomous security. Think Architecture can help you add these useful new features to your home designs.
Smart Thermostat
Transform your heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system into a climate control machine with a smart thermostat.
Smart thermostats can create the perfect environment in your home even as temperatures change throughout the day. A smart thermostat doesn’t just keep a room at a single temperature. A smart thermostat can learn the temperatures you like in different parts of the day and adjust accordingly. You can also program your smart thermostat to change the room’s temperature at different times of the day. You can set up different temperature zones for different areas in your home or the people living there.
Smart Locks
Add an extra layer of security and convenience to your home by upgrading to smart locks.
Smart locks are part electronic and part mechanical. They can integrate with an automated home security system to provide additional security in your home. Residents with smart locks can use their smartphone or an electronic key fob to unlock their doors and gain entry to the house without needing an additional metal key.
Smart Ceiling Fans
Stay fresh with the perfect circulation you can get with smart ceiling fans.
Like smart thermostats, smart ceiling fans shape the atmosphere in your home. You can program your smart ceiling fans to spin one way to draw in the fresh morning air and then turn the other in the afternoon to push out the hot, stale air. And, of course, your smart ceiling fans can create the perfect calming breeze to soothe you to sleep at night.
Filling your home with excellent air circulation from your smart ceiling fans can literally be a breath of fresh air.
Integrated Speakers
Never miss a moment of what’s happening in your home with a smart sound system and integrated speakers.
Listen to your music on speakers with excellent fidelity, then switch to your home theater and get that same great sound while immersing yourself in the latest binge-watch craze. Control it all from a central online interface you can access on your smartphone.
Integrate the speakers with your home security system to use them as part of the home’s intercom system.
Innovative Power Outlet Placement
Keep your gadgets and smart home appliances running by designing your smart home’s power layout with modern needs in mind.
Install power outlets where they are needed. With more smart devices, you may find you require outlets in different places than where traditional homes had them. Install power outlets wherever you might need them for a smart device or electronic charger.
Consider where all your smart speakers will go and where people might sit and need a charger handy. Also, consider adding some outlets at eye level instead of near the floor. They can be perfect for powering control panels, many of which have video displays.
Smart Plugs
Make your regular appliance smarter with smart plugs.
Smart plugs go into the power outlets. They can connect to your smart home system and control the power supply to whatever you plug into them. They can help integrate your traditional appliances into your smart home.
Smart Lighting & Smart Lights
Enjoy added safety, security, and ambiance flexibility with smart lighting.
Smart lights can include indoor and outdoor lighting. The indoor lights help protect you from injury by making the stairs a little less treacherous to navigate when you go down for your midnight snack. They can also turn on the lights in the house when the garage door opens. The outdoor lights add to your security by shining a light on would-be intruders before they strike. They can also light up your walkway whenever the door is opened at night.
You can pre-program your smart lights and integrate them with your smart home system to light up rooms and areas in your home based on the time of day, the person in the room, or even to preset moods. You can also set up your smart lights with motion sensors, which come on whenever they detect someone approaching. And, of course, you can control it all through a control panel on your smartphone.
Smart Home Hub
Keep all your smart home features working in harmony with a top-rate smart home hub.
Smart homes work best when all the features can work together. A smart home hub keeps all your smart home automation in sync. So, when it’s time for bed, your smart home hub can help your smart thermostat, smart lights, and smart fans create your ideal sleeping environment. It can also arm your security system and lock your doors simultaneously.
From hubs that take voice commands, like Google Nest, or Amazon Echo, to custom smart home hubs with graphical interfaces designed for your specific home and system, smart home hubs come in a wide variety. Some are even part smart hub and part smart feature, like Amazon’s new Echo Show.
Innovative Living Starts with Smart Home Architecture
Building a home with modern smart features in mind starts from the beginning. Smart architecture helps you get the most functionality out of your smart home while keeping its controls simple and intuitive. With good smart home architecture, you can create a tech-centered home that looks seamless and sleek and integrates all your smart technology.
Retrofitting homes with smart features often leads to issues with power or unsightly installation workarounds. Building a smart architecture means installing the power, HVAC, lights, doors, and windows with smart features already built-in or ready to upgrade. That way, you can ensure the widow sensors will fit, for example. To get a home built for the future, use architectural designs for the future.
Think Architecture Designs and Builds Tech Homes in Utah and Beyond
Think Architecture has experience creating great designs with smart home technology in mind. Our team can create a smart home architecture plan to meet all of your integration needs.
Ask Think Architecture about incorporating smart home technology into your next residential architecture project. Contact Think Architecture today!