Smart Home
Have you been interested in making your home a "smart home"? Hubby and I have been slowly adding devices and features to make our home more connected and easy to control. Now it's become an addiction! I am constantly looking for more devices to make our lives easier! Who doesn't love easy convenience, especially when you have little ones at home?!
Below is a list of products that we have purchased recently for our smart home.
1. Amazon Echo - https://amzn.to/2LPC1kG
This acts as the main hub to control all of the devices in your home. What's awesome is that most of them can be voice activated. You just have to enable some skills within the app to get some devices to work. It also serves a great radio that the kids can control and can be an intercom if you have multiple devices throughout your home.
2. Amazon smart plugs - https://amzn.to/2SyaZ3R
This was especially handy during Christmas! I was able to setup the Christmas lights to come on and turn off at a certain time. Now we have a few controlling the lamps in the living room so we can say, "Alexa, turn off the lights" before heading up to bed.
3. Amazon Fire TV - https://amzn.to/2C0tSFq
This links up well with the echo. You can ask Alexa to bring up any movie or video content on the fire tv. We also have it linked to our security cameras and video doorbell so all we have to say is "Alexa, show me the front door" and it will bring the camera up on the TV.
4. Broadlink Smart Home Hub - https://amzn.to/2LNa4tH
This is especially amazing since any remote you have in your home can be programmed to be used on this universal remote. It links up with Alexa so you can just say, "Alexa, turn on the TV" and it will send the signal throughout the room to reach the device. You can program your TV, cable box, DVD/Blue Ray player, fan remote, etc. Anything with a remote can now be voice activated!
5. Ring Video Doorbell - https://amzn.to/2BYRg6o
Ring doorbells area gaining in popularity, and there's a good reason! This doorbell has some awesome features! It can detect motion from a custom range outside your door, it alerts you when someone is at the door, and you can answer and talk to them from anywhere, even if you aren't home! We have the echo linked up so it will announce when there is motion or if someone rings the door. We can also bring the video feed up on our TV, although we cannot talk to visitors through the TV because there isn't a speaker. Ring has now been bought by Amazon so I'm sure additional features will be added soon! The only downfall is that they charge a $30 a year fee to access your videos. It isn't a lot, but I hate extra fees. We didn't know about it before we bought it, so heads up. If you don't like that you can always check out the Zmodo video doorbell.
6. Zmodo security cameras - https://amzn.to/2Aw6uzE
I initially got these for baby monitors that I could view when not at home. They have worked for that, but I don't use them that much since we also have a localized video monitor system. I have since set one up for the backyard, so we can see if anyone goes back there. It's also pretty cool to see all the animals that are out there at night! You can also setup motion sensors for these cameras and talk through them as well. Basically all the same features as the ring doorbell, but in a camera!
7. Husqvarna Automower - These are just now starting to get big in the USA, but who doesn't love a lawnmower that does the work for you? It's like a Roomba for your lawn! And it's Alexa compatible so I can tell Alexa to start the lawnmower and park it.
8. Roomba - ...Which leads me to the Roomba! We have one, but unfortunately ours is an older model that is not wifi compatible, so it does not work with Alexa. The newer models are though, so if you get one now it will be compatible!
Anything you are looking for that I didn't cover? Any other features you would like to see in a smart home? Let me know in the comments!
Below is a list of products that we have purchased recently for our smart home.
1. Amazon Echo - https://amzn.to/2LPC1kG
This acts as the main hub to control all of the devices in your home. What's awesome is that most of them can be voice activated. You just have to enable some skills within the app to get some devices to work. It also serves a great radio that the kids can control and can be an intercom if you have multiple devices throughout your home.
2. Amazon smart plugs - https://amzn.to/2SyaZ3R
This was especially handy during Christmas! I was able to setup the Christmas lights to come on and turn off at a certain time. Now we have a few controlling the lamps in the living room so we can say, "Alexa, turn off the lights" before heading up to bed.
3. Amazon Fire TV - https://amzn.to/2C0tSFq
This links up well with the echo. You can ask Alexa to bring up any movie or video content on the fire tv. We also have it linked to our security cameras and video doorbell so all we have to say is "Alexa, show me the front door" and it will bring the camera up on the TV.
4. Broadlink Smart Home Hub - https://amzn.to/2LNa4tH
This is especially amazing since any remote you have in your home can be programmed to be used on this universal remote. It links up with Alexa so you can just say, "Alexa, turn on the TV" and it will send the signal throughout the room to reach the device. You can program your TV, cable box, DVD/Blue Ray player, fan remote, etc. Anything with a remote can now be voice activated!
5. Ring Video Doorbell - https://amzn.to/2BYRg6o
Ring doorbells area gaining in popularity, and there's a good reason! This doorbell has some awesome features! It can detect motion from a custom range outside your door, it alerts you when someone is at the door, and you can answer and talk to them from anywhere, even if you aren't home! We have the echo linked up so it will announce when there is motion or if someone rings the door. We can also bring the video feed up on our TV, although we cannot talk to visitors through the TV because there isn't a speaker. Ring has now been bought by Amazon so I'm sure additional features will be added soon! The only downfall is that they charge a $30 a year fee to access your videos. It isn't a lot, but I hate extra fees. We didn't know about it before we bought it, so heads up. If you don't like that you can always check out the Zmodo video doorbell.
6. Zmodo security cameras - https://amzn.to/2Aw6uzE
I initially got these for baby monitors that I could view when not at home. They have worked for that, but I don't use them that much since we also have a localized video monitor system. I have since set one up for the backyard, so we can see if anyone goes back there. It's also pretty cool to see all the animals that are out there at night! You can also setup motion sensors for these cameras and talk through them as well. Basically all the same features as the ring doorbell, but in a camera!
7. Husqvarna Automower - These are just now starting to get big in the USA, but who doesn't love a lawnmower that does the work for you? It's like a Roomba for your lawn! And it's Alexa compatible so I can tell Alexa to start the lawnmower and park it.
8. Roomba - ...Which leads me to the Roomba! We have one, but unfortunately ours is an older model that is not wifi compatible, so it does not work with Alexa. The newer models are though, so if you get one now it will be compatible!
Anything you are looking for that I didn't cover? Any other features you would like to see in a smart home? Let me know in the comments!
Very Positive Article, where did u come up with the information on this posting? Hubby and I have been slowly adding devices and features to make our home more connected and easy to control. You visit Sound X and read more details.
ReplyDelete