smart house

FEW THINGS TO MAKE YOUR HOME SMART

It has been about approximately 6 months since we have moved into our new home. As a millennial couple, we decided to look into making our home “smart”. At first we did not know what that truly meant, but after doing some research we found that a smart home necessarily did not mean convenience at your fingertips but also meant saving money and being greener.

A smart home means you come to a perfectly heated home after a long work day on a cold winter night. After having your dinner, you can relax on the couch and using your smartphone you can dim the lights and turn on your TV to your fav Netflix show for the night.

A smart home makes all these small daily routines easily accessible to your fingertips as they are either automated or controlled with your phone. So anyone who wants to start their “Smart Home” journey here are few things you should look into to get you started on the right foot.  Smart Home and home automation can quickly spiral out of control from both from complexity and budgeting point of view. Here are a few things we decided to get installed in our home to save money add a little extra luxury to our everyday lives.

LIFX SMART BULBS

A lot of homeowners have either switched out or are starting to switch their regular light bulbs to smart bulbs. If you aren’t familiar with these, they’re also called ‘clever or smart lights’ that can easily be controlled via an app through your smartphone, tablet or home automation devices such as google or apple home.

Although you pay a pretty penny up front, in our opinion they are much more versatile.  We have scattered them across our home. Places where they are most beneficial are outside of your main door, entrance, hallway, our bedroom night stand and our fav spot hanging lights over our the kitchen island.

What’s good about the LIFX bulbs is that it can drop your energy consumption, as they are LED bulbs and can last longer than 15 years under regular usage. What we love above the LIFX bulbs is that you can control each bulb individually even if they are connected to the same light socket.  The app also allows you to control the choice of colors with each bulb.

The best thing about LIFX bulbs is that they do not require a hub, as they all have integrated 802.11n Wi-Fi for control and you can install them into any fitting, even desktop lamps. The set  up is not tricky and does not require any technical skills. You just have to download the app and connect the bulbs you have installed by following the simple instructions.

There are mini and regular version of the LIFx bulbs to suit your lighting needs. For example we have installed the mini version for the bedside light, but have opted for the regular LIFX for the kitchen island lights. You can buy your LIFX bulbs on their website and the best thing is they ship for free within US and Canada.

LUTRON SMART DIMMERS

We decided to install pot lights throughout the main floor where we tend to entertain most to save our electricity bills. But after we installed our pot lights, we realized we did not always require them to be at their max capacity.  We wanted a dimmer system with which we could control the lights for different times of the day.

After some research we decided to go for the Lutron Smart Dimmers as they were reviewed to be the most reliable and smart replacement to provide us with remote on-off, dimming and scheduling options for our pot-lights. It also supported platforms such as HomeKit, Alexa, and Google Home. The one thing we loved about this dimmer was that it was the only model with a multi-button keypad, and the only wireless switch that did not require a neutral wire.  

SCHLAGE SMART LOCK / KEYLESS ENTRY

Both Darshan and I love going on long walks with our dog in the neighborhood. What we hate is carrying a big bunch of keys with us in our pockets while on our walk. We also go away a lot and have our parents or siblings check up on the house to water our plants and such. You make things convenient for them and us we decided to instal a keyless entry on our main door which would grant easy access to us and our siblings when checking on the house.

We opted for the Schlage Touchscreen Deadbolt as it gave us the option to keep the modern look of our door and just change the lock to a keypad system. It also has a Z-wave technology that enables you to connect to your home automation system and lets you lock or unlock your door remotely via the web or smartphone.

DELTA TOUCH2O FAUCET

Modern technology and smart appliances has found its way into the kitchen faucet industry. Of all kitchen fixtures, one of the most used in any given household is the kitchen sink and kitchen faucet. We all know that things can get a little hectic and/or messy in a kitchen, which makes a touch kitchen faucet a convenient feature for any kitchen.

We decided to go with the Delta Touch2O faucet in the matte black to match our black under-mount sink and monochrome decor. The installation was really easy and Darshan was able to install it in less than half hour. We went with this particular brand and make because of the modern sleek look of the faucet and the fact that you could turn it on and off with a simple touch.  

The touch sensitivity is good and not overly sensitive. The faucet and water handle are smart to detect the difference between a grasp—when you’re moving the thing around—and a tap—when you’re turning it on and off. This was incredibly beneficial for the both of us because now I could easily turn the faucet off with the touch of my elbow without getting raw ingredients all over it. There is also an automatic shut-off after 4 min which helps prevent water waste.  

NEST SMART THERMOSTAT

One of the major things Darshan and I would have issues with was switching the heating or cooling off when we would leave for work. We would argue about what temperature to leave the thermostat on so we could come to a perfect cozy temperature in the house.

The Nest Thermostat E learns our heating and cooling preferences and intelligently creates a schedule, adjusting our home’s temperature so we don’t have to fiddle with it over and over again. It is also easy to instal and the clean white design blends nicely with our walls.

The best feature of the nest is the auto-away feature.When you shut the front door to leave for work Nest senses you are gone and adjusts the temperature accordingly, to the away temperature that you decide upon initial setup. It also works with a wide variety of smart-home platforms, including Alexa and Google Assistant.