Introduction
I’m still new to the world of smart homes and smart devices, but I’ve learned a lot in the last few months. I hope my experiences will help you understand what’s out there!
I was at my friend’s house for dinner and saw that she had a smart hub.
A smart hub is a device that connects all of your smart home devices to each other and to the internet. It’s like a router, but for your whole house.
A smart hub works by receiving commands from an app on your phone or computer and then relaying them to the appropriate device(s). For example: if you want to turn off all of the lights in your apartment using an app on your phone, it will send that command through the hub’s wifi connection and into each light bulb individually–allowing them all to respond at once instead of having one person walk around turning off every light manually!
It sounds complicated but it isn’t; in fact, most people don’t even know what kind their friend has until they see it firsthand!
I asked her about it, and she told me how it let her control everything in her house from her phone.
A smart hub is a device that allows you to control your home’s electronics from one central location. It connects to the internet and talks to other devices, so you can turn on lights, adjust temperature settings, or open up blinds from anywhere in the world.
Smart hubs have been around for quite a while now–they’ve been used by businesses like hotels and restaurants since at least 2010 (there was even an article about them in Time magazine). But now they’re becoming more accessible to consumers as well!
I was intrigued.
I was intrigued. I wanted to know if I could get the same features with a different device, or at least some of them. I also wondered if I could control my thermostat from my phone, and if there were any alerts available for when things went wrong in my house while I was away.
I started with Google Home, which has a pretty good user interface compared to other smart speakers like Amazon’s Echo line or Apple’s HomePod (which doesn’t even have an AI assistant). The first thing that struck me about Google Assistant was how much more natural it sounded than Siri or Alexa–it didn’t sound like HAL 9000 trying too hard to be human.
It took me less than five minutes to set up everything: connecting all my devices together into one network using Wifi; linking them all into one account on MySmartHome; adding new rooms or appliances through voice commands; telling each device what they should do when given certain commands (“Ok Google/Alexa/Siri turn down the heat”).
Over the next few months, I kept hearing about the various platforms out there, which made it even more confusing when trying to decide what to do.
If you’re thinking about getting into the smart home game, don’t worry. It’s not as complicated as it seems.
As with any new technology, there are a lot of options out there and it can be hard to decide which one is right for you. If this sounds familiar, don’t worry–I was in the same boat! Over the next few months I kept hearing about the various platforms out there (Google Assistant vs Alexa vs HomeKit), which made it even more confusing when trying to decide what to do next with my smart home project (or even if I should start one at all).
But here’s some good news: once you figure out what kind of product or service suits your needs best–and how much money you want/can afford spend–it becomes easier than expected!
My main goal was to make my life easier by controlling my thermostat remotely and not having to get up if an alarm goes off inside the house (because every time someone walks past a window, my husband thinks he sees something).
My main goal was to make my life easier by controlling my thermostat remotely and not having to get up if an alarm goes off inside the house (because every time someone walks past a window, my husband thinks he sees something).
I also wanted to be able to get alerts when something happens in your home. If there’s smoke or water damage, for example, you’ll receive an alert so that you can get out as quickly as possible. You could also set up a smart hub that works with other smart devices such as lights or speakers so you can control them all from one place!
That’s all there was to it!
So that’s it! I don’t have any fancy smart home features, but I do have control over my thermostat. Not bad for a guy who was just trying to save money by turning down his AC before bedtime.
If you have a Smart Home Device or are thinking of getting one – this article will help you understand what’s available.
Smart Home devices are a great way to improve your life and make your home more comfortable. They’re also useful for safety, convenience and energy savings.
There are many different types of smart home devices available today, each with their own features and benefits. The most common ones include:
- Smart light bulbs that change color or brightness based on what you want them to do (such as turn off when you leave the house)
- Ones that can be controlled through an app on your phone or voice assistant like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant
Conclusion
I hope this article has helped you understand the basics of what it takes to get started with a Smart Home. It’s not as complicated as it might seem at first glance, and there are tons of great options out there! The best thing you can do is start researching what works best for your needs and budget – then go from there.