Home Management
What is a Smart Home?
4 Min Read
A smart home is like any other home, just enhanced—brought to life by the internet and interactions between otherwise ordinary objects. We’re all familiar with household appliances like lights or thermostats, but they have so much more to offer than many of us realize. Connected, they can create a whole-home ecosystem of intelligent devices, all working together to make daily life easier.
It's simpler than you might think to get started. Most smart home upgrades are DIY-friendly. You can start with small changes, like swapping out lightbulbs or setting up a smart speaker on the kitchen counter. Chances are you won’t stop there: once you’ve experienced smart home convenience, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.
Here’s a better question: What can’t a smart home do? As technologies evolve, the stuff of science fiction is quickly becoming commonplace in homes across the country. For many, whole home automation begins with these common smart home devices:
Smart security devices are making it easier than ever to safeguard your home. Here’s an example: many homeowners use doorbell cameras to screen visitors, protect packages and deter thieves. They’ve become a common sight in recent years, but they’re just one option among many. You can place cameras and sensors anywhere—inside or outside your home—to keep a close eye on everything that matters. Whether it’s unexpected movement or pressure at the window, a smart security system will send you real-time alerts about any suspicious activity. And it’s not just about security, either. You can use them to check on your pets or children when you’re away from home. Visibility means peace of mind.
Devices like the ecobee smart thermostat automatically respond to temperature changes in your home, adjusting HVAC settings as needed to keep you comfortable. That’s not all—with SmartSensors, you can monitor and control conditions room by room. Keep your pantry cold, your bathroom warm and your bedroom pleasantly cool according to your preferences. If you have a persistent cold spot, your sensors will balance it out with extra heat. And if you want to check in on a particularly important room—a nursery, for example—you can do so anytime with an app. Best of all, these systems are cost-efficient. Once they learn your schedule and habits, smart thermostats can minimize energy waste and save you hundreds of dollars a year in utilities.
Never fumble for a light switch again—with smart lighting, you can use voice commands instead. Forget to check every room before a trip? No worries—you can turn lights on and off remotely with an app. Some systems even allow you to adjust color and brightness depending on the time of day. Smart lighting isn’t just convenient—it lets you change the ambiance of your home at will.
When your hands are occupied, voice commands can be a lifesaver. Need help with a recipe? No need to wash up yet—your smart assistant has all the answers. Party time? It’ll have the perfect playlist to set the mood. If you’re already familiar with smartphone assistants like Siri or Alexa, you’ll feel right at home chatting with smart speakers.
You can manage most devices with apps on your smartphone, but that can get complicated as your ecosystem expands—especially when you’re using products from different brands that don’t integrate automatically. A smart home hub can streamline things.
If you imagine your smart home as one body of interconnected parts, the hub would be its brain: it connects all your devices and issues commands from a single centralized control system. Your smart home hub is a one-stop solution—with it, you’ll be able to monitor and control everything from one place with a single set of controls—much easier than juggling multiple apps.
A smart home is a game-changer, but it’s dependent on electricity—a power outage could leave you disconnected and in the dark. If you want to keep your home protected, a home standby generator will automatically restore power when you need it most. You can keep your security systems online, use devices as usual and even check in on your home from miles away in evacuation scenarios. With a standby generator, your smart home will stay smart.
