People often ask themselves: What is the point of smart technology? To many it looks like a lot of effort for a little bit of convenience. Take self-fogging windows, for instance. What does it do for you to replace every window in your house just so they can fog up when it is sunny out?
Well, we are here to readjust your way of looking at smart technology. Because there is an answer to that question, but the problem is that it is a question wrongly asked. You do not need to think about what replacing your windows will do for you. Just what they will do for your home.
When you pay to have smart technology installed, or even when you pay for the technology and install it yourself, is your money just going away? Is it burning and turning to dust? Not at all. Your money is turning from cash into part of the property you are installing the tech into.
Today, we are going to talk about what smart homes are, how they can benefit your home security, and (perhaps most importantly) how they can add to the value of your property.
What are Smart Homes?
People seem to be the most confused on this point. A smart home is a home that allows for the connectivity and installation of smart devices. But some of these devices have a more intensive installation than others. That example we gave of the self-fogging windows is an extreme case.
For the most part, the smart devices in a home will either connect over its wireless internet network or connect to each other via Bluetooth. They will use this connection to “talk” to each other. Let’s go back to those self-fogging windows. They frequently talk to smart AC units.
The windows have sensors that detect the amount of sunlight and temperature and fog themselves to help control how hot it gets. They then talk to the AC to tell it to turn on or not turn on depending on how much heat they block. This is just one example, of course. A smart home can have its appliances, its TV, its alarm clocks, everything integrated through the internet. You can also have a smart meter which might help you save money.
Many smart homes will also use a personal assistant like Alexa or Cortana with a device that can take voice commands. The most complex installation a smart home can have is usually a series of microphones and speakers that enables voice commands through the whole home.
How Does a Smart Home Benefit You?
While the specifics of a smart home are new and hard to wrap one’s head around at times, their benefits are a lot more straightforward. Because basically they benefit you by being convenient in a ton of small ways that add up to a far better home living and security experience.
We mentioned the self-fogging windows contributing to keeping the home cool. But something you probably noticed in that example is that they made sure the AC did not turn on unless it was necessary. Smart homes will have lights, appliances, and safety features that are all responsive in the same way. The result of all of these is that you end up using far less electricity.
In short, the benefit of a smart home is not just that it makes almost everything more convenient. It also saves you money in the long run by making things more efficient.
How do Smart Homes Enhance Property Value?
Now we get to talk about the real exciting stuff. Thinking about turning one’s own home into a smart home will be exciting for some people and nauseating for others. But imagine if you are a contractor, being paid to turn someone else’s home into a smart home. Then it’s a payday.
And then imagine you are a homebuyer. You have to choose between a house that costs an arm and a leg, and a house that costs an arm and a leg but will save you tons on electricity and gas over the course of your ownership of it.
Basically, there are four values that upgrading a property to a smart home provides:
- They are more efficient
- They are more convenient
- They are more secure
- They are easier to buy than installing smart home technology yourself
We already talked about the first two points. The last one is pretty self-explanatory; people would rather buy a smart home outright than upgrade an existing home themselves. Now, let’s talk about that last point, and how it plays into the value of your home.
How are Smart Homes More Secure?
While all that other stuff contributes a lot to the value of a smart home on the market, the security of a smart home contributes to the value of a smart home in a few other ways.
Particularly, it will low the cost a smart home’s homeowner’s insurance by a ton. There are two big reasons as to why: First, they tend to either have alarms already, or basically have all the components for an advanced alarm system. Alarms mean the residents are much safer.
The second reason is that they are harder to compromise. This surprises many people to hear, as they assume interconnectivity means that all you need is to pull one thread to make the whole thing unravel. But the truth is that the wireless network of a smart home is more secure.
That means sensitive files, banking data, and anything else that a hacker would try to access through your wireless network would be safer in a smart home than a normal home.
All of this contributes to make a smart home far less of a liability than a normal home.
Conclusion
If you are considering home security in Celina, think of how implementing a smart home design can help you. Whether it is through security devices being easier to manage, or your whole living experience being more convenient, smart homes can help in a lot of different ways.
