By Heather Rowe

Our Homes are Getting Smart!

It was not all that long ago when the first “smart” phones came onto the market.

Since then we have steadily seen our devices becoming smarter and smarter. We have

smart TVs, smart watches, and now, smart homes!

How can your home become more intelligent? What does a smart home do? The

term “smart home” or “home automation” refers to a collection of gadgets that can be

installed easily in any home and can be accessed and controlled remotely. For example,

you can turn your lights on and off from your phone when you are far away. All of them

come with applications to control them from your smart phone, available in the most

popular Operating Systems. The company Nest pioneered the concept of home

automation and was quickly snapped up by Google in 2014 for $3.2 billion.

Nest products are in their 3rd generation. With Google’s talent for algorithms that

learn, they created their centerpiece product: The Smart Thermostat. Although

competitors such as WEMO and Intelligent home also have thermostats, none of them

boast the cost saving potential of this thermostat! It actually detects your behavior

patterns, when you will and will not be home, and automatically adjusts itself without the

user’s effort.

Nest is also focused on security. Security cameras that are equipped with night

vision are available with the caveat that a $10 monthly minimum subscription fee is

required to store ten days of footage for each camera. The “Nest Protect” is available for

fire and CO2 detection and together with motion detectors it alerts your phone in case of

disaster or invasion. Products from Nest start at $99 and go up to $249. However, they do

not currently offer the convenience you might expect from a service, such as Time

Warner Cable has offered.

Time Warner Cable has launched its answer to Nest in the form of “Intelligent

Home.” Intelligent Home offers everything Nest does. Like Nest, its focus is on security

and energy savings. Both Nest and Intelligent Home boast a possible 20% deduction in

home insurance premiums.

TWC will install everything and there is no equipment to buy. However, it is a

little ambiguous about how much it ultimately costs to subscribe to their services. They

start at $39.99 a month and that includes some very basic stuff: fire alarm, door sensors

and a motion detector. To find out how much it will cost to install more you have to call

them and run scenarios. The startup cost for this service will be negligible, but over the

long run it could get very expensive, especially if you have a large home system.

Both Intelligent Home and Nest can make your home more secure and give

people a level of control over their homes while they are away that is unparalleled in

history. However, it took WEMO, created by Belkin, to make it fun! The biggest

difference between WEMO and the other two is they focused on creating a variety of

smart controllable gadgets. With a WEMO system you are not limited to lights and

thermostats. They have coffee makers, room heaters, crock pots and even a smart ice

cube tray! If you are skilled with electronics and not afraid to do a little of your own

wiring, WEMO even offers a “WEMO-maker.” This is a gadget that can be added to

almost anything with a DC switch to turn it into a WEMO operated device. WEMO’s

“Insteon Homekit” is a good starter option and includes a HUB (which is required for the

WEMO system to work) and two light dimmers at $99. Their products range from $49 to

$149.

Since the inception of these systems new companies and products are being added

to the market all the time. It marks a growing trend in control and automation for the

everyday person.